Chamber Music Northwest’s Summer Festival
Live classical music and laid-back vibes meet at this annual summer festival.
Oregon Arts Watch
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 from June 23 – July 28, and the theme for 2024 is The Beethoven Effect, which illuminates how Beethoven’s genius sparked ever-emerging ripple effects in the music world. This summer spotlights well-loved and new music inspired by Beethoven’s revolutionary foundations and explores where today’s chamber music has grown. View their festival concert guide for a full lineup of events.
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. Before 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.
Upcoming Dates & Times
- Sunday, June 23
- Thursday, June 27
- Saturday, June 29
- Sunday, June 30
- Monday, July 1
- Wednesday, July 3
- Saturday, July 6
- Tuesday, July 9
- Wednesday, July 10
- Thursday, July 11
- Saturday, July 13
- Sunday, July 14
- Monday, July 15
- Tuesday, July 16
- Wednesday, July 17
- Thursday, July 18
- …and more dates through Jul. 28 More dates & times
More Chamber Music Events
Enjoy live classical music at these upcoming festival events.
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…
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…
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