Classical Music in Portland
From opera to symphony to chamber ensemble, Portland offers top-notch classical music.
Oregon Arts Watch
Portland Opera, the Oregon Symphony and Chamber Music Northwest offer an ongoing lineup of inspiring performances, from timeless works to modern interpretations.
Chamber Music Northwest
Crowds flock to this five-week season of concerts presented by Chamber Music Northwest every summer (June-July); a one-week Winter Festival is held in late January/early February.
Fear No Music
Creating curiosity in modern and contemporary classical music through live ensemble performance and their youth mentorship programs, Fear No Music presents the music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in a chamber ensemble.
Oregon Symphony
More than 300,000 people each year enjoy performances of works from classical to pop by the Oregon Symphony under the direction of David Danzmayr. Season: September-May.
Portland Baroque Orchestra
The Portland Baroque Orchestra presents classical music on historical instruments in intimate settings. Season: October-May.
Portland Opera
One of the United States’ top opera companies, the Portland Opera has an anything-but-stuffy approach. Season: February-August.
Portland Taiko
The performers in the award-winning Portland Taiko Asian American drumming ensemble weave rhythm, melody, humor and movement together into an exhilarating musical experience.
Third Angle New Music
Pulling the classics into the new age, Third Angle New Music has set out to create the “soundtrack of our time” by commissioning new works by living composers and presenting innovative performances in collaboration with theater companies, sound artists, and performers locally and internationally.
Upcoming Classical Concerts
Immerse yourself in the sounds of classical music at these upcoming events.
Soloist Emily Rumpca
Welcome to an enchanting afternoon of music featuring tubist Emily Rumpca. Tualatin Valley Symphony is a community orchestra, dedicated to making high-quality live orchestra performances available and enjoyable for everyone in our community: SW Portland, Oregon and nearby cities in the Tualatin Valley.
Kronos Quartet
Founded at a time when chamber music was largely centered on long-established, Western European traditions, Kronos has been at the forefront of revolutionizing the string quartet into a living art form that responds to the people and issues of our time. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups…
Portland Baroque Orchestra | Harmony of Nations
‘Weapons of war and their use are something I am unable to engage with. I busy my time with notes, strings, and sounds. I work in the cause of harmony, mixing the sounds of France, Germany and Italy and attempting thus to prevent wars and to serve the cause of peace among nations and their striving…
Tallis Scholars: Darkness to Light
The Tallis Scholars return to the series with a program spanning Lent and Easter, especially poignant this year as their tour takes place between the dates of Easter, March 31 on the Gregorian calendar and May 5 on the Julian. Two expansive settings of the Lamentations (White and Tallis) fill the first half, with the…
Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony
A testament to Beethoven’s sly wit, the Eighth Symphony finds the revolutionary composer transforming beloved 18th-century dance forms with new dramatic possibilities. Violinist Baiba Skride displays a “soaring, incisive tone” (Strad) in Britten’s Violin Concerto, an emotionally charged work composed as Europe descended into World War II. Program Britten: Four Sea Interludes Britten: Violin Concerto…
Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
A rollercoaster of pianistic flourishes, Rachmaninoff’s ravishing rhapsody is given a tour-de- force performance by soloist Simon Trpčeski. Dvořák’s distinctly Bohemian style shines in his brooding, mysterious Seventh Symphony, in which the composer gives voice to personal grief and the struggles of his nation. *In Salem on Friday, May 10, 2024, 7:30 pm Program Dobrinka…
Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique
Berlioz paints a portrait of obsessive love with opium-fueled visions of cinematic realism, featuring haunting ballroom waltzes, a march to the guillotine, and maniacal witches’ dances. Opening the program, Debussy’s tone poem heaves with hazy sensuality, and violinist Carolin Widmann explores nature and love in works by Takemitsu and Chausson. Program Debussy: Prelude to an…
A Century of Unforgettable Music
PYP concludes its centennial season with a performance of Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony – the first piece ever performed by this orchestra, formerly known as the Portland Junior Symphony. Don’t miss your last chance to be thrilled by Season 100’s Portland Youth Philharmonic on the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall stage. PYP welcomes special guests to…
Schubert & Strauss
The lyricism of music inspired by dance takes center stage in Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony and Strauss’s Rosenkavalier Suite — their rhythms and melodies evoking the opulence of 19th-century Vienna. And Artist-in-Residence Xavier Foley paints musical portraits of Argentina in a new arrangement of Piazzolla’s tango-infused Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Program Giancarlo Castro: Commission and…
Brahms’ First Symphony
The season concludes in a blaze of orchestral glory with Brahms’ First Symphony, a work of intense passion and soaring lyricism. Plus, Principal Bassoon Carin Miller displays her instrument’s suave tone and puckish agility in Villa-Lobos’s Ciranda das Sete Notas. At the same time, Gabriella Smith’s One serves as an urgent appeal to protect our…
Metropolitan Youth Symphony: Landscapes
For its season finale, Symphony Orchestra is excited to present pieces inspired by nature, including Portland Beauty, by award-winning composer and MYS conductor Giancarlo Castro D’Addona, based on Giancarlo’s first hike to Mirror Lake; Smoulder by Andrea Reinkemeyer, which evokes the devastation of forest fires and other ominous signs of climate change; and the world…
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