Chamber Music Northwest’s Summer Festival

Live classical music and laid-back vibes meet at this annual summer festival.

Editor's Pick

Updated June 17, 2021 1 min read

Oregon Arts Watch

Editor's Pick

Southeast Portland

This is a recurring event and we’re showing the details from its most recent past occurrence. We’ll update this page with future event info as soon as we get it. Please check back!

When

July 1–25, 2021

Days vary, Times vary

Where

Reed College

3203 SE Woodstock Blvd
Portland, OR 97202

Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW) manages an unusual combination: classical music played by musicians of the highest caliber in an informal, intimate setting. Since 1971, chamber musicians have flocked to Southeast Portland’s Reed College to play the great classic repertoire with their friends. Music fans share picnics and wine on the campus lawn before heading indoors to hear the sublime music.

Returning annually, the festival is one of Portland’s rites of summer. The festival returns Thursday, July 1 – Sunday, July 25, 2021, with concerts held daily. View their festival concert guide for a full lineup of events. (CMNW also produces a shorter winter festival in January, but picnics on the lawns of Reed College aren’t involved.)

History of CMNW Summer Festival

The festival was created by violinist Sergiu Luca, who served as artistic director until 1981, when he was replaced by clarinetist David Shifrin. Prior to becoming a professor of music at Yale University and artistic director of the Chamber Music Society at Yale series, Shifrin was artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 1992 to 2004. Those connections have kept the pipeline of excellent musicians flowing to Portland, summer after summer. These include young musicians and ensembles chosen for the Protégé Project, who receive coaching from great musicians before rehearsing and performing with them at the festival.

Over the years, the summer festival has evolved, spreading out from its Reed College base to clubs and concert halls across the city. The music has changed, too, extending to include music from the 20th and 21st centuries, exploring musical Americana like classic jazz standards from artists like Dizzy Gillespie and a composer’s take on 1960s rock-n-roll fantasy.