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 Eckart Preu. 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.
The BACH Dialogues – Christopher O'Riley and Matt Haimovitz
Acclaimed musicians Christopher O'Riley and Matt Haimovitz defy convention in "The BACH Dialogues," a concert that breaks boundaries and reimagines the music of a legend. Forget stuffy recitals. This explores where Baroque meets cutting-edge technology, and iconic sonatas get a vibrant new lease on life.
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…
Pomona College Glee Club in Concert
The Pomona College Glee Club and Harmonologia Pomona, under the direction of Dr. Donna Di Grazia, will present a bouquet of unaccompanied music by Williametta Spencer, Will Todd, Paul Mealor, Heinrich Schütz, Johann Christoph Bach, and Shawn Kirchner, as well as Handel’s magnificent Dixit Dominus, performed with student soloists and Harmonologia Pomona, a professional period…
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…
Illuminare
Experience the enchantment of "Illuminare," the pinnacle of the 2023-2024 Lake Grove Concert Season. Join the serene Lake Grove sanctuary as the Lake Grove Sanctuary Choir and Oregon Symphony members bring radiant compositions by Hagenberg, Gjielo, Haydn, and Stamm to life. Beyond a mesmerizing evening of music and light, your attendance directly supports the Beer Sheba “Torchbearers”…
Soloist Anthea Kreston
Experience an evening of enchanting melodies and symphonic grandeur with this captivating concert program. The journey begins with Mendelssohn's evocative "Hebrides Overture," whisking audiences away to the rugged beauty of Scotland's remote islands with its stirring themes and dramatic flourishes. Then, prepare to be swept off your feet by Vaughan Williams' timeless masterpiece, "The Lark…
PSU Orchestra: Unfinished Business
Ken Selden conducts the PSU Orchestra with music of Franz Schubert and William Grant Still. Ken Selden was appointed conductor and music director of the Symphony Orchestra and New Music Ensemble at Portland State University in fall 2006. Under his direction, the PSU Symphony has received three awards in Adventurous Programming from ASCAP and the League…
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…
Chamber Music Northwest Summer Festival
Chamber Music Northwest’s annual summer festival combines high-caliber classical music with a laid-back atmosphere.
OPENING NIGHT: Beethoven, Brahms & Bunch
Opening Night of CMNW’s 54th Summer Festival will be a not-to-be-missed event celebrating Beethoven’s influence on the last two centuries of chamber music. The first concert of the summer features many favorite CMNW artists, including violist Paul Neubauer and renowned pianist Alessio Bax, performing an exquisite Brahms Viola Sonata. Also replaying is the delightful Ralph’s Old…
SONIC EVOLUTION: Mendelssohn, Bernstein & Neikrug
With ear-bending polyphonics, brain-twisting chords, and utterly unpredictable progressions, Beethoven completely redefined what music could sound like. For the second summer concert, beloved clarinetist David Shifrin, violinist Bella Hristova, pianist Alessio Bax, and oboist Frank Rosenwein join forces on three masterpieces that are powered by Beethoven’s unprecedented sonic palette. The program also features a new,…
NEW@NIGHT: Soundscapes of Hartke, Shaw & Penderecki
Netsuke — Japanese miniature carvings — are worlds unto themselves, and Stephen Hartke’s Netsuke explores all their intricacy. Two-time Grammy Award nominee, Jennifer Frautschi, and Portland’s own Monica Ohuchi traverse this captivating work, along with stunning works by Caroline Shaw and Krzysztof Penderecki.
FINALE CONCERT: 2024 Young Artist Institute
Come, be astounded, and witness the next generation of virtuoso musicians performing highlights of four Beethoven String Quartets, and four World Premieres of short Beethoven-inspired mini quartets by young composers from Portland. This ensemble concert is the culmination of an intensive three-week program focused on offering promising young musicians the opportunity to hone their musicianship…
PROTÉGÉ SPOTLIGHT: Bassist Nina Bernat
2024 CMNW Protégé Artist Nina Bernat is emerging as one of the most exciting double bassists in a generation. Acclaimed for her interpretive maturity, expressive depth, and technical clarity, she steps on to the world stage as a recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Juilliard Double Bass Competition, and the 2019 International…
Opera a la Cart at The Square
In partnership with Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland Opera will bring an Opera a la Cart live performance to The Square over the lunch hour. Inspired by Portland’s food cart culture, Opera a la Cart is a mobile performance venue that brings live opera performances directly into the community spaces where people gather. You’ll find them…
World Premiere of “Prophecies of Fire”
Be among the first to experience Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams’s final major work for chamber ensemble. Prophecies of Fire, co-commissioned by CMNW, will be premiered by the mesmerizing Sandbox Percussion, remembered for their stunning CMNW performances of George Crumb’s American Songbook II and Andy Akiho’s Seven Pillars two summers ago. NOTE: A shuttle from downtown to Reed…
MUSIC ON FIRE: Beethoven, Brahms & Fagerlund
Beethoven’s incendiary and revolutionary Grosse Fuge forever changed music. The almost incomprehensible genius of his “Great Fugue” has powered every genre of music since — from classical to jazz, Motown to heavy metal. We’ll explore equally fiery works by Brahms and Finnish composer Sebastian Fagerlund, inspired by the musical bonfire Beethoven ignited. After the Grosse Fuge, music would…
INCANDESCENCE: Blazing Works by Joan Tower, Bartók & the “Kreutzer”
Few artists creating music today embody the passion and fire of Beethoven quite like America’s greatest living woman composer, the incomparable Joan Tower. From the World Premiere of her dynamic To Sing or Dance for Violin and Percussion — featuring Artistic Director Soovin Kim and the exhilarating Sandbox Percussion — to Beethoven’s passionate “Kreutzer” Sonata, this concert…
PROTÉGÉ SPOTLIGHT: Opus13
CMNW’s Protégé Project has helped launch the careers of some of the world’s best-emerging quartets — Dover, Kenari, Calidore, Viano — and now the Opus13 Quartet. Second prize winners of the prestigious 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition, this exciting Swedish-Norwegian quartet is one of Europe’s, and the world’s, most promising, up-and-coming young ensembles. Join…
NEW@NIGHT: Elemental Keyboards
Few realize that the piano is, technically, a percussion instrument. Tonight, explore percussive musical innovations inspired by Beethoven’s piano, including marimba, percussion, keyboard, piano, and even percussive cello. Experience these unique works by Keiko Abe, Clancy Newman, Juri Seo, and our CMNW Co-Commissioned World Premiere of Kyle Rivera’s new music for multiple keyboards and percussion…
PREEMINENT PIANO: Beethoven, Ligeti & Goodyear
Four all-star performers take on three exceptionally thrilling works for their instruments. World-renowned horn master Radovan Vlatković tackles Ligeti’s devilishly difficult Horn Trio. Portland’s own revolutionary flutist Amelia Lukas, with the astounding pianist/composer Stewart Goodyear, premiere his stunning The Torment of Marsyas. Then, Busoni and Geneva Piano Competitions winner Chloe Mun conquers Beethoven’s monumental “Hammerklavier.”
KEYBOARD CONVERGENCE: Quintets, Quartets & Solos
Beethoven propelled the piano to the forefront of classical music, challenging both the instrument and pianists as never before. Bold and powerful, subtle and sublime, Beethoven, Robert Schumann, and Igor Stravinsky’s three powerful piano showpieces capture the piano’s full versatility in the hands of the world-renowned pianists Artistic Director Gloria Chien, Stewart Goodyear, and…
PROTÉGÉ SPOTLIGHT: Claire Wells & Chloe Mun
Not one, but two of the world’s most acclaimed emerging musicians take the stage for this Protégé Spotlight Recital. Pianist Chloe Mun is the winner of both the prestigious Geneva International Competition and Italy’s Busoni Competition. Joining her is violinist Claire Wells, the 2021 winner of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition. Already in demand from…
NEW@NIGHT: The Genius of Jörg Widmann
Mirroring Beethoven’s multifaceted mastery, revolutionary German composer, virtuosic clarinetist, and leading conductor Jörg Widmann is one of today’s greatest inheritors of Beethoven’s legacy. Widmann is considered one of the most versatile and intriguing artists of this generation, with his works ranging from chamber to symphonic and operatic. Experience Widmann’s impressive versatility, including the U.S. Premiere…
SOARING SOLOISTS: Clarinet, Cello & Piano
More than any previous composer, Beethoven challenged musicians to reach new heights, redefining musical virtuosity. Tonight’s program features soaring soloist masterworks, including Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 3, Jörg Widmann’s clarinet Fantasie, and Weber’s epic Clarinet Quintet arranged for chamber orchestra — performed by some of the world’s finest on their instruments.
FESTIVAL FINALE: Celestial Virtuosity
The stars align for the final concert of our Summer Festival, celebrating Beethoven’s profound influence on the evolution of music. Messiaen’s transcendent Interstellar Call and Ravel’s heroic and nearly orchestral Piano Trio capture both the grace and power he brought to music. Beethoven’s masterfully entertaining Septet in E-flat Major — arguably the greatest septet ever written…
Chopin and Alpine Symphony
Inspired by his own adventures in the Alps, Strauss' An Alpine Symphony evokes nature's power and majesty in a journey through crashing waterfalls, misty meadows, and furious storms. And Portland favorite Garrick Ohlsson leads an equally intense journey of the heart in Chopin's First Piano Concerto, channeling the work's melancholy grace with "a sound so…
Brahms 2: Moments in Light and Darkness
From the wistful horn calls of its opening bars to the life-affirming radiance of the closing chorale, Brahms' Second Symphony conjures bucolic landscapes where sunlit serenity and ominous storm clouds share the sky. Plus, Composer-in-Residence Andy Akiho premieres a new concerto for cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, who performs with "unforced simplicity and beauty of tone" (New…
Dvořák’s New World Symphony
In his Ninth Symphony, Dvořák aimed to create musical portraits of his time in America—weaving a vibrant tapestry of Black spirituals and Indigenous folk songs with tunes from his native Bohemia. And things go bump in the night in Wagner's ghostly overture to The Flying Dutchman and Liszt's Totentanz, a captivating work based on macabre…
Baroque Splendor With Handel & Bach
Courtly dances and buoyant melodies take center stage in two Baroque favorites: Handel's Water Music and Bach's Keyboard Concerto in A Major, featuring the "extravagantly gifted" (LA Times) Awadagin Pratt. Equally enchanting and energetic, Haydn's “Drumroll” Symphony brims with humor and wit, building to a riotous finale where fleet-footed tunes race across every corner of…
Itzhak Perlman
“A recital by Itzhak Perlman is inevitably a journey into perfection: virtuosity of the highest order, the sweetest tone imaginable, impeccable intonation, mature musicianship, and a pleasant stage persona to boot.” (Palm Beach ArtsPaper) Enjoy a solo violin recital by the legendary Itzhak Perlman accompanied by pianist, Rohan De Silva. Artists Itzhak Perlman, Violin …
Shostakovich 5: Heroism and Hope
Written as Stalin's Great Terror campaign made music a matter of life and death for Soviet composers, Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony is a searing search for hope in a time of darkness and oppression. Fear and vulnerability also hover over Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, its hushed laments and demonic dissonances mirroring the composer's anguish upon his…
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
From festive birdsong and thunderstorms to harvest celebrations and tranquil snowfall, Vivaldi's wildly popular Four Seasons represents Baroque music at its most cinematic. Start the holiday season with this timeless classical favorite performed by your Oregon Symphony. Program Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Violin Concerti Other works to be announced
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