Honoring George Bozarth (1947-2025)

Dear Musique du Jour Presents’ Friends and Family, 

It is with a heavy heart that I write to you all today. The Pacific Northwest has lost one of our pillars of the community. Musique du Jour Presents’ Co-Founder and Founding Artistic Director, George Bozarth, passed away on Friday, 31st of October 2025. We’ve lost not only a dear friend, but someone who has left a long legacy and impact on the Early Music community. Our lives have all been made brighter and richer by George’s commitment to sharing his curiosity about the world and love of music with all of us. 

A memorial service will be announced at a later date. George’s full obituary is being lovingly written by his wife, and will be published soon. If you would like to send words of support and condolences to Tamara, please write us at info@musiquedujourpresents.org and we will send them directly on to her on your behalf.

We’ve known George’s work through his founding of Musique du Jour Presents here in Seattle, but he also brightened the ears and lives of musicians and audiences in Maine with our sister organization, Musique du Jour. Before that, he was one of the first Artistic Directors championing the performance of music on historical instruments in Seattle. And through all of that, George contributed to our collective knowledge of music history as Professor of Musicology at the University of Washington. As an educator and artistic director, he strove to inspire lifelong learners of all ages to appreciate and be curious about the musical worlds of our past and present.

On a non-musical note, George, Tamara, and I shared other passions, such as pottery. Rehearsals or meetings at George and Tamara’s home always included a detour into visual art— the two of them relaying stories about the beautiful pieces in their ceramics collection, and me sharing photos of my latest clay work. George’s love of beauty stretched well beyond his passion for music.

Since Musique du Jour Presents’ founding, one of the aspects that I admired most was George’s loyalty to local artists. Throughout Musique du Jour Presents’ nine seasons, George always expressed a firm commitment to highlighting and creating opportunities for Northwest artists, and making sure our youngest musicians could attend concerts with no financial barrier. It was one of many reasons I was honored to accept his invitation to take on the role as the next Director of this organization. As a fellow musicologist, performer and PNW native, I want to be able to help further grow the musical garden of Western Washington. I’m grateful to have been mentored by someone so dedicated to this community development.

The last project that George, the Board, and I were working on together before his passing was the creation of the George Bozarth Artists’ Fund.  Even up to the week before his passing, he and I were making plans to set up this fund this November. He had intended to announce this himself, but I will have to do so in his stead. 

The George Bozarth Artists’ Fund is devoted to supporting and developing local Pacific Northwest artists committed to performing early music on period instruments. Inspired by George and Tamara’s life in La Conner, this fund will also enable us to support communities outside of urban areas by presenting concerts and educational activities to rural areas, further expanding access to historical performance throughout the region. Through this fund, Musique du Jour Presents can continue to be an organization where we not only get to experience new musical journeys together in intimate settings, but we can simultaneously deepen the roots of our local musical community. In doing so, we honor George’s 40-year legacy by continuing the work and service he spent his life engaged in.

In lieu of flowers, Tamara has requested to please consider honoring George’s memory with a donation  to the George Bozarth Artists’ Fund, which is tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.

Thank you so much for being part of our Northwest musical community, and thank you for all of your support of sharing in George’s vision of making Seattle a more beautiful and inquisitive place, one musical memory at a time. 


Kindest Regards, 
Lindsey Strand-Polyak,

with the Board of Directors

Musique du Jour Presents