2025 Summer Festival Program Magazine

WELCOME TO OUR 2025 SUMMER FESTIVAL!

Dear Friends,

There are composers whose works reflect the spirit of their time, while others define the very foundation of an entire tradition. Johann Sebastian Bach stands at the heart of Western Classical music not only as a master of counterpoint, form, and expression, but also as the cornerstone upon which generations of composers have shaped their art.

This summer, we celebrate Echoes of Bach by exploring the ways in which Bach’s influence resonates across centuries—whether in moments of joy, sorrow, or contemplation, and how his legacy continues to inspire today.

There is no better way to kick off this summer’s festivities than with Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos! The inventiveness of sound and the infectious sense of joy in these masterpieces set the tone for a remarkable journey through Bach’s musical genius.

Throughout the festival, Bach’s mastery will shine. We’ll hear his shimmers through the delicate intricacies of the Musical Offering, the architectural grandeur of the Goldberg Variations, and the divine beauty of his monumental B Minor Mass.

Bach’s legacy lives on in Mozart, Schubert, Franck, David Schiff, and Kian Ravaei as they pay homage to their respective spiritual roots; as our Protégés perform masterworks by Messiaen, Felix Mendelssohn, and Olli Mustonen; and as we close our festival with the two string sextets of Brahms— who, like Bach, mastered the art of balancing structural splendor with emotional depth.

We invite you to join us this summer for unforgettable concerts featuring the world’s greatest musicians as we experience Echoes of Bach that continue to reverberate through the chamber music of past and present in ways that are profound, surprising, and truly magical.

Gloria Chien & Soovin Kim Artistic Directors

Ticket & Box Office Information

Chamber Music Northwest concert tickets are always available online at CMNW.org. Our Ticket Office is open from 10 am–4 pm, Monday through Friday for phone calls at 503-294-6400, or email tickets@cmnw.org. Tickets for upcoming events may also be purchased at the onsite box office one hour prior to start, and during most concert intermissions.

Donate Your Unused Tickets

If you are unable to use your tickets, please call the Ticket Office to return them for resale. You will receive a tax deduction for the full value of the tickets in addition to giving another music lover the opportunity to attend!

ADA Services

Accessible seating and parking is available at all venues. Contact the Ticket Office in advance to arrange for your specific needs. We can provide special seating and additional accommodation information.

Picnics, Dining, and Refreshments

Picnics are a festival tradition before evening performances at Reed College. Bring your own picnic or purchase dinner from Reed’s caterer Bon Appétit beginning at 6 pm. All alcoholic beverages must be purchased on-site. No outdoor catering will be available if the temperature exceeds 94 degrees. Reed’s picnic policies: No outside alcoholic beverages are allowed. No glass or china.

For our concerts at PSU, The Reser, The Old Church, and BodyVox, we encourage you to enjoy a meal and support local nearby restaurants! Refreshments are available at intermission for indoor concerts.

CMNW Ticket Office:

503-294-6400 • tickets@cmnw.org

BodyVox Dance Center 1201 NW 17th Ave., Portland

Patricia Reser Center for the Arts 12625 SW Crescent St., Beaverton

Lincoln Performance Hall & Lincoln Recital Hall

Portland State University SW Broadway & Market

Kaul Auditorium

Reed College SE 28th & Woodstock

The Old Church Concert Hall 1422 SW 11th Ave., Portland

Community Concerts

Chehalem Cultural Center 415 E Sheridan St., Newberg

First Congregational UCC 1126 SW Park Ave., Portland

North Clackamas Park 5440 SE Kellogg Creek Dr., Milwaukie

University of Portland

Mago Hunt Recital Hall & Shipstad Field

5000 N Willamette Blvd., Portland

Vancouver Arts Hub 1007 E. Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver

We respectfully acknowledge that the concerts of our festival sit on the ancestral lands and traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other tribes. We recognize that these people were the first to make their homes along the Columbia (Wimahl) and Willamette (Whilamut) rivers and that they continue to live in this area.

Please silence all cell phones.

Food and beverages are not allowed in the concert hall. Personal water bottles are allowed. Cameras and recording devices are not permitted —please do not take pictures or record our concerts.

In consideration of our patrons with scent sensitivities, we ask that patrons refrain from wearing products with strong fragrances, including colognes, perfumes, and essential oils.

In consideration of our audience and artists, parents are requested not to bring children under the age of 7 to CMNW concerts, except for designated performances.

Patrons with hearing aids should be aware that such devices may transmit a shrill tone. The wearer is not often conscious of this. House staff makes an effort to identify the wearer, but it is extremely helpful for audience members, musicians, and recording staff if nearby patrons kindly let the wearer know that such a sound is being produced. The wearer will be appreciative and take care of the problem.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

A week-by-week listing of our festival events

OUR FRIENDS & SUPPORTERS

Appreciation for our donors, sponsors, and friends

COMMUNITY & EDUCATION EVENTS

Free events and educational experiences

YOUNG ARTIST INSTITUTE

Learn about our program for youth musicians

2025 PROTÉGÉ PROJECT

Learn about our 2025 Protégés here

PROGRAMS

Concert programs and program notes for our performances

ARTIST & COMPOSER BIOGRAPHIES

Gain insight into our festival artists

YOUNG ARTIST INSTITUTE PROFILES

Learn about staff, piano fellows, and young artists

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

MONDAY

12pm Mago Hunt Recital Hall, UP Viola Masterclass with Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt

TUESDAY

12pm Lincoln Recital Hall, PSU Oboe Masterclass with Titus Underwood

6:30pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed Young Artist Institute Prelude

8pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed College Brandenburg All-Stars

12pm Lincoln Recital Hall, PSU Flute Masterclass with Tara Helen O’Connor

6:30pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed Young Artist Institute Prelude

8pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed College Kit Armstrong: The Goldberg Variations

WEDNESDAY

11am Kaul Auditorium, Reed College FREE Open Rehearsal: Brandenburg Concertos

12pm Lincoln Hall, Rm. 225, PSU Composition Masterclass with Alistair Coleman

8pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed College Timeless Works by Mozart, Bach & Messiaen

12pm Lincoln Recital Hall, PSU Protégé Spotlight: Ryota Yamazaki Solo Piano

7pm The Old Church

New@Night: Global Voices

6pm: Happy Hour & Conversation with Kit Armstrong Post-concert: Meet and Greet with artists

12pm Lincoln Recital Hall, PSU Violin Masterclass with David McCarroll

8pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed College Protégé Project Celebration!

12pm Lincoln Recital Hall, PSU Protégé Alumni Superstars Benjamin Beilman, Nina Bernat & Viano Quartet

7pm North Clackamas Park, Milwaukie FREE COMMUNITY CONCERT with Isabelle Ai Durrenberger & Ryota Yamazaki

12pm Lincoln Recital Hall, PSU Protégé Spotlight: Isabelle Ai Durrenberger & Ryota Yamazaki

11am Kaul Auditorium, Reed College FREE Open Rehearsal: Kian Ravaei’s iPod Variations for Flute, Violin and Electronics

7pm BodyVox Dance Center

New@Night: Sonic Soundscapes

6pm: Happy Hour & Conversation with Kian Ravaei Post-concert: Meet and Greet with artists

11am Kaul Auditorium, Reed College FREE Open Rehearsal: Alistair Coleman's Ghost Art Canticles

7pm The Old Church

New@Night: Chamber Evolution

6pm: Happy Hour & Conversation with composer Ethan Soledad Post-concert: Meet and Greet with artists

11am Kaul Auditorium, Reed College FREE Open Rehearsal: Brahms Sextet No. 1

7pm The Old Church

New@Night: Living Echoes

6pm: Happy Hour & Conversation with cellist Paul Watkins & cellist/composer Zlatomir Fung

Post-concert: Meet and Greet with artists

Use this calendar to plan your five weeks of extraordinary music!

Festival Concert

Free Festival Event

Young Artist Institute Event Special Opportunities

1 - 4pm

Musicians Around Town Young Artist Institute Pop-up Concerts

7pm Shipstad Field, UP FREE COMMUNITY CONCERT with our Young Artist Institute

FRIDAY

12pm The Old Church

FREE Young Artist Institute Solo Showcase #1

12pm

First Congregational UCC FREE Young Artist Institute Solo Showcase #2

SATURDAY

THURSDAY SUNDAY

6pm

Chamber Party with YAI Faculty

4pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed OPENING NIGHT: Complete Brandenburg Concertos - Part I

8pm Kaul Auditorium OPENING NIGHT: Complete Brandenburg Concertos - Part II

7pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed FREE 2025 Young Artist Institute Finale Concert

2pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed FREE Young Artist Institute Solo Showcase #3

4pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed CMNW Presents Oregon Bach Festival: Bach’s Mass in B Minor

6:30pm The Reser Prelude Performance

7:30pm The Reser Revelations: Schiff, Schubert, Franck & Ravaei

6pm

Chamber Party: A Captivating Evening with Tara Helen O’Connor & Fleur Barron!

7pm

Chehalem Cultural Center, Newberg FREE COMMUNITY CONCERT with Opus13

6:30pm The Reser Prelude Performance

7:30pm The Reser Powerhouse Strings: Mendelssohn’s Octet & More 6pm

Garden Party: Garden Strings on Sauvie Island!

7pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed Prelude Performance

8pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed Revelations: Schiff, Schubert, Franck & Ravaei 4pm

Lincoln Performance Hall, PSU Timeless Works by Mozart, Bach & Messiaen

6:30pm The Reser Prelude Performance

7:30pm The Reser Latticework & Legends

7pm

Vancouver Arts Hub FREE COMMUNITY CONCERT with Columbia River Brass Quintet

7pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed Prelude Performance

8pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed Powerhouse Strings: Mendelssohn’s Octet & More 4pm

Lincoln Performance Hall, PSU Protégé Project Celebration!

7pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed Prelude Performance

8pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed Latticework & Legends

4pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed Festival Finale: Mozart, Ngwenyama & Brahms

THANK YOU, FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC NORTHWEST

Acknowledgements & Gratitude

It takes many people beyond our board, donors, year-round staff, and festival staff to bring our Summer Festival to life! We extend our gratitude to these many partners who have supported and enriched our work in a myriad of ways for this summer’s festival. We thank all of the incredible contributors, funders, donors, and community partners who make the 2025 Summer Festival possible…and to YOU, our audiences, for coming back. We do not take you sitting right where you are and reading this lightly—we are grateful you are here!

OUR FANTASTIC VENUE PARTNERS

Reed College— our festival home for more than 40 years

Portland State University— where we were founded 55 summers ago

Patricia Reser Center for the Arts

The Old Church Concert Hall

University of Portland BodyVox Dance Center

Sanctuary Hall, First Congregational United Church of Christ

Our Chamber Party hosts— for opening their homes for intimate concerts

OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Chehalem Cultural Center

City of Vancouver

North Clackamas Parks & Recreation SoundsTruck NW

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

OUR VOLUNTEERS

Our volunteers mean the world to us—it is our dear volunteers who make this festival happen! We extend a great amount of gratitude to them and know that we are so fortunate to benefit from their dedication and stalwart service. Beyond ushers, our volunteers are subscribers, ticket buyers, and donors. With gratitude we honor the remarkable dedication of the following volunteers who have been in service to CMNW and our audiences for up to 46 years! We give great gratitude to the volunteerism of these wonderful people:

Gabrielle Foulkes • 46

Judy Steinberger • 46

Lori Stole • 32

B. Elise Gautier • 30

Vernon Geiszler • 25

Joan Glassel • 25

Susan L. Green • 25

Suellen Lacey • 25

Michael Powers • 25

Ellen L. Green • 21

Kay Mannion • 21

Patty Torchia • 21

Ann Dow • 20

Leslie Houston • 20

Avi Tayar • 20

Scott Stephens • 20

Fran Head • 19

Gregg Baker • 18

Ted Brunner & Deborah Lev • 18

Marvin Dawson • 18

Lynda J. Hess • 18

Marilee Davies • 17

Laurie Ortega • 17

OUR FESTIVAL SUPPORTERS

Bond Organs

Byron Will Harpsichords

Communications Northwest Hollywood Lights

Hyatt House Portland/Downtown

J&S Golf Cart Rentals

Kerr Violins— providing Shunske

Sato's viola & Daniel Thorell's cello

Portland Piano Company— providing our hotel rehearsal piano

Steinway Portland— providing our Steinway concert grand piano

2025 Summer Festival Concert Sponsors

Chamber Music Northwest gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our concert sponsors. Each has contributed to help underwrite concerts and events this season. The sponsors are listed in order of the number of years they have supported CMNW.

For more information on Chamber Music Northwest sponsorship opportunities, please contact Sarah Taylor at 503-546-0184 or saraht@cmnw.org.

Powell’s Books | 41

Acorn Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation | 19

Karen & Cliff Deveney | 13

Reed College | 12

David & Maryanne Holman | 10

George & Deborah Olsen | 10

Bill & Diana Dameron | 9

Portland State University | 9

Chamber Music Northwest’s Volunteers | 8

Anonymous Friends of CMNW | 8

Evelyn Brzezinski | 5

Jerome Guillen & Jeremy Gallaher | 5

Catherine A. Schiedler • 17

Gillian Smith • 17

Michele L. Stemler • 17

Alicia G. Charlton • 16

Marc Grafe • 16

Shari Bandes • 15

B. Gail Hillyer • 15

Susan Morell • 15

Julia MacNeil • 14

Christine R. Peterson • 14

Dennis Taylor • 14

Carole Beauclerk • 13

MEDIA SPONSORS

Heritage Bank | 5

Ronnie-Gail Emden & Andrew Wilson | 4

Heidi Yorkshire & Joseph Anthony | 4

Susan Sokol Blosser | 3

Joan Levers & David Manhart | 3

Beth Fry | 2

John & Linda Hardham | 2

Pat Morris-Rader & Bob Cogan | 2

Alliance Bernstein | 1

Marvin & Abby Dawson | 1

Terwilliger Plaza Retirement Community | 1

Ravi Vedanayagam & Ursula Luckert | 1

2024/2025 Season Supporters

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions received from the following friends. This list reflects gifts received through May 1, 2025. If information needs to be corrected, please notify the Development Department at 503-546-0184 or development@cmnw.org.

Corporations, Foundations, and Government

Artistic Director’s Circle

($25,000 and above)

Fortissimo

($10,000–$24,999)

Marianne Steflik Irish Fund of The OCF*

Dorothea M. Lensch Fund of OCF*

Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust

OCF Joseph E. Weston

Public Foundation

Crescendo

($5,000–$9,999)

All Classical Radio+

Intel Corporation

E. Nakamichi Foundation

Oregon Community Foundation

Powell's Books

Reser Family Foundation

Richard & Mary Rosenberg Fund of OCF*

Sokol Blosser Winery

The Swigert Foundation

Herbert A. Templeton Foundation

Brillante

($2,500-$4,999)

AllianceBernstein

Heritage Bank

Jackson Foundation

McGregor Fund

Nike, Inc.

Tonkon Torp LLP

Maestoso

($1,000-$2,499)

Columbia Sportswear Company

Morgan Stanley

The Oregonian/OregonLive+

The Columbian+

Vista Capital Partners

Allegro

($500-$999)

Devil’s Food Catering+

Goldy Family Designated Fund of OCF*

Cantabile

($250-$499)

Willamette View Association

Individuals

Artistic Director’s Circle

($25,000 & above)

Karen & Cliff Deveney

Betsy Hatton

Holman Family Funds of OCF*

Paul L. King

Ronni Lacroute

Michael & Alice Powell

Ravi Vedanayagam & Ursula Luckert

Fortissimo

($10,000-$24,999)

Carl Abbott & Margery Post Abbott

Carole Alexander

Daniel H. Boyce & Lilla Cabot

Kennett F. Burnes

Elinor Gollay

Howard Greisler & Elizabeth Hudson

Peter & Ann van Bever

Slate & Davida Wilson

Heidi Yorkshire & Joseph Anthony

An Anonymous Friend of CMNW

Crescendo

($5,000–$9,999)

Tom Balmer & Mary

Louise McClintock

Evelyn Brzezinski

Marlene Burns & Jon Dickinson

Rick Caskey

Marilyn Crilley & George Rowbottom

Bill & Diana Dameron

Marvin & Abby Dawson

Ann & Ken Edwards / Starseed Foundation

Ronnie-Gail Emden & Andrew Wilson

Beth Fry

Yoko & Jonathan Greeney

Jerome Guillen & Jeremy Gallaher

John & Linda Hardham

David C. & Maryanne Holman

James Kahan & Kathia Emery

Wayne Litzenberger & Jane Patterson

Lucinda Parker McCarthy

The Estate of Ellen Pullen

Patricia Reser & Bill Westphal

Janet & Larry Richards

Jeff & Kathleen Rubin

Janet Schwartz

Susan Sokol Blosser

Marc Therrien & Jena Rose

Mark & Nancy van der Veer

Brillante

($2,500-$4,999)

Lori & Todd Bauman

Laura J. Barton

Peter Bilotta & Shannon Bromenschenkel

Paul & Pamela De Boni

David Greger

Ed Gronke

Sonja L. Haugen

Josephine Hawthorne

Diane M. Herrmann

Leslie Hsu & Richard Lenon

Richard & Linda Jenkins

Judy McCraw

Wilfried & Deanna Mueller-Crispin

Deborah & George Olsen

Rev. Dr. Rodney & Sandra Page

Hugh Porter & Jill Soltero

Drs. Bonnie & Pete Reagan

Amy Richter

Richard & Susan Rogers

Bill Scott & Kate Thompson

Holly C. Silver

Anne Stevenson

Nancy & Herb Zachow

Anonymous Friends of CMNW (2)

Maestoso

($1,000-$2,499)

Acorn Fund of OCF*

Greg & Susan Aldrich

Richard & Kristin Angell

William & Gail Bain

Arlena Barnes & William Kinsey

Astrida Berzs

Bruce Blank

Andrea Vannelli & David Bragdon

Charles & Carol Ouchi Brunner

Gloria Chien & Soovin Kim

Nathan F. Cogan

Linda S. Craig

Bruce Cronin

Caroline & Adrian Harris Crowne

Wolfgang Dempke

Mary Dickson & Jerry Sunday

William Dolan &

Suzanne Bromschwig

Jon R. Feldhausen

David Frackelton

Freeman Family Foundation

Kit Gillem

Dean & Susan Gisvold

Laura Gordon

Caroline Greger

Ted Haskell & Mary Mears-Haskell

William & Beverly Hendricks

Kirk Hirschfeld

Albert Huang

Jeri Janowsky & John Crabbe

Dennis C. Johnson

Lynne Johnson & Larry Madson

Paula Kanarek & Ross Kaplan

Miyoung Kwak

Suellen Lacey & Michael Powers

Barbara & Bill Langley

Donna L. Larson

Allan & Joyce Leedy

Joan Levers & David Manhart

Joseph & Linda Mandiberg

Kay Mannion

Linda & Ken Mantel

Tess & George Marino

Kermit McCarthy & Maria Hein

Gary McDonald & Barbara Holisky

Debra Meisinger & Barry Buchanan

Patricia Morris-Rader

Martin C. Müller

Beverly & Richard North

Beverly Ormseth

Barry Pelzner & Deborah Pollack

Charley Peterson & Susan Sater

David K. and Lisa B. Platt

Family Fund of OCF*

Susan & Lawrence Rein

Woody & Rae Richen

Charles & Selene Robinowitz

Dr. Howard Rosenbaum & Dr. Marcia Kahn

Kathy Sabel

Chamber Music Northwest receives support from the Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency funded by the State of Oregon and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Meredith Savery

Cathrina & Jean-Pierre Sevos

David Staehely

Mike & Judy Stoner

Michael & Patricia Sullivan

Bruce Weber

William Wells

Kathleen Worley

Estin & Esther Yang

Mort Zalutsky

Anonymous Friends of CMNW (4)

Allegro ($500-$999)

Eleanor Adelman

Angela Allen & Jan van Santen

Scott & Margaret Arighi

Robin Bacon-Shone

Louis Baslaw & Anne Conway

John & Claudette Beahrs

Jerry Bobbe

Fred & Betty Brace

Celia Brandt

Elizabeth Carnes

Yin-Chien Chen

Cynthia Chilton

Joan Davis

Drs. Barry DeGregorio & Judy Holeva

Allen Dobbins

Carole Douglass & William Pressly

Kay L. Doyle

Marco Escalante & Dongni Li

Ola Fincke

Panos Fourtounis & Carl Herko

Harold Goldstein & Carol Streeter

Kirk Hall

Thomas A. Hansen

Kimberly Hauze & Glenn LeBrasseur

Nancy & David Hill

Karen Howe & James Fitzgerald

Sherene Huntzinger

Cecily Johns

Dr. & Mrs. Peter J. Kane

Robert Kerr

Katherine King

Adela & Dick Knight

Barbara Kommer & Kurt Koenig

Timothy J. Lafolette

Paul Lambertsen

Sally & Bob Landauer

Thad & Terry Langford

Susan & Robert Leeb

Leslie Lehmann & Clark Worth

Carol Schnitzer Lewis Fund of OCF*

Jerry & Gayle Marger

M. & L. Marks Family Fund of OCF*

Becki Marsh & Wink Gross

Michael Mase & Alan Winders

Gregg McCarty & Karen Henell

Mary Meyer

Noreen Murdock & Grant Linsell

Ralph & Susan Nelson

Susan Olson & Bill Nelson

Robert & Rachel Papkin

Greg Phillips

Marcia & Robert Popper

Judy Rice

Dave & Cheryl Richardson

Philip Riedel

Katherine Saitas & Will Mowe

Robert & Judith Scholz

Diana & Hal Scoggins

David Shipley

Jinny Shipman & Dick Kaiser

Carolyn Smith & Neil Soiffer

Sue Stegmiller & Bill Joy

Sarah R. Taylor

Joyce Tolley

Liz Wehrli

Catrin & Mark Williams

Bruce & Susan Winthrop

Scott Young & Carla Hansel

Cantabile

($250-$499)

A & M Family Fund

Nan & Greg Anderson

Ruby Apsler

Robert R. Aptekar

Elizabeth Arch

Tom & Dorothy Atwood

Barbara Backstrand

Patti Baker & Judy Richter

Elizabeth & J. Bruce Bell

David & Moira Garvey Bell

Viktors Berstis & Sylvia Gray

Robert & Gail Black

George & Annis Bleeke

Jan & Diana Boldt

Jerry & Amy Brem

Cheryl & Stephen Campbell

John Carollo

Bruce Clawson

Elinor & Martin Colman

Deborah K. Coonan

Devereaux Dion

David & Wendy Doerner

Cynthia K. Doran

Stephen & Janet Elder

Arthur & Margianne Erickson

Bonnie Garrett

Andra Georges & Timothy Shepard

Nancy & Robert Greiff

David Griffiths

Thomas M. Hard

Ulrich H. Hardt & Karen Johnson

Miriam & David Hertz

Vivian Hou

Linda Hutchins & John Montague

Michael Johnson

Jean Kempe-Ware

Robert Kim

Fred Kirchhoff & Ron Simonis

Michelle Ladd

Robert Lane & Tom Cantrell

Alan Levin

Henry Louderbough

Amelia Lukas

B. Merrill

Gary Miller & Dell Ann Dyar

The Millerkamp Fund

Ann Morgan

Gregory & Sonya Morgansen

Sarah & Richard Munro

Randall Nelson

Elsa Ostergaard

Walter & Susan Piepke

Howard Pifer III & Ellen Macke

Ruth & Charles Poindexter

Norma Reich

Betty & Jacob Reiss

Michael & Susan Richmond

Earl Robicheaux & Susanna Duke

Ruth Robinson

Shirley Roffe

Ellen F. Rosenblum & Richard H.

Meeker

Janet Schmitt

Dick & Sue Schubert

James & Judith Seubert

Lane & Francine Shetterly

Jim & Charlotte Skuster

Peter & Gillian Smith

Mardy & Hank Stevens

Donald & Roslyn Sutherland

Leslie & Scott Tuomi

Jan Warrington

Jean Wu

Merri Souther Wyatt

Deborah Zita & Maryka Biaggio

Anonymous Friends of CMNW (5)

* A Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation

In Memoriam

Lucille Anderson Barker

Bryce Barker

Nancy Bragdon

Barbara Ruben & Jeff Hammarlund

Jill Peacock

David Bragdon & Andrea Vannelli

William “Bill” Haden

Bill & Diana Dameron

Christine Farrington

Jim & Anne Holtz

George Herrmann

Diane M. Herrmann

Sue Horn-Caskey

Rick Caskey

Nancy Kieburtz

Miriam & David Hertz

Christine Kim

Robert Kim

Leanne MacColl

Ben Merrill & Steve Giles

Eileen Markson

Gregg McCarty & Karen Henell

Stephen “Steve” McCarthy

Maria Hein

Lucinda Parker McCarthy

Joan Montague

Tom R. Anderson

Janice Orloff

Ben Merrill & Steve Giles

Charles Peterson

Charley Peterson & Susan Sater

Marcia Popper

Kenneth Popper

Germaine R. Long

Jeffrey Knapp

Suzanne Rague

William Wells

John Rau

Marie Rau

Bill Savery

Ben Merrill & Steve Giles

John Shipley

David Shipley

Craig Smith

Constance A. Hammond

Per Sweetman

Lucile Gauger

Lynne Wehrman

Ronald Zaraza

George Wellington

Ray Tabata

In Honor of

Bill & Diana Dameron

Barbara Epstien & Julian Gray

Karen Deveney

Drs. Bonnie & Pete Reagan

Allen Dobbins

Deborah Warner

Bonnie Garrett

Tom & Marcia Glas-Hochstettler

Mulvey Johnson

Debra Meisinger & Barry Buchanan

Nicole Lane

Mary Franklin

Linda Magee

Jim & Judy Seubert

Alice & Michael Powell

Meredith Savery

Leslie Tuomi

Judy Rice

Ravi Vedanayagam

Linda Georges

Thomas & Sheila Smith

Carolyn Winch

David K. & Lisa B. Platt Family Fund of OCF*

Bring New Music to Life—Join Our Commissioning Club!

Love discovering fresh, powerful chamber music before anyone else? Chamber Music Northwest’s Commissioning Club is your backstage pass to the future of music!

As a member, you’ll join a passionate group of music lovers who help shape tomorrow’s repertoire. With a special three-year commitment of $250+ per year (in addition to your annual gift), you’ll have a hand in selecting and supporting the creation of a brand-new work each season.

Each fall, members meet with Artistic Director Soovin Kim to explore an exciting shortlist of composers. After hearing about their visions and music, you help choose who will be commissioned next.

Commissioning Club

Carl & Margery Abbott

Eleanor Adelman

Greg & Susan Aldrich

Carole Alexander

Laura Barton

Joseph & Corinne Christy

Linda S. Craig

Marilyn Crilley & George Rowbottom

Bill & Diana Dameron

Mary Dickson & Jerry Sunday

Ronnie-Gail Emden

& Andrew Wilson

Beth Fry

Kit Gillem

Harold Goldstein & Carol Streeter

Elinor Gollay

In Memoriam

With sadness, we note the passing of these CMNW family members over this past year. We will miss them, and we offer our sincere condolences to their families and friends.

Named Endowment Funds

But that’s just the beginning—Commissioning Club members get exclusive access to:

• Behind-the-scenes insights into the creative process

• Invitation to an exclusive rehearsal

• Meet and greet with the composer and musicians

This season, the Commissioning Club is supporting Iranian American composer Kian Ravaei and his vibrant new piece, iPod Variations, premiering July 10.

Whether you’re a longtime classical fan or just curious about how new music comes to life, the Commissioning Club is your invitation to be part of the journey. Join us— and help shape the sound of the future.

For information about how you can join the Commissioning Club, contact Sarah Taylor at 503-546-0184 or email saraht@cmnw.org

Diane M. Herrmann

Gary McDonald & Barbara Holisky

Richard & Linda Jenkins

Miyoung Kwak

Susan & Robert Leeb

Kay Mannion

Jerry & Gayle Marger

Debra Meisinger & Barry Buchanan

George & Deborah Olsen

Jon Dickinson

William "Bill" Haden

Gregory Hatton

Ivan Inger

Nancy Kieburtz

John Montague

Marcia Popper

Jeff & Kathleen Rubin

Peter & Ann van Bever

Ravi C. Vedanayagam & Ursula Luckert

Anonymous Friend of CMNW (2)

Special Thanks to Ellen Pullen’s family who made a Commissioning Club Gift in her memory.

Ellen Pullen

Carl Schnoor

Mike Truman

Gordon Ware

Lynne Werhman

Audrey Zalutsky

With deep gratitude we recognize the donors of the following Named Endowment Funds, which provide perpetual support for Chamber Music Northwest artists and programs. In this current 2024-2025 year, income from the following funds helped underwrite the activities shown below.

Bart Alexander Oboe Chair Fund

Oboist Titus Underwood

Boyce/Cabot Emerging Artist Fund

Young Artists Institute

Theodore & Celia Brandt Cello  and Violin Chair Funds

Protégé Artists the Opus13 Quartet

CMNW Commissioning Fund

New works by Sean Shepherd and Ethan Soledad

David Golub Piano Chair Fund

Pianist & harpsichordist Kit Armstrong

Ned & Sis Hayes Young Artist Fund

Protégé violinist Isabelle Ai Durrenberger & pianist Ryota Yamazaki

Mary-Claire King Flute Chair Fund

Flutist Emi Ferguson

Ronni Lacroute Young Artist Fund

Protégé Project & Young Artist Institute

Michael & Alice Powell Vocal Chair Fund

Mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron & soprano Hyunah Yu

David Shifrin Artistic Innovation Fund

New@Night Concert Series

David Shifrin Honorary Clarinet Chair Fund

WindSync educational residency

Stephen Swerling New Ventures Fund

Lost Freedom: A Memory with George Takei

Jean Vollum Piano Fund

Stewardship of CMNW’s Steinway Pianos

Whitsell Cello Fund

Cellist Paul Watkins

Nautilus Circle

Members of the Nautilus Circle share a deep belief in the future of chamber music. Through contributions to CMNW’s endowment or including CMNW in their estate plans, they help ensure that this beloved art form will thrive for generations to come. We are deeply grateful for their vision and for making the love of chamber music part of their legacy.

We invite YOU to join the Nautilus Circle!

It’s simple to join the Nautilus Circle—include Chamber Music Northwest as part of your will or estate plan and let us know when you do.

There are many ways to create your own musical legacy—through your will, a trust, naming CMNW as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy, and many more. We can help with clear, simple guidance on how you can leave a meaningful gift.

Please contact the Development Department at 503-546-0184 or development@cmnw.org for further information, and consult your tax advisor, or financial planner, to discover how to shape your legacy.

NAUTILUS

CIRCLE MEMBERS

Thank you to the following generous supporters who have included CMNW in their estate plans and/or made significant contributions to the CMNW Endowment Fund:

Carl Abbott & Margery Post Abbott

Acorn Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation

Carole Alexander

Scott & Margaret Arighi

Phoebe Atwood*

Laura L. Barber*

Laura J. Barton

Peter Bilotta & Shannon Bromenschenkel

Diane Boly

Daniel H. Boyce & Lilla Cabot

Theodore* & Celia Brandt

Evelyn Brzezinski

Marlene Burns & Jon Dickinson*

The Clark Foundation

Mathew A. & Roberta* Cohen

Maribeth W. Collins*

The Collins Foundation

Helen Corbett*

Bill & Diana Dameron

Karen & Cliff Deveney

Mary Dickson

William Dolan & Suzanne Bromschwig

Elaine Durst

Ronnie-Gail Emden & Andrew Wilson

John & Jane Emrick

Barbara Engel*

Don & Emilee Frisbee*

Doris S. Fulton*

Elizabeth & John Gray*

Susan W. Grayson

Howard Greisler & Elizabeth Hudson

Marilyn & Harold Hanson*

Robert & Janis Harrison

Ned & Sis Hayes*

James Kahan & Kathia Emery

Nancy Kieburtz

Paul L. King

Ronni Lacroute

Sally & Bob Landauer

Leslie Lehmann & Clark Worth

Dorothea Lensch*

Amelia Lukas

Leeanne G. MacColl*

Linda Magee

Steve* & Lucinda

Parker McCarthy

Dr. Louis* & Judy McCraw

Gary McDonald & Barbara Holisky

Nancie S. McGraw*

Betty A. Merten

William D. & Lois L. Miller

Wilfried &

Deanna Mueller-Crispin|

Janice Orloff*

Dolores Y. Owen*

Rev. Dr. Rodney &

Sandra Page

James* & Norma Pizza

Michael & Alice Powell

Ellen Pullen*

Judson Randall*

Konrad Reisner*

George & Claire Rives*

Ruth Robinson

Laurens & Judith Ruben

Gilbert & Thelma Schnitzer*

Mayer* & Janet Schwartz

Bill Scott & Kate Thompson

David Shifrin

Joan & John Shipley*

Jinny Shipman & Dick Kaiser

Al Solheim

Anne Stevenson

Stephen Swerling*

Hall Templeton*

Harry Turtledove*

Peter & Ann van Bever

Ravi Vedanayagam & Ursula Luckert

Jean Vollum*

Bruce Weber

Margaret (Peggy) Weil*

Judy Weinsoft*

Samuel C. Wheeler*/ Wheeler Foundation

William & Helen Jo Whitsell

Slate & Davida Wilson

Bruce & Susan Winthrop

Nancy & Herb Zachow

Anonymous friends of CMNW*(2)

*Recognized posthumously

Mt. Hood Investment Group

Confidence from a well known wealth management process

We proudly support Chamber Music Northwest and the joy music brings.

UBS Financial Services Inc.

760 Southwest Ninth Avenue Suite 2450 Portland, OR 97205 503-225-9204

855-380-3442

advisors.ubs.com/mhig

Young Artist Institute Circle

We are deeply grateful to the following generous donors for their major gifts in support of the Young Artist Institute:

The Acorn Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation

Carole Alexander

Dan Boyce & Lilla Cabot

Kennett F. Burnes

Marilyn Crilley & George Rowbottom

Bill & Diana Dameron

Elinor Gollay

Howard Greisler & Elizabeth Hudson

Betsy Hatton

Ronni Lacroute

Peter & Ann van Bever

Ravi Vedanayagam & Ursula Luckert

Slate & Davida Wilson

Anonymous Friend of CMNW

We established the Young Artist Institute Circle (YAI Circle) to give passionate supporters of music education a meaningful role in shaping the next generation of exceptional chamber musicians. This is your opportunity to make a lasting impact.

Each year, CMNW welcomes 16 high school-aged string players of extraordinary promise to the Summer Festival for a transformational experience. We offer this program to participants for free, thanks to the generosity of our donors and the members of the YAI Circle, covering over $10,000 per student in lessons, coaching, workshops with world-class faculty, performance opportunities, housing, meals, and even a bit of summer fun.

By joining the YAI Circle with a three-year pledge of $250 or more (above your regular gift), you're opening doors for a gifted student, and becoming a vital part of their journey as a musician and as a person.

As a YAI Circle member, you’ll enjoy special perks that keep you connected to the heart of the Institute (and don’t affect your tax-deductible gift): social events with YAI students and faculty, invitations to all student recitals, donor recognition, and the knowledge that you are starting a young artist’s journey on the right note.

Contact our Development Department to find out more: 503-546-0184 or development@cmnw.org.

Thank you 2025 YAI Circle members:

Carl Abbott & Margery Post Abbott

Richard & Kristin Angell

Laura J. Barton

Jan & Diana Boldt

Marlene Burns & Jon Dickinson

Mary Dickson & Jerry Sunday

Allen Dobbins

Ronnie-Gail Emden & Andrew Wilson

Jon R. Feldhausen

George Feldman

Beth Fry

Laura Gordon

David Greger

John & Judie Hammerstad

John & Linda Hardham

Ted Haskell & Mary Mears-Haskell

Diane M. Herrmann

Richard & Linda Jenkins

Lynne Johnson & Larry Madson

James Kahan & Kathia Emery

Dr. Howard Rosenbaum

& Dr. Marcia Kahn

Miyoung Kwak

Thad & Terry Langford

Leslie Lehmann & Clark Worth

Kay Mannion

Gary McDonald & Barbara Holisky

Gregory & Sonya Morgansen

Patricia Morris-Rader

Deborah & George Olsen

Rev. Dr. Rodney & Sandra Page

Charley Peterson & Susan Sater

Betty & Jacob Reiss

Jeff & Kathleen Rubin

Anne Stevenson

Kathleen Worley

Deborah Zita & Maryka Biaggio

Anonymous Friend of CMNW

Support our Advertisers

Did you know that the program magazine you are holding in your hands right now— chockful of illuminating program notes with the repertoire listings, musician biographies, sponsor and supporter gratitude, information about our myriad programs and offerings, and beautiful photos—is made possible by our advertisers? It is their purchase of advertising in this publication that pays for the entire printing costs of these program magazines.

These advertisers support the work of CMNW and are keen to talk to you. We hope you’ll take a good look at this list and make a point to support them with your business.

45th Parallel Universe

50plus Magazine

Aligned Artistry

All Classical Radio

Oregon ArtsWatch

Cappella Romana

Chatter PDX

City of Portland Arts Access Fund

Classical Ballet Academy’s Foster Theater

Classical Music Fests of the West

Delgani String Quartet

Devil's Food Catering

Fear No Music

Friends of Chamber Music

Hyatt House Portland/Downtown

Kerr Violins

Lewis & Clark College

Mark Spencer Hotel

Mirabella Portland

Music on the Strait

Metropolitan Youth Symphony

Nifelle Design—Fine Interiors

Olympic Music Festival

Orchestra Nova Northwest

Oregon Bach Festival

Oregon Ballet Theatre

Oregon Community Foundation

Oregon Humanities

Oregon Symphony

OrpheusPDX

Portland Baroque Orchestra

Portland Art Museum

Portland Japanese Garden

Portland Opera

Portland Piano International

PSU College of Liberal Arts

Portland Youth Philharmonic

Reed College Concerts & Events

Resonance Ensemble

Rose Villa Senior Living

Seattle Chamber Music Society

Siletz Bay Music Festival

Sunriver Music Festival

Terwilliger Plaza Retirement Community

The Oregonian

Third Angle New Music

Patricia Reser Center for the Arts

UBS Financial Services Inc./ Mt. Hood

Investment Group

Watermark Retirement Community

Willamette Valley Chamber Music

World Oregon

Brentano Quartet & Gloria Chien strings & piano • october 18

fleur barron/anthony mcgill/gloria chien trio voice, clarinet & piano • november 8

edgar meyer/tessa lark/joshua roman trio bass , violin & cello • january 10

Soovin Kim & Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė violin & piano • march 7

steven banks

baritone sax in recital january 29

Unheard Since 1897!

Loeffler’s forgotten Octet with david shifrin & Graeme Steele Johnson winds , harp & strings • march 28

bodyvox + CMNW dance & music collaboration TBA in april

EDUCATION & COMMUNITY EVENTS

For Our Community

You are invited to enjoy these FREE music-infused events from Chamber Music Northwest throughout our Summer Festival.

Young Artist Institute Pop-ups!

Students from CMNW’s Young Artist Institute will be doing short, “pop-up” performances on June 19 & 26 at public sites all around Portland and beyond! You can find them at Portland’s Central Library, The Nines, Powell’s City of Books, Oregon Historical Society, and so many more fun locations.

June 19 @ 1pm-4pm & June 26 @ 1pm-4pm | All over Portland! Visit CMNW.org and our social media channels for all the details.

Young Artist Virtuosi Showcases

You are invited to watch and support the incredible students of the Young Artist Institute as they grow with us this summer. The first three showcases will highlight solo repertoire. The final showcase features selections from string quartets and World Premieres of short, Bach-inspired mini quartets by students from Fear No Music’s Young Composers Project.

June 20 @ Noon | The Old Church

June 27 @ Noon | Sanctuary Hall, First Congregational UCC

June 29 @ 2pm | Kaul Auditorium, Reed College

FINALE CONCERT with Fear No Music

July 5 @ 7pm | Kaul Auditorium, Reed College Sponsored by the Acorn Fund of OCF

Outdoor Community Concerts

Free Community Concerts Media Sponsor

Pack a picnic and bring your own seats to enjoy these fun and family-friendly outdoor concerts! You’ll see the famed SoundsTruck NW, the Northwest’s premier mobile concert stage, in action for the July 3, 15 & 25 performances!

Mobile Concert Stage sponsored by SoundsTruck NW

July 3 @ 7pm | University of Portland featuring Young Artist Institute

July 11 @ 7pm | Chehalem Cultural Center – LaJoie Theatre (Newberg) featuring Opus13

July 15 @ 7pm | North Clackamas Park featuring pianist Ryota Yamazaki & violinist Isabelle Ai Durrenberger

July 25 @ 7pm | Vancouver Arts Hub (Vancouver) featuring the Columbia River Brass Quintet in partnership with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Media Sponsor:

Free Educational Events

Masterclasses

Witness our 2025 Summer Festival artists coach the next generation of musicians in our community, including many from our Young Artist Institute! Can’t attend in person? These will be available to stream after the festival in our online Masterclass Library at CMNW.org.

Mago Hunt Recital Hall, University of Portland

June 23 @ Noon | Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola (with YAI students)

Sponsored by Joan Levers & David Manhart

Lincoln Recital Hall, Rm. 75, Portland State University

June 30 @ Noon | Titus Underwood, oboe

July 7 @ Noon | Tara Helen O’Connor, flute

Sponsored by Marvin & Abby Dawson

July 21 @ Noon | David McCarroll, violin

Lincoln Hall, Rm. 225, Portland State University

July 14 @ Noon | Alistair Coleman, composition

Open Rehearsals

Wednesdays, June 25 & July 9, 16, 23 @11am | Kaul Auditorium, Reed College

Go behind the scenes and observe CMNW’s world-class musicians working together to put the finishing touches on music for upcoming performances. An informal Q&A follows the rehearsal. No open rehearsal July 3

Series sponsored by George & Deborah Olsen

June 25 | J. S. BACH Brandenburg Concertos with CMNW Summer Festival Artists, led by Shunske Sato (violin)

July 9 | KIAN RAVAEI iPod Variations for Flute, Violin & Electronics with Tara Helen O’Connor (flute) and Alexi Kenney (violin)

July 16 | ALISTAIR COLEMAN Ghost Art Canticles for String Quartet and Double Bass with Nina Bernat (bass) and Viano String Quartet

July 23 | BRAHMS Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major with David McCarroll (violin), Soovin Kim (violin), Beth Guterman Chu (viola), Burchard Tang (viola), Zlatomir Fung (cello), and Paul Watkins (cello)

Classical Music Festivals of the West 2025

CALIFORNIA

Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music cabrillomusic.org

Santa Cruz, CA

July 27-August 10

Carmel Bach Festival bachfestival.org

Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA

July 12-26

La Jolla Music Society SummerFest

TheConrad.org

La Jolla, CA

July 25-August 23

Bravo! Vail Music Festival

BravoVail.org

Vail, CO

June 19-July 31

Colorado Music Festival coloradomusicfestival.org

Boulder, CO

July 3-August 3

Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra Festival mainlymozart.org/allstar

San Diego, CA

June 18-28

Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival and Institute musicatmenlo.org

Atherton, CA

July 18-August 9

IDAHO

Strings Music Festival stringsmusicfestival.com

Steamboat Springs, CO

June 27-August 24

COLORADO OREGON WYOMING

Sun Valley Music Festival svmusicfestival.org

Sun Valley, ID

July 28-August 21

NEW MEXICO

Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival santafechambermusic.org

Santa Fe, NM

July 13-August 18

Chamber Music Northwest cmnw.org

Portland, OR

June 28-July 27

Oregon Bach Festival OregonBachFestival.org

Eugene, OR

June 27-July 13

WASHINGTON

Seattle Chamber Music Society Summer Festival seattlechambermusic.org

Seattle, WA

July 6-August 1

Grand Teton Music Festival gtmf.org

Jackson Hole, WY

July 3-August 23

Photo: Tom Cohen

Photo: Eric Berlin

Photo: Jenna Poppe

Photo: Chris Lee

Photo: J. Kat Photography

Photo: Tom Emerson

AH, BACH!

(I’m partial to the fugue)

by Peter J. Bilotta

One of my all-time favorite episodes of the classic TV series M*A*S*H is “Love Story” from 1973. Coaching a lovelorn Corporal Radar O’Reilly in pursuit of a new relationship, Hawkeye and B. J. train the hapless farm boy Radar up in faking intellectual pursuits to appeal to a new nurse. If music comes up, they tell him, all you have to say is, “Ah, Bach!” and “I’m partial to the fugue.”

It works! Nurse Anderson does actually invite Radar to her tent to listen to her record collection. Works for a while, that is, until he falls asleep when she wants to talk about classical music.

That Bach became Radar’s go-to pick-up line in one of the most popular television series of all time was anything but inevitable. Despite his formidable catalogue of hundreds of brilliantly innovative cantatas, concertos, preludes, partitas, fugues, and choral masterpieces, after his death, Bach and his works faded into relative obscurity in a backwater of musical history—much like our intrepid heroes of a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in the Korean War. It was only in the 19th century that his genius was rediscovered and fully recognized, thanks in part to composers like Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann, who revived interest in his works. If not for this, Radar’s line could very well have been, “Ah, Scarlatti!”—and I don’t think he would have gotten the girl.

What so inspired Mendelssohn, Schumann, and other Classical and Romantic composers about Bach was a fascination with his ability to weave complex musical ideas into structures that were equally entertaining, intellectually profound, and…emotionally resonant. Mozart and Beethoven were deeply inspired by Bach’s music, particularly his contrapuntal techniques and harmonic innovations. Mozart’s fascination with Bach’s fugues is evident in many of his works, and Beethoven often turned to Bach’s contrapuntal style to develop his own ideas. In fact, Beethoven’s later symphonies, with their complexity and depth, owe a significant debt to Bach’s influence.

Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and many other composers have found endless inspiration in Bach’s mastery of counterpoint: the art of combining multiple independent voices into a harmonious and cohesive whole. Works like his The Well-Tempered Clavier, Art of Fugue, and Musical Offering showcase his unparalleled skill in this regard, employing complex contrapuntal structures that engage us both intellectually and emotionally. The fugue—a form characterized by its intricate imitative texture—became one of Bach’s trademarks, with each voice interacting in a sophisticated and often mathematically precise manner.

"What so inspired Mendelssohn, Schumann, and other Classical and Romantic composers about Bach was a fascination with his ability to weave complex musical ideas into structures that were equally entertaining, intellectually profound, and… emotionally resonant."

In addition to counterpoint, composers have long drawn on Bach’s sound-breaking harmonic innovations. His works demonstrate a deep understanding of harmony and the ability to create rich, complex chord progressions that give his music an emotional depth that transcends its formal structure. For example, in his Mass in B Minor—which we will hear on July 6—Bach’s harmonies evoke a range of emotions, from the grandeur of the Kyrie to the intimate tenderness of the Agnus Dei. It’s this expressive use of harmony that fuels the emotional power of music across time and today.

Bach was also a master innovator of form that composers have copied ever since. His compositions span a variety of musical genres, from church cantatas and oratorios to instrumental works like the Brandenburg Concertos and the Partitas for solo violin, which Artistic Director Soovin Kim performed for us in April. For instance, his concertos are often written in a three-movement structure—fastslow-fast—yet each movement is infused with distinctive character and innovative details. The Brandenburg Concertos that begin this year’s festival, in particular, highlight Bach’s ability to blend virtuosity with thematic development to create an exhilarating musical experience. No wonder his concerto form has been mimicked by classical, jazz, and popular musicians ever since.

Perhaps the most extraordinary echo of Bach across time, however, is his music’s ability to resonate on a deeply human level. His works are often imbued with a powerful emotional and spiritual dimension, such as his St. Matthew Passion—a monumental expression of devotion, suffused with a sense of solemnity and hope. Bach’s universal themes of suffering, redemption, and human experience forever changed what music is and what it means in our lives. In later episodes of M*A*S*H, it is this quality of Bach’s music that makes it a refuge from the horrors of war for another character, Charles Winchester, and the anchor to his humanity.

"Bach’s universal themes of suffering, redemption, and human experience forever changed what music is and what it means in our lives. In later episodes of M*A*S*H, it is this quality of Bach’s music that makes it a refuge from the horrors of war for another character, Charles Winchester, and the anchor to his humanity."

We continue to hear these echoes in the music of our era. Twentieth-century innovators such as Stravinsky and Schoenberg drew upon Bach’s innovations in structure and form, integrating them into their own groundbreaking styles. Jazz greats Jacques Loussier and John Lewis reinterpreted his works through improvisation and swing, drawing inspiration from his complex harmonies and improvisational elements. The minimalist movement—led by Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Adams—is also influenced by Bach’s repetitive structures and rhythmic patterns. Even in contemporary rock and popular music, Bach’s legacy resounds in the use of intricate melodies and harmonic sophistication. From the Beatles’ All You Need Is Love and Procol Harem’s A Whiter Shade of Pale, to Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance and Brazilian rapper MC Fioti’s Bum Bum Tam Tam…echoes of Bach are almost inescapable in music today. Even the M*A*S*H theme, Johnny Mandel’s Suicide is Painless (and just about every rock/pop song ever written) follows Bach’s A-B-A structure of verse-chorus-verse.

Today, five decades hence, M*A*S*H remains a cultural phenomenon and one of the most popular and influential TV shows of all time, with its finale being the highest-rated broadcast series episode in history. Quite impressive as television shows go, but “a whiter shade of pale” compared to the enduring influence of Bach’s musical genius, and the power of his music to transcend the limitations of time and place. Bach’s influence continues to inspire and challenge musicians, composers, and audiences, reminding us of the boundless possibilities of human creativity to echo through time.

"Even in contemporary rock and popular music, B*A*C*H’s legacy is as diverse and memorable as the cast of M*A*S*H. From the Beatles’ All You Need Is Love and Procol Harem’s A Whiter Shade of Pale, to Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance and Brazilian rapper MC Fioti’s Bum Bum Tam Tam… echoes of Bach are almost inescapable in music today."

YOUNG ARTIST INSTITUTE

Chamber Music Northwest’s Young Artist Institute

Launched in 2022, Chamber Music Northwest’s Young Artist Institute (YAI) is an intensive education program for 16 talented string players from around the world, ages 14-18. For the 2025 cohort, the three-week program is held from June 14 to July 6 on the University of Portland campus. During and just prior to CMNW’s Summer Festival, the young musicians are featured in performances throughout the community, including free showcases, pop-ups around town, pre-concert preludes, and on the SoundsTruck mobile concert stage for a community concert.

These young musicians work with YAI faculty daily and have the unique opportunity to perform in dozens of free performances— on stages, lobbies, and at pop-up engagements—as soloists and in quartets throughout the community. The students will experience tremendous growth performing both solo works and string quartets for audiences large and small.

The violinists, violists, and cellists selected for the YAI program are among the top high school string players in North America and beyond. Students in the 2025 YAI cohort have won numerous competitions around the world and have soloed with orchestras around the U.S. and Europe. They hail from prestigious preparatory programs including New England Conservatory, Royal Conservatory in Toronto, San Francisco Conservatory, Colburn Academy, The Juilliard School, and Portland’s own Portland Youth Philharmonic.

Hand-in-hand with the YAI program is the CMNW Collaborative Piano Fellowship. This fellowship program features the talents of two exceptional graduate-level pianists. With the 2025 cohort, Cynthia Tseng and Elgin Lee will rehearse and perform with the young artists, deepening their learning as collaborative pianists.

“Supporting and educating young artists has been at the core of our work at Music@Menlo (where Gloria was institute director), and at the New England Conservatory and Yale School of Music (where Soovin teaches),” said Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim, CMNW Artistic Directors. “This Young Artist Institute is a dream that continues to grow and thrive. We know it will continue to affect the lives of the extraordinary students, and our CMNW audiences, alike. Our hope is to inspire and invigorate the love of chamber music through these bright, shining musical talents!”

We invite you to turn to page 13 to see the supporters of the Young Artist Institute Circle who directly underwrite the YAI program and make this transformative opportunity possible.

Institute Young Artists

Kai Isoke Ali-Landing (16) Violin • Chicago, IL & Melbourne, FL

Christie Cheung (15) Violin • Toronto, Canada*

Peyton Crony (17) Viola • Rochester, New York

Luke D'Silva (18) Viola • Portland, Oregon

Caitlin Enright (17) Cello • Chatham, New Jersey*

Griffin Frost (17) Cello • New York City, New York*

Daphna Raveh Glassman (16) Viola • Sunnyvale, California

Aiden Kim (16) Cello • San Jose, California

Minji Kim (18) Violin • Ann Arbor, Michigan

Sarah J. Lee (18) Cello • Portland, Oregon

Katie Liu (17) Violin • Portland, Oregon*

Aaron Ma (16) Violin • Palo Alto, California

Isabel Jing Metz (16) Violin • Alfred Station, New York

Tokuji Miyasaka (18) Violin • Pullman, Washington*

Leo Trajano (17) Violin • Hillsboro, Oregon

Andie Zhu (17) Viola • Lexington, Massachusetts

*returning YAI student

Institute Faculty

Soovin Kim • Violin Instructor

Jessica Lee • Violin Instructor

Wenting Kang • Viola Instructor

Edward Arron • Cello Instructor

Peter Stumpf • Cello Instructor

Alyssa Tong • Young Artist Institute Manager

David Paligora & Hannah Wendorf • Resident Mentors & Production Assistants

Maureen Sheehan • Operations Associate

Collaborative Piano Fellowship

A critical person in a young string player’s development is the pianist they collaborate with for concertos, sonatas, and other pieces that include piano. The pianist provides the string player with a sense of rhythm, harmony, and texture. We are glad to be able to offer the CMNW Collaborative Piano Fellowship that brings the talents of two exceptional graduate student pianists. This year, we welcome Cynthia Tseng and Elgin Lee who will rehearse, perform, and learn alongside the young artists to refine their skills in the challenging art of collaborative performance with a soloist.

Collaborative Piano Fellows

Elgin Lee

Hometown: Twin Cities, Minnesota

Degrees from Previous Schools: Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at University of Minnesota, Master of Music in Collaborative Piano at University of Minnesota, Graduate Diploma in Collaborative Piano at New England Conservatory of Music (NEC), Graduate Certification in Collaborative Piano at NEC

Current Program: Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano at NEC

Cynthia Tseng

Hometown: Taiwan

Degrees from Previous Schools: Master of Music at New England Conservatory of Music (NEC)

Current Program: Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano at NEC

CATCH FREE YOUNG ARTIST INSTITUTE PERFORMANCES!

Young Artist Institute Community Performances

SHOWCASE #1 • FRI, June 20 @ Noon | The Old Church

SHOWCASE #2 • FRI, June 27 @ Noon | Sanctuary Hall, First Congregational UCC

SHOWCASE #3 • SUN, June 29 @ 2pm | Kaul Auditorium, Reed College

FINALE SHOWCASE • SAT, July 5 @ 7pm Kaul Auditorium, Reed College

Featuring new compositions by Fear No Music’s Young Composer Project performed by YAI students. Sponsored by the Acorn Fund of OCF

YAI Around Town

POP-UP PERFORMANCES • THU, June 19 & THU, June 26 1–4pm with YAI soloists & pianists FIND THEM at the Central Library, Powell's City of Books, Oregon Historical Society, The Nines, and so many more fun locations!

COMMUNITY CONCERT • THU, July 3 @ 7pm University of Portland with SoundsTruck NW

PRELUDE PERFORMANCES • MON, June 30 & TUE, July 1

Arrive early for these mainstage concerts to enjoy a free, pre-concert performance. Experience the joy and virtuosity of the next generation!

2025 PROTÉGÉ PROJECT

2025 Protégé Project Artists

Chamber Music Northwest’s Protégé Project is a world-class professional residency for emerging and well-on-their-way musicians—soloists, ensembles, composers—that cultivates and encourages the growth of chamber music’s rising stars. Protégé Project Artists are featured in CMNW Summer Festival concerts, and present music engagements in the community.

Since its founding in 2010, Chamber Music Northwest’s Protégé Project has played a key role in launching the professional careers of dozens of America’s finest young chamber musicians including the now internationally renowned ensembles Imani Winds, Dover Quartet, JasperString Quartet, Akropolis Reed Quintet, Kenari Quartet, and Viano String Quartet*—all whom we’ve delightedly brought back to Portland in later years.

Individual artists have earned impressive accolades since their protégé time with us. Recent examples include: violinists such as Benjamin Beilman*, Nikki Chooi, Bella Hristova, and Anna Lee; pianists Yekwon Sunwoo*, Yevgeny Yontov, and CMNW Artistic Director Gloria Chien*; cellist Zlatomir Fung*; bassist Nina Bernat*; composers Andy Akiho, Alistair Coleman*, Kian Ravaei*, Chris Rogerson, and Gabriella Smith*; and many others.

The 2025 Summer Festival Protégé Project Artists are violinist Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, pianist Ryota Yamazaki, and for a second year, string quartet Opus13. These incredible artists will be with us for several weeks over the course of the festival, do look out for them performing in several concerts, across multiple weeks.

*See these returning Protégé Project Artists back this summer

Ryota Yamazaki

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger

What if ?

What if your idea ignited a program that brought music classes back to all Oregon schools?

What if you funded a scholarship that launched the next generation of Oregonian creativity?

What if your generosity helped keep the arts alive, and even thriving, in your community?

And what if you gave yourself the audacity to ponder how to make Oregon even better?

What if your head talked to your heart and they agreed to dream even bigger?

Maybe you start a scholarship. Or launch a nonpro t. Become a volunteer.

Or maybe you start a conversation with us, your statewide community foundation, and together we turn your ‘What ifs’ into powerful ‘Why nots.’

What if you joined us?

2025 COMMISSIONED & WORLD PREMIERE COMPOSERS

SEAN SHEPHERD

Latticework for Violin and Cello (2025)

CMNW Co-Commission • World Premiere

Shawn Shepherd’s Latticework has been co-commissioned by CMNW with the support of the CMNW Commissioning Fund.

KIAN RAVAEI

iPod Variations for Flute, Violin and Electronics (2025)

CMNW Commission • World Premiere

Kian Ravaei’s piece was commissioned by CMNW’s Commissioning Club.

ETHAN SOLEDAD

Poems From Angel Island for Piano Quintet (2025)

CMNW Co-Commission • World Premiere

Ethan Soledad’s Poems from Angel Island was commissioned by Emerging Voices, a collaboration by Chamber Music Northwest, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and Seattle Chamber Music Society supporting young, emerging composers of color.

ALISTAIR COLEMAN

Ghost Art Canticles for String Quartet and Double Bass (2025)

CMNW Commission • World Premiere

Alistair Coleman’s Ghost Art Canticles was commissioned by CMNW with generous support from Ravi Vedanayagam & Ursula Luckert.

DAVID SCHIFF

Divertimento from Gimpel the Fool (1982)

CMNW Commission

David Schiff’s divertimento from his opera, Gimpel the Fool, was commissioned in 1982 by CMNW. Former Artistic Director, David Shifrin, asked David to rearrange musical highlights into an instrumental divertimento. CMNW premiered that divertimento arrangement for CMNW’s 1983 Summer Festival. David first wrote this piece as an opera in 1975, which premiered in NYC before he moved to Portland. That opera was then revised, and a new version premiered at the 92nd Street Y. We are proud to present his work in this year’s festival and honor his 80th birthday this year!

To learn more about these composers, please see their biography listings in the Festival Artists & Composers section of this program.

Rejuvenate your spirit at Portland Japanese Garden. Visit today at japanesegarden.org

William Sutton

VOCES8

Oct 15 | Vocal Arts Series

Esmé Quar t e t

Oct 20 & 21 | Classic Series

Invoke

Clarice Assad, piano/vocals

Nov 2 | Beyond Classic Series

Hermi t age Piano Trio

Nov 3 & 4 | Classic Series

Trio Mediæval

Dec 3 | Vocal Arts Series

Takács Quartet

Dec 8 & 9 | Classic Series

Axelle Fanyo , soprano

Julius Drake, pianis t

Jan 25 | Vocal Arts Series

Cuar t e t o Casals

Feb 2 & 3 | Classic Series

Ruckus Davóne Tines, bass-baritone

Feb 5 | Special Event

Tambuco

Feb 22 | Beyond Classic Series

Quarteto Nuevo

Mar 8 | Beyond Classic Series

Pavel Haas Quartet

Mar 16 & 17 | Classic Series

Huntertones

Apr 12 | Beyond Classic Series

Chanticleer Apr

“It doesn’t get much better than the Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival!” - NW Reverb

A feast for the senses…

August 2-17, 2025

Iconic classics by Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn & Schubert in conversation with exciting new works by Shelley Washington, Kian Ravaei & 2025 Composer-in-Residence Akshaya Tucker.

Performances at extraordinary Oregon wineries Appassionata Estate, Sokol Blosser & Archery Summit include signature wine flights paired with each program.

Three weekends of electrifying chamber music in Oregon wine country

Find tickets & more at www.WVChamberMusic.org

Featured musicians include Jeremy Denk, Richard O’Neill, Noah Geller, Kristin Lee, and Efe Baltacıgil

August 30 - September 6

Only 4 hours from Portland!

Founded in 2018 by violinist James Garlick and violist Richard O’Neill, Music on the Strait celebrates chamber music on Washington’s beautiful Olympic Peninsula.

WITH US!

• Orchestra, Jazz, strings, winds, & percussion ensembles

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• Five levels of Music Theory classeslearn to compose!

• Weekend rehearsals in Portland and Hillsboro

• Audition any time during the season

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LEARN MORE & REGISTER: PLAYMYS.ORG

Saturday, June 28

Kaul Auditorium | 4pm

Silver Sponsor:

Opening Night: Complete Brandenburg Concertos - Part

J. S. BACH (1685–1750)

Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BWV 1046 • (21’)

I. [Allegro]

II. Adagio

III. Allegro

IV. Menuetto – Trio – Polonaise

CAROLINE SHAW (b. 1982)

Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat Major, BWV 1051 • (17’)

I. [Allegro]

II. Adagio ma non tanto

III. Allegro

I

Shunske Sato, piccolo violin

Titus Underwood, oboe

Matthew Hudgens, oboe

Sam Rockwood, oboe

Kai Rocke, bassoon

Jeff Garza, horn

Jenna Breen, horn

Adriane Post, violin

Johanna Novom, violin

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola

Paul Dwyer, cello

Jordan Frazier, bass

Joyce Chen, harpsichord

Shunske Sato, viola

Wenting Kang, viola

Edward Arron, cello

Marilyn de Oliveira, cello

Paul Dwyer, cello

Jordan Frazier, bass

Joyce Chen, harpsichord

INTERMISSION

Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings (2023) • (13')

I. Warm, but distant.

II. Morning bird.

III. Gangbusters.

J. S. BACH

Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047 • (12')

I. [Allegro]

II. Andante

III. Allegro assai

Sunmi Chang, violin

Jessica Lee, violin

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola

Marilyn de Oliveira, cello

Braizahn Jones, bass

Kit Armstrong, harpsichord

Shunske Sato, violin

Emi Ferguson, flute

Titus Underwood, oboe

John Thiessen, trumpet

Adriane Post, violin

Johanna Novom, violin

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola

Paul Dwyer, cello

Jordan Frazier, bass

Kit Armstrong, harpsichord

It is an ironic quirk of music history that Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, written almost 300 years ago, have become widely known only in the last 70 years.

The Brandenburgs’ popularity is a relatively recent phenomenon; they were not published until 1850, a century after Bach’s death, and J. N. Forkel, Bach’s first biographer, made no mention of them in his 1802 biography. In the 1950s, when musicians began paying serious attention to early music performance practice, the artful, virtuosic Brandenburgs first reached a wide audience, through the medium of vinyl records.

It is also interesting that although the Brandenburgs are some of the most frequently recorded of all Bach’s music, they are not often performed live, and many people who love them have never heard them in performance. One possible reason is the concertos’ unusual instrumentation: in addition to strings, the Brandenburgs call for a violino piccolo, three oboes, a bassoon, two recorders, two flutes, two horns, a clarino trumpet, and a harpsichord. Whether played on modern or period instruments, the Brandenburgs present formidable challenges to any musician.

Concertos, which originated in Italy, occupy a central place in Baroque music; as the largest instrumental genre, they require more musicians and allow composers access to a variety of instruments and timbres. Italians Antonio Vivaldi, who composed more than 500 concertos, and Tomaso Albinoni emerged as masters of the genre. Bach first encountered concertos while studying some of Vivaldi’s scores, and Vivaldi’s influence on Bach’s concertos is clear, particularly in the use of ritornello (Italian for “little return”). Ritornello structure alternates passages of basic thematic material, played by the full ensemble, with contrasting solo or duet episodes containing new music unrelated to the original theme. Bach employs ritornello in more than half of all the movements in the Brandenburgs and features it in all the concertos’ opening movements.

The First Concerto is the only one of the six which contains four movements. It also features a tiny violin, known as the violino piccolo (a standard-size violin is usually used when played on modern instruments) as one of the solo instruments, along with two horns, oboe, bassoon, and a string quartet. As with the other five concerti, the first movement is written in ritornello form, clearly contrasting the basic thematic material with solo passages. The exquisitely beautiful sadness of the Adagio contrasts well with the exuberance of the following Allegro, while the closing Menuet again features the violino piccolo.

The Sixth Concerto showcases the homogenous sound of a strings-only ensemble, minus violins. Here the violas, with their warm intimate timbre, take on the role of “first fiddle.” The opening movement features the two violas in canon within the larger ritornello. The central Adagio showcases the two violas and a cello, accompanied by continuo (harpsichord and bass), and is the most inward-looking of all the movements. The off-beat syncopation of the final Allegro features the two violas in a bouncy dialogue juxtaposed with phrases of cascading notes that drive the music forward to an energetic conclusion.

The opening movement of the Second Concerto is probably the best-known of all the Brandenburgs, with its virtuosic trumpet solo and irrepressible joy. The trumpet rests in the reflective Andante, while the recorders, oboe, and string quartet take center stage. In the Allegro assai, the trumpet rejoins the other soloists, bringing the concerto to a triumphant conclusion.

In a life devoted primarily to church music, Bach did not often get the opportunity to write secular instrumental music. With the Brandenburgs, Bach used his consummate skills as a composer to create works full of expressive passages and timeless originality.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Caroline Shaw’s Concerto for harpsichord and strings was commissioned to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Byron Schenkman & Friends (now Sound Salon). Shaw has described this work as “a wild, weird, surrealist story” using the musical language of J. S. Bach and his contemporaries to construct an alternative reality.

—© Byron Schenkman

Saturday, June 28

Kaul Auditorium | 8pm

Gold Sponsor:

Opening Night: Complete Brandenburg Concertos - Part II

J. S. BACH (1685–1750)

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048 • (12’)

I. [Allegro]

II. Adagio

III. Allegro

GABRIELLA SMITH (b. 1991)

Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050 • (20’)

I. Allegro

II. Affettuoso

III. Allegro

Shunske Sato, violin

Adriane Post, violin

Johanna Novom, violin

Paul Neubauer, viola

Wenting Kang, viola

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola

Edward Arron, cello

Marilyn de Oliveira, cello

Paul Dwyer, cello

Jordan Frazier, bass

Joyce Chen, harpsichord

Shunske Sato, violin

Joshua Smith, flute

Adriane Post, violin

Paul Neubauer, viola

Paul Dwyer, cello

Jordan Frazier, bass

Kit Armstrong, harpsichord

INTERMISSION

Brandenburg Interstices (2012; 2023) • (13’)

J. S. BACH

Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049 • (17’)

I. Allegro

II. Andante

III. Presto

Emi Ferguson, flute

Sunmi Chang, violin

Jessica Lee, violin

Paul Neubauer, viola

Marilyn de Oliveira, cello

Braizahn Jones, bass

Joyce Chen, harpsichord

Shunske Sato, violin

Emi Ferguson, flute

Joshua Smith, flute

Adriane Post, violin

Johanna Novom, violin

Paul Neubauer, viola

Paul Dwyer, cello

Jordan Frazier, bass

Joyce Chen, harpsichord

It is an ironic quirk of music history that Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, written 300 years ago, have become widely known only in the last 70 years.

The Brandenburgs’ popularity is a relatively recent phenomenon; they were not published until 1850, a century after Bach’s death, and J. N. Forkel, Bach’s first biographer, made no mention of them in his 1802 biography. In the 1950s, when musicians began paying serious attention to early music performance practice, the artful, virtuosic Brandenburgs first reached a wide audience, through the medium of vinyl records.

It is also interesting that although the Brandenburgs are some of the most frequently recorded of all Bach’s music, they are not often performed live, and many people who love them have never heard them in performance. One possible reason is the concertos’ unusual instrumentation: in addition to strings, the Brandenburgs call for violino piccolo, three oboes, a bassoon, two recorders, a flute, two horns, a clarino trumpet, and a harpsichord. Whether played on modern or period instruments, the Brandenburgs present formidable challenges to any musician.

Concertos, which originated in Italy, occupy a central place in Baroque music; as the largest instrumental genre, they require more musicians and allow composers access to a variety of instruments and timbres. Italians Antonio Vivaldi, who composed more than 500 concertos, and Tomaso Albinoni emerged as masters of the genre. Bach first encountered concertos while studying some of Vivaldi’s scores, and Vivaldi’s influence on Bach’s concertos is clear, particularly in the use of ritornello (Italian for “little return”). Ritornello structure alternates passages of basic thematic material, played by the full ensemble, with contrasting solo or duet episodes containing new music unrelated to the original theme. Bach employs ritornello in more than half of all the movements in the Brandenburgs and features it in all the concertos’ opening movements.

The Third Concerto consists entirely of strings accompanied by continuo (harpsichord and bass). Without the contrasting timbres available when soloists from different instrumental families are featured, Bach creates distinctions by transposing thematic materials into different octaves. The Adagio, which consists of just two cadence chords in E minor, is a model of brevity. The third concerto concludes with a tightly constructed gigue whose quicksilver phrases build on one another in a headlong rush of energy.

In the Fifth Concerto, Bach made history by showcasing the harpsichord as a soloist, in addition to its customary position as an accompanying instrument. This innovation is probably linked to the purchase of a new harpsichord for the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen during Bach’s tenure as Kapellmeister of the Prince’s court orchestra (1717-1721). Bach, a virtuoso keyboard player himself, makes full use of the harpsichord’s unique sound and capabilities. The choice of D major best accommodates the transverse flute, which join the harpsichord and violin as featured soloists. The slow movement, a showcase for the three soloists, is distinguished by a rare tempo marking “affettuoso” (affectionate). The closing Allegro is joyful and structurally complex, as Bach combines ritornello with a fugue and a da capo aria.

The Fourth Concerto opens immediately with the soloists: two recorders and solo violin. The violin performs extraordinary virtuosic feats, but in the second movement it takes a back seat to the two recorders, which wend their way through a deliberate, melancholy Andante. The closing Presto combines both ritornello and fugue, two forms in which Bach had no equal, and concludes with a grand fusion of the two formats.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Gabriella Smith’s Brandenburg Interstices was commissioned by the 2012 Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival. It is a companion to and a reimagining of Bach’s famous Brandenburg concertos. As the title suggests, this piece interweaves between material of Bach’s music—seamlessly moving between direct quotation, imitation of the harmonic style, and references to entirely different musical practices. Smith’s other work does not often engage so directly with historical reference, and many facets of her musical voice like subtle timbral effects, driving rhythms, and spectral harmonies permeate this piece and create a unique and multifaceted dialogue with music of a different time.

— Courtesy of Eastman School of Music

JULY 12 | 7 PM

Experience the groundbreaking Portland premiere of Bach’s long-lost Markus Passion, reimagined by Concert Theatre Works with actor Joseph Marcell (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). With just four singers and a chamber ensemble, this intimate “pocket Passion” brings drama, beauty, and history to life. Don’t miss this unforgettable event!

14 | 7 PM & FEB 15 | 3 PM

Love and longing take center stage in this intimate program curated by radiant soprano Arwen Myers and fan-favorite John Lenti. Featuring music by Strozzi, Marini, and Scarlatti—grounded by exquisite passacaglias from Frescobaldi and Biber—this journey promises passion, heartache, and virtuosity.

CUPID’S ARROW SHADOWS & LIGHT

Experience the shifting moods of night and day through the rich textures of French Baroque chamber music. Curated by PBO principal bassoonist Nate Helgeson, this evocative program features a unique ensemble of two violas da gamba, two bassoons, harpsichord, and theorbo.

HIDDEN WOMEN OF ROME

Step into 17th-century Rome, where Queen Christina of Sweden championed dazzling music in courts and convents. Featuring Portland Baroque Voices, this program spotlights operatic sacred works by cloistered nuns and instrumental gems by Corelli and Scarlatti. Don’t miss the modern premiere of Alessandro Melani’s vocal music—unheard for 300 years and now shining with divine brilliance.

Membership is one of the most direct ways to support the creative programming at The Reser − and comes with great benefits! Your investment in The Reser supports our mission to ensure that the extraordinary performances in our 2025−26 Season are accessible to all. The Reser is pleased to offer memberships starting at $100 per season that automatically qualify you for a wide variety of benefits. Join now!

THERESER.ORG/MEMBERSHIP

Featuring awardwinning artists and attractions, The Reser brings the world to our stage.

Monday, June 30

Kaul Auditorium | 8pm

Silver Sponsors: Heidi Yorkshire & Joseph Anthony

Prelude Performance | 6:30pm Young Artist Institute

Brandenburg All-Stars

J. S. BACH (1685–1750)

Trio Sonata from The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 • (19’)

I. Largo

II. Allegro

III. Andante

IV. Allegro

MAHLER (1860–1911)

Arr. Stéphane Fromageot

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)

Rückert-Lieder for Mezzo-Soprano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano • (22’)

I. Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft (I Breathed a Gentle Fragrance)

II. Liebst du um Schönheit (If You Love for Beauty)

III. Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder (Do Not Look Into My Songs)

IV. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (I am Lost to the World)

V. Um Mitternacht (At Midnight)

INTERMISSION

String Quintet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 18 • (34’)

I. Allegro con moto

II. Intermezzo: Andante sostenuto

III. Scherzo: Allegro di molto

IV. Allegro vivace

Emi Ferguson, flute

Shunske Sato, violin

Kit Armstrong, harpsichord

Fleur Barron, mezzo-soprano

Sunmi Chang, violin

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola

Marilyn de Oliveira, cello

Gloria Chien, piano

Soovin Kim, violin

Jessica Lee, violin

Paul Neubauer, viola

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola

Edward Arron, cello

Johann Sebastian Bach spent his last three decades in Leipzig, where he served as cantor at St. Thomas Church.

In addition to his ecclesiastical duties, he led the Leipzig Collegium Musicum, a group predominantly comprised of university students. As head of the Collegium, Bach premiered many of his secular works at Café Zimmermann, a coffeehouse in Leipzig. Musicians congregated and performed there for years until the death of the owner in 1741.

Bach most likely composed the Trio Sonata in G Major, BWV 1039 shortly after his appointment as court composer to Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, in 1736. He modeled the piece on the Italian sonata da chiesa, an older Baroque form with a Slow–Fast–Slow–Fast four-movement structure. The Adagio opens with sustained flute— perhaps a nod to Pan, the Greek god of nature— and closes on an incomplete cadence, harmonies suspended in midair.

The buoyant Allegro ma non presto picks up where the last chord of the Adagio left off. A traditional fugue, the movement begins with a darting theme in the first flute that the second flute then echoes a fifth higher. The third movement, a dolorous Adagio e piano in the minor key, stands in marked contrast to the other movements. A chromatic descending lament bassline plays while flute obsessively repeats a four-note figure, yearning upward yet always falling upon itself. Bach closes the sonata with a lively bourrée

—© Andrew McIntyre

In both music and life, Gustav Mahler was a relentless seeker. His reflections on existential and spiritual questions influenced many of the texts he made into songs, particularly the songsymphony Das Lied von der Erde, and his settings of works by the 19th-century German poet Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866).

Mahler wrote four of the five songs known today as the Rückert-Lieder in the summer of 1901, and the fifth, Liebst du um Schönheit (If You Love for Beauty), an intimate expression of love for his new wife, Alma, in the summer of 1902. Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder (Do Not Look at my Songs) is a lighthearted commentary on the mystery of the creative process: “I can’t even trust myself/To watch them grow/Your curiosity is a betrayal!/Bees, when they build their cells/Also don’t let anyone observe them/even themselves.” In Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft! (I breathed a gentle fragrance), the scent of a lime tree becomes synonymous with love. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (I Have Become Lost to the World), considered by many Mahler’s finest song, expresses the quintessentially Romantic notion of spiritual and emotional withdrawal from the troubles of the world. The dark solitude of Um Mitternacht (At Midnight) is conveyed through a minor key and solemn tempo, while the joy and poignancy of Liebst du um Schönheit captures Mahler’s passion of Alma and his longing for love and acceptance.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

On February 3, 1832, Felix Mendelssohn’s 23rd birthday, the composer received devastating news: his close friend and violin teacher Eduard Rietz had died suddenly at age 30 from tuberculosis. Mendelssohn described his reaction to the news in a poignant letter to his family: “It is but yesterday that I heard of my irreparable loss…I can recall no one thing without being reminded of him; that I shall never hear music, or write it, without thinking of him, doubles the sorrow of such a separation.” Rietz’s teaching and influence profoundly shaped Mendelssohn’s writing for stringed instruments, particularly in his groundbreaking Octet for Strings, Op. 20. When he learned of Rietz’s death, Mendelssohn revisited his Op. 18 String Quintet from 1826, with the intention of publishing it. In addition to dedicating Op. 18 to Rietz, Mendelssohn removed the Minuet, replacing it with a new Intermezzo. This gentle contemplative music evokes grief and loss, but also an abiding friendship and its impact on Mendelssohn; Mendelssohn’s feelings for Rietz emerge in the warm, expressive melodies of the violin. The Scherzo that follows takes off like a frightened rabbit in a fugue of hushed, dense counterpoint. The breathless energy of this Scherzo nods at another: Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The concluding Allegro vivace re-establishes Op. 18’s A major tonality. A primary theme is juxtaposed with several variations of different guises and moods. Mendelssohn’s fondness for Baroque-style counterpoint is featured in two separate fugues with five different voices. Mendelssohn’s blend of energy, skill, and brilliant string writing makes this paean to Rietz a fitting and effective tribute.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Tuesday, July 1

Kaul Auditorium | 8pm

Gold Sponsor:

Prelude Performance | 6:30pm

Young Artist Institute

Kit Armstrong: The Goldberg Variations

J. S. BACH (1685–1750)

Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 • (80’)

Aria

Variation 1: a 1 Clav.

Variation 2: a 1 Clav.

Variation 3: Canone all’Unisuono: a 1 Clav.

Variation 4: a 1 Clav.

Variation 5: a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.

Variation 6: Canone alla Seconda. a 1 Clav.

Variation 7: a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. al tempo di Giga

Variation 8: a 2 Clav.

Variation 9: Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav.

Variation 10: Fughetta. a 1 Clav

Variation 11: a 2 Clav.

Variation 12: a 1 Clav. Canone alla Quarta. a1 Clav. in moto contrario

Variation 13: a 2 Clav.

Variation 14: a 2 Clav.

Variation 15: Canone all Quinta. a 1 Clav: Andante

Variation 16: Ouverture. a 1 Clav.

Variation 17: a 2 Clav.

Variation 18: Canone alla Sesta. a 1 Clav.

Variation 19: a 1 Clav.

Variation 20: a 2 Clav.

Variation 21: Cacone alla Settima. a 1 Clav.

Variation 22: a 1 Clav. alla breve

Variation 23: a 2 Clav.

Variation 24: Canone all’Ottava. a 1 Clav.

Variation 25: a 2 Clav.: Adagio

Variation 26: a 2 Clav.

Variation 27: Canone all Nona. a 2 Clav.

Variation 28: a 2 Clav.

Variation 29: a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.

Variation 30: Quodlibet. a 1 Clav.

Aria de Capo

Kit Armstrong, piano

Thanks to Johann Sebastian Bach’s first biographer, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Bach lovers everywhere know the story of the Goldberg Variations. Or do they?

According to Forkel, Bach wrote the variations for Count Hermann Karl von Keyserlingk, a Russian ambassador at the court of August III in Dresden. As Forkel relates, the Count suffered from chronic insomnia and commissioned the Variations from Bach as a musical sleep aid. A young keyboard player in the Count’s employ, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, played the Variations, which apparently never failed to send the Count into peaceful slumber.

Today’s biographers do painstaking in-depth research on their subjects, fact-checking even the smallest details. Biographers of past centuries were not so constrained, and did not necessarily adhere to strict standards of veracity. They often embellished anecdotes, and on more than one occasion invented quotes or events out of whole cloth. A closer look at the details of this tale raises some questions.

First, if Bach wrote the Goldberg Variations as a commission for the Count, why do neither Keyserlingk’s nor Goldberg’s name appear in the score’s published dedication? The title page reads simply, “Keyboard exercise, consisting of an ARIA with diverse variations for harpsichord with two manuals. Composed for connoisseurs, for the refreshment of their spirits, by Johann Sebastian Bach, composer for the royal court of Poland and the Electoral court of Saxony, Kapellmeister and Director of Choral Music in Leipzig. Nuremberg, Balthasar Schmid, publisher.”

Second, Goldberg was born in 1727, making him 13 or 14 years old in 1741. Despite Forkel’s description of Goldberg as a gifted musician, it is unlikely that someone his age could perform this complex and technically challenging music adequately.

Peter Williams’s exhaustively researched book on the Goldberg Variations suggests Bach, as he did with many of his keyboard works, wrote these variations for a

family member; in this case, his oldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. In 1733, Wilhelm Friedemann became the organist at St. Sophia’s Church at Dresden, winning the post after demonstrating his virtuosity to a panel of judges. Wilhelm Friedemann remained in Dresden for 13 years; during that time, he had many pupils, including young Goldberg.

Williams makes the case that Bach composed the Variations to display his son’s exceptional skill. Given that Bach wrote several keyboard works—the Inventions, the first volume of The WellTempered Clavier, and parts of the French Suites—primarily as teaching tools for his own children, Williams’s suggestion is more than plausible. Bach published the Variations in 1741, and probably composed them in 1739-40, which coincides with Wilhelm Friedemann’s tenure in Dresden.

The Aria and Variations together make up the largest single keyboard composition published in the 18th century. Each of the 30 variations derives from the aria’s bass line, rather than its simple melody. Making variations on the bass line provided Bach with more options for invention, including variations in minor keys far removed from the tranquil G major of the aria’s theme. Every third variation is a canon (round), with each canon starting from a different interval. The final variation, No. 30, is a quodlibet—a Latin word meaning “whatever you wish.” It’s a marvelous pastiche of popular German tunes of Bach’s day, including one titled “It has been so long since I was with you,” and another, “Cabbage and turnips have driven me away.”

In 2012, pianist Jeremy Denk wrote a hilariously provocative blog post titled, “Why I Hate the Goldbergs,” in which he calls out Bach for being “too excellent” and decries the music for displaying an excess of joy. Yes and yes.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Wednesday, July 2

The Old Church | 7pm 6pm | Musical Conversation with Kit Armstrong

Post-concert meet & greet with artists

NEW@ NIGHT

NEW@NIGHT: Global Voices

JULIA ADOLPHE (b. 1988)

THEA MUSGRAVE (b. 1928)

REENA ESMAIL (b. 1983)

ARVO PÄRT (b. 1935)

KAI-YOUNG CHAN (b. 1989)

KIAN RAVAEI (b. 1999)

KIT ARMSTRONG (b. 1992)

Paw, Plume, Prowl for Solo Oboe (2022) • (4')

Impromptu No. 1 for Flute and Oboe (1967) • (5')

Nadiya for Flute and Viola (2016) • (8')

Es sang vor langen Jahren (It Sang Long Years Ago) (1984) • (6’)

Hard it is to Meet and Part (2022) • (5’)

I Will Greet the Sun Again (2024) • (4’)

Fantasy on B-A-C-H for Solo Piano (2011) • (10')

Revêtements for Piano Trio (2023) • (5')

Titus Underwood, oboe

Emi Ferguson, flute

Titus Underwood, oboe

Emi Ferguson, flute

Wenting Kang, viola

Fleur Barron, mezzo-soprano

Soovin Kim, violin

Wenting Kang, viola

Fleur Barron, mezzo-soprano

Gloria Chien, piano

Kit Armstrong, piano

Soovin Kim, violin

Edward Arron, cello

Kit Armstrong, piano

Our first New@Night program celebrates cultural resonance through storytelling, bringing together composers whose works are shaped not only by their craft but also by the memory, tradition, and musical identity they carry.

The evening opens with two playful, improvisatory works: Julia Adolphe’s cat-inspired Paw, Plume, Prowl, brought to life by its dedicatee, oboist Titus Underwood, and Thea Musgrave’s spirited Impromptu No. 1, built on a short, distinctive phrase that reappears at different pitches and continuations. The program then deepens with Reena Esmail’s Nadiya, a meditation on convergence and duality. Drawing from the Hindustani raags Jog and Vachaspati, Nadiya (Hindi for “rivers”) flows with intertwining melodic currents, reflecting both light and shadow, tradition and transformation.

Captivating mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron takes center stage in a trio of songs that explore the familiar themes of love and loss, memory and longing—all infused with a sense of hope. Arvo Pärt’s Es sang vor langen Jahren is suspended in time, unfolding like a dream, evoking a love that transcends both the human and spiritual realms. Kai-Young Chan’s Hard it is to Meet and Part reflects on the poem’s emotional theme of separation and reunion. Kian Ravaei’s I Will Greet the Sun Again offers a fresh perspective on Ravel’s evocative Shéhérazade. Inspired by Farrokhzad’s poetry, this companion piece to the infamous enslaved storyteller from the One Thousand and One Nights is reimagined through the lens of Iranian American Kian Ravaei.

The evening culminates with two works by Kit Armstrong, a pianist-organistcomposer whose art thrives at the intersection of tradition and innovation. In his own words, “Music is not only an art; it is a culture. Its core contains the accumulation of happenstance canonised by tradition.” His Fantasy on B-A-C-H reimagines the iconic four-note motif as a vibrant new soundscape, while his Revêtements pays homage to Haydn through playful form, quotation and a nod to the “covering space” (revêtements) concept from mathematics.

These works echo the past as they reinvent its own language, honoring the beautiful lineage of the masters while

offering a fresh voice that continues the musical dialogue across centuries.

—© Gloria Chien Nadiya means ‘rivers’ in Hindi. In this work, I imagine two different streams intersecting—pushing and pulling against one another, tripping over each other, flowing into each other to create mellifluous, cascading melodies. The piece is in a composite of two Hindustani raags: Jog and Vachaspati—both have a light and a dark side, and they intermingle to create a luminous surface texture that twists and turns as it finds new points of resonance.

—© Reena Esmail

This piece forms part of a series of the composer’s Cantonese art songs that feature allusions to the moon. In Chinese culture, the full moon symbolizes reunion and evokes deep feelings of longing for family and friends, as the characters for “full,” “round,” and “reunion” share the same character, “jyun” (圓). Since Cantonese is a tone language in which changes in pitch affect word meaning, the melodic writing aligns with the Cantonese spoken contour of the poem.

This song draws from Li Shang-yin’s untitled poetry (circa 813–858), known for its elegant nature references, and explores themes of love, longing, and enduring connections. The poem opens with sadness; even when the poet met his loved ones, he faced the inevitability of separation. Li intertwines nature and his sentiments, using the easterly wind and withered flowers to illustrate a melancholic encounter; the imagery of a silkworm working to death and a candle consumed by its tears (the dripping wax) reflects his fear of loss. The contrast between “hiu” (曉 morning) and “je” (夜 night) captures the poet’s despair over hair turning white in the morning to weeping to the moon at night. Ultimately, the speaker reassures themselves of their connection through messages sent by the blue bird––a mythical messenger.

李商隱《無題》

相見時難別亦難， 東風無力百花殘。

春蠶到死絲方盡， 蠟炬成灰淚始乾。

曉鏡但愁雲鬢改， 夜吟應覺月光寒。

蓬山此去無多路， 青鳥殷勤為探看。

soeng gin si naan bit jik naan dung fung mou lik baak faa caan coen caam dou sei si fong zeon laap geoi sing fui leoi ci gon hiu geng daan sau wan ban goi je jam jing gok jyut gwong hon fung saan ci heoi mou do lou cing liu jan kan wai taam hon

Hard it is to meet; hard still is it to part; The easterly wind is too weak to revive flowers dead.

Silkworms labor for silk until the very end of their lives.

The candle turns into ashes after its tears run dry.

In the mirror of the dawn reflects the sorrow of cloudy tresses.

In the chant of the night shimmers the shivery moon.

How short is the journey to the land of the immortals.

The eager blue birds shall scout us through the passage.

—© Kai-Young Chan

This song was conceived as a companion piece to Ravel’s Shéhérazade, offering a different view of the infamous enslaved storyteller from the One Thousand and One Nights. I set the words of another Persian queen: Forough Farrokhzad (1934–1967), the queen of modernist poetry, whose transgressive feminist language revolutionized Iranian art. Scheherazade’s experience of female captivity is not unlike that which Farrokhzad underwent, and which millions of Iranian women continue to endure.

—© Kian Ravaei

Make it a summer to remember—just up the road.

2025 SUMMER FESTIVAL

JUNE 20 — AUGUST 1, 2025

This July, experience world-class chamber music in Seattle with 12 unforgettable mainstage concerts presented by SCMS. Plan a musical getaway to enjoy performances by today’s finest musicians, free community events in Seattle’s parks, open rehearsals, and special programs like Tasting Notes with Kenji Lopez-Alt.

Tickets available at seattlechambermusic.org

Can’t make the trip? Every mainstage concert is also available to stream through our Virtual Concert Hall—wherever you are.

48TH SEASON SUNRIVER

AUGUST 2-13, 2025 BEND & SUNRIVER,

World-class orchestral musicians at the iconic Tower Theatre in Bend and historic Sunriver Resort Great Hall

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola Orion Weiss, piano

Mark Kosower, cello

Stewart Goodyear, piano Yi Zhao, violin

SOLOISTS:

Cliburn Medalist

Sunday, July 6

Kaul Auditorium | 4pm

Gold Sponsors:

Ravi Vedanayagam & Ursula Luckert in honor of Karl & Dora Luckert

CMNW

Presents the Oregon Bach Festival: Bach’s Mass in B Minor

J. S. BACH (1685–1750)

Mass in B Minor, BWV 232 • (1:50’)

I. Missa

Kyrie

Christe

Kyrie

Gloria

Et in terra pax

Laudamus te Gratias agimus tibi

Domine Deus

Qui tollis

Qui sedes

Quoniam tu solus sanctus

Cum sancto spiritu

INTERMISSION

II. Symbolum Nicenum

Credo in unum Deum

Patrem omnipotentem

Et in unum Dominum

Et incarnatus est

Crucifixus

Et resurrexit

Et in Spiritum sanctum

Confiteor

Et expect

III. Sanctus Sanctus

Pleni sunt coeli

IV. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem

Osanna in excelsis

Benedictus

Osanna (repetatur)

Agnus Dei

Dona nobis pacem

OBF Ripieno Ensemble

OBF Baroque Orchestra

Rowan Pierce, soprano I

Clara Osowski, soprano II

Ulrike Malotta, alto

Thomas Hobbs, tenor

Peter Harvey, bass

Jos van Veldhoven, conductor

Over the years, it has become absolutely clear to me that J. S. Bach’s music gains greatly in power and expression when the ensemble of musicians is small. But at the same time, the setting of the great Mass in B Minor is large: Bach, in his last completed work, pulls out all the stops. In this incomparable score, he uses almost every conceivable combination of voices and nearly all the instruments of his time. The enormous wealth of genres and structures makes the listener dizzy: timeless polyphony, fugues, cantus firmus techniques, double choir, vocal and instrumental concertos, instrumental group concertos, concerti grossi, ostinatos, solo arias and duets, and four- to eight-part choral writing.

It is certain that Bach never performed this completed masterpiece himself, and it remains unclear for what purpose or occasion he wrote it. The beautiful manuscript score he wrote himself remains a closed book in many respects. There is almost never a tempo indication or dynamic markings. The movements are simply called Kyrie, Gloria, and Agnus Dei. In all the voices of the enormous ensemble, the players or singers are referred to in the singular: violino, soprano, basso, etc. Bach does not offer suggestions for the instrumentation of the continuo group. The word “choir” does not appear anywhere in the entire manuscript. Are there soloists, or do the musicians sing and play with a number of them in the same part? How large should the string groups be, and is it possible to choose a variable lineup?

During his lifetime, Bach gave us valuable, yet sparse information about the performance practice of his time; information that, incidentally, is interpreted differently to this day. But even Bach himself had widely varying performance practices. In the mass, he uses music that he had already composed—as was often the case— sometimes as many as thirty years previous. And, that music undoubtedly sounded different in Weimar than it did later in Dresden or Leipzig. Of course, there is also documentation from the long and uninterrupted musical tradition of German choirs and church music ensembles in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Bach was part of this tradition, and in a sense, he brought it to a grandiose close with his Mass in B Minor. In the direct line connecting Heinrich Schütz to J. S. Bach, there are many indications of a rich and varied performance practice.

In the scores and parts, instructions are often scarce, limited to a single voice or only an indication in the basso continuo part. But, undoubtedly, there would have been audible or visible instructions from the cantor, chapel master, or organist when the music was performed. Above all, there was the long tradition that made it self-evident among musicians of Bach’s time how to deal with, for example, solo versus tutti. This was a tradition with many illustrious participants including Heinrich Schütz, Samuel Scheidt, Johann Hermann Schein, Christoph Bernhard, Andreas Hammerschmidt, Franz Tunder, Dieterich Buxtehude, and Bach’s immediate predecessors Johann Schelle, Sebastian Knüpfer, and Johann Kuhnau. When we situate the terms Bach did happen to provide within this tradition (for example, solo, tutti, favoriti, da cappella, concertists, ripienists, principal singers, chorists, capellists, and pleno) we can imagine a colorful and varied performance.

When performing church music in the 17th and 18th centuries, vocal and instrumental soloists almost always formed the core of the ensemble. They could be supplemented by so-called, “ripienists,” who knew their role in the musical performance very well. Their task was mainly to strengthen the sound of the group of soloists, to make it fuller and more magnificent. All the musicians together formed a “coro,” or a group of instruments and/or singers, or a combination of the two. The musical performance could then begin from this ensemble structure. By alternating between large and small, one could, for example, emphasize the structure of a composition, create contrasts, and enhance the sound. But the alternation could also create a climax, provide variation in repetitions, and deal with cantus firmi. The input of the musicians themselves was essential in this.

All this knowledge has made it possible to take a fresh look at the score of Bach’s Mass in B Minor. As a starting point, I attempted to make as little

distinction as possible between singers and instrumentalists, as Bach often wrote fluidly between the two and even reused instrumental music in his vocal works. I tried to forget the “traditional” orchestra and choir arrangement and to place myself in the impressive and rich tradition from which the piece stemmed. We will perform the mass with 24 instrumentalists and 15 singers; there is no choir. The soloists sing all the vocal parts in the mass, including the arias and duets, and in many cases, they are supported by ripienists. Traditional “choirs” in the work are sometimes performed by soloists, but sometimes everyone sings, as in the movements written in the “old” (Renaissance) style. Within individual movements, solo and tutti, both vocal and instrumental can alternate, as in a concerto grosso. The result is a “new” Mass in B Minor, which I hope will also sound new to the listener and will keep Bach’s art alive in our time.

—© Jos van Veldhoven, OBF Artistic Partner

Tuesday, July 8

Lincoln Recital Hall | 12pm

Protégé Series Sponsors:

John & Linda Hardham

PROTÉGÉ SPOTLIGHT: Ryota Yamazaki Solo Piano

J. S. BACH (1685–1750)

W. A. MOZART (1756–1791) CHOPIN (1810–1849)

“Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" (Now come, savior of the gentiles), BWV 659 • (5’)

Piano Sonata No. 18 in D Major, K. 576 • (14’)

I. Allegro

II. Adagio

III. Allegretto

12 Etudes, Op. 25 • (34’)

I. Étude in A-flat Major, “Aeolian Harp”

II. Étude in F Minor, “The Bees”

III. Étude in F Major, “The Horseman”

IV. Étude in A Minor, “Paganini”

V. Étude in E Minor, “Wrong Note”

VI. Étude in G-sharp Minor, “Thirds”

VII. Étude in C-sharp Minor, “Cello”

VIII. Étude in D-flat Major, “Sixths”

IX. Étude in G-flat Major, “Butterfly”

X. Étude in B Minor, “Octave”

XI. Étude in A Minor, “Winter Wind”

XII. Étude in C Minor, “Ocean”

Ryota Yamazaki, piano

Martin Luther’s hymn, “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland,” was first published in 1524. Johann Sebastian Bach seemed particularly fond of it, using it as the basis of three versions for organ. Bach also wrote two different Advent cantatas on it, BWV 61 and 62. The title, “Come now, savior of the heathen,” presages the birth of Jesus. Bach published BWV 659 in Leipzig in 1748, in a collection titled 18 Chorale Preludes

BWV 659 is the best-known of Bach’s organ arrangements of Luther’s chorale, thanks in part to the piano transcription Ferruccio Busoni made from it and published in his Bach-Busoni Editions. Busoni’s transcription was a favorite of pianist Vladimir Horowitz, among others. The setting is introspective rather than declamatory or pleading, as the chorale’s melody emerges quietly out of the piano’s middle register, anchored by a low bass line.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

In the spring of 1789, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in the company of his patron and fellow Mason Prince Karl Lichnowsky, embarked on a journey to Prague, Dresden, Leipzig, Potsdam, and Berlin. For Mozart, the trip was fueled by financial urgency. His many attempts to secure a royal court appointment had proved unsuccessful. Mozart had also stopped writing and performing piano concertos to concentrate on the greater creative rewards of opera. Although Mozart’s operas met with some success, both in Vienna and abroad, the income they generated did not offset the enormous costs of production. Also, Mozart was notoriously incapable of managing what money he did earn.

Mozart met and performed for several potential noble employers, and secured a contract for a new opera in Prague, but a permanent appointment remained as elusive as ever. While in Berlin, Mozart gave a concert for King Frederick II of Prussia, who also commissioned a set of six “easy” piano sonatas for his daughter, Princess Friederieke. Mozart finished only one, his final Piano Sonata in D Major, K. 576

Like many of Mozart’s solo sonatas, K. 576 sounds deceptively simple, but is formidably difficult. Mozart pays homage to Bach in the extroverted Allegro’s intricate counterpoint. The wistful melody of the Adagio looks inward, while the Rondo’s simple theme lends itself to a variety of increasingly elaborate variations.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Pianist Artur Rubenstein freely admitted he was “scared to death” of the Études, acknowledging in 1962, “To do them justice is a most difficult task, which I haven’t yet had the courage to attempt.” Chopin is a musician’s composer, most particularly a pianist’s composer, and his colleagues recognized his genius, both on paper and at the keyboard. Hector Berlioz wrote, “As interpreter and composer, Chopin is an artist apart, bearing no point of resemblance to any other musician I know…in his Études one finds harmonic combinations of astonishing depth; he has created a kind of chromatic embroidery in several of his compositions, whose effect is so strange and piquant as to be impossible to describe.”

Chopin composed the Op. 25 Études between 1834 and 1837. Along with the Op. 10 Études, they helped establish Chopin as a gifted composer, not merely a brilliant pianist. Perhaps the best way to approach the Études is to view them as character studies, like many of Robert Schumann’s piano works. In the case of the Études, the “characters” are different facets of Chopin’s personality.

Pianist and historian Jan Kleczyński wrote of the first étude (nicknamed “The Aeolian Harp” for its flowing arpeggios), “It is said that Chopin explained to one of his pupils the manner in which this study should be executed. ‘Imagine,’ he said, ‘a little shepherd who takes refuge in a peaceful grotto from an approaching storm. In the distance rushes the wind and the rain, while the shepherd gently plays a melody on his flute.’”

Every piano student knows the necessary drudgery of slogging through piano exercises by Hanon and Czerny. Frédéric Chopin’s 12 Études are also exercises (étude is “study” in French), each focusing on a specific technical skill. But Chopin’s Études transcend their pedagogic origins, making musical and interpretive demands on the player that are just as—if not more—challenging than the technical requirements.

Schumann described the second étude as “charming, dreamy and soft as the song of a child singing in its slumber.” Conductor Hans von Bülow thought Étude No. 8 an excellent cure for stiff fingers. “Playing it through six times is recommended even to the most expert pianists,” he advised.

The “Butterfly” Étude that follows captures the seemingly haphazard progression of a butterfly, alternating legato and staccato touches. One of the best-known études, No. 11, is nicknamed “The Winter Wind.” Its storm-tossed ferocity conjures up a wild winter’s night, and pushes the soloist to the limits of dexterity.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Wednesday, July 9

BodyVox Dance Center | 7pm 6pm | Musical Conversation with Kian Ravaei

Post-concert meet & greet with artists

NIGHT

NEW@NIGHT: Sonic Soundscapes

MARTIN ØDEGAARD

(b. 1983)

ROOTS - Sylva Sylvarum (2020) • (10')

CLANCY NEWMAN (b. 1977)

KIAN RAVAEI (b. 1999)

PAUL WIANCKO (b. 1983)

Golden Blues (2016) • (8')

Ecstasies for Flute and Electronics (2022) • (10')

X Suite (2019) • (19')

I. Prelude

II. Allemande

III. Canon

IV. Courante

V. Nocturne

VI. Bourrée

VII. Orison

Opus13 Quartet

Sonoko Miriam Welde, violin

Edvard Erdal, violin

Albin Uusijärvi, viola

Daniel Thorell, cello

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin

Clancy Newman, cello

Tara Helen O’Connor, flute

Alexi Kenney, violin

Roots is a part of the cycle sylva sylvarum—a series of works inspired by materials and places in nature. Roots is hence inspired by the root system of a plant, reimagined for string quartet. Our musical roots are also taken into consideration, exemplified by one of the greatest pieces written for string quartet. So, how does nature and culture speak together in this context?

—© Martin Ødegaard

At first glance, Golden Blues may just seem like a fairly standard Stephane Grappelli-esque blues tune...and there’s certainly nothing wrong with hearing it that way.

But under the surface there’s a little more going on. The blues chords delineated by the walking bass line do not repeat periodically; instead, they repeat according to a system I developed in 2006, in which patterns repeat aperiodically according to the golden ratio. What this means is that if you find any two places in the piece that are at the same point in the blues chord progression, the golden ratio between them will also be at that same point (assuming the initial two places were far enough apart from each other).

Up until this piece, I had never tried applying this method to chord progressions—I had only used it with pitches and melody fragments—so it was a bit of an experiment. The end result (I hope) is that the aperiodic blues chord progression is both predictable and unpredictable, nestled in the sweet spot between the simple and the complex.

—© Clancy Newman

Ecstasies represents my most ambitious attempt to synthesize the Dionysian soundscapes of electronic dance music with the technical innovations of contemporary Western art music and the distinctive expressive qualities of Iranian classical music. The meaning of the title is threefold: the feeling of ecstasy evoked by EDM, the transcendent and ecstatic character of Dastgah Nava (the mode of Iranian classical music used throughout the piece), and the rave drug, ecstasy. The structure is a microcosm of a DJ set at a rave: a series of buildups and climaxes, exploring various grooves and genres while continuously growing in intensity. The flutist has the Herculean task of matching the dynamism of the electronics while shapeshifting between vastly different manners of playing. To realize this piece, I needed to fully awaken my knowledge of EDM production, which had lain dormant for nearly ten years. I did it gladly at the behest of flutist Ben Smolen, whose dazzling musicianship and adventurous spirit made this work possible.

—© Kian Ravaei

I think of all music in terms of chamber music—I love the way it requires and inspires communication, interplay, and group expression. Chamber music ideals permeate the way I play cello, the way I hear symphonies, sometimes even the way I talk. When Alexi asked me to write something for solo violin, I knew it needed to be a piece of chamber music. The idea of creating multiple voices to be channeled through one player led in so many varying directions that this piece ended up taking the form of a Bachinspired suite. Each movement explores a different approach to the concept. The Prelude characters present themselves in full view—the first raving and the second calm (but quickly corrupted by the agitation of the first). The Allemande explores “cross-fading” harmonies and multiple characters in quick conversation with each other. One voice echoes itself in the Canon. Seven voices overlay themselves in the Bourrée. As the suite progresses, more relationships are revealed, ending with Orison (or “prayer”), a meditation for two voices.

The title of this work refers to two functions of the symbol X. Firstly, to “x” something out or to obfuscate it. Unlike erasure, this action is by nature assertive and deliberate, and serves as a lasting visual reminder of our errors. This suite was essentially born from a series of experiments and accidents, many of which play a crucial role in the work’s construction and language. Secondly, X can serve as a placeholder for an unknown, silently challenging us to search for answers. In math, solutions inevitably await, even when impossible to reach. In music, there are no solutions— only questions and the search itself.

—© Paul Wiancko

Thursday, July 10

The Reser | 7:30pm

Silver Sponsors:

Anonymous

Heidi Yorkshire & Joseph Anthony

Prelude Performance | 6:30pm

Local young musicians

Revelations

DAVID SCHIFF (b. 1945)

Divertimento from Gimpel the Fool (1982) • (15’)

1982 CMNW COMMISSION

I. Overture and the Rabbi's Advice

II. The Wedding Song

III. Pantomime and Bread Song

IV. Jester's Song and Mazel Tov

KIAN RAVAEI (b. 1999)

SCHUBERT (1797–1828)

FRANCK (1822–1890)

iPod Variations for Flute, Violin and Electronics (2025) • (12’) WORLD PREMIERE • CMNW COMMISSION

I. Aria

II. Variation I (Hendrix & Handel)

III. Variation II (Kurt & Koji)

IV. Variation III (Jaco & Jimmy)

V. Variation IV (Lotfi & de Lucía)

VI. Variation V (Byrd & Basie)

VII. Variation VI (Dylan & Deadmau5)

VIII. Aria da Capo

“Der Hirt auf dem Felsen” (The Shepherd on the Rock), D. 965 • (12’)

INTERMISSION

Piano Quintet in F Minor • (38’)

I. Molto moderato quasi lento

II. Lento con molto sentimento

III. Allegro non troppo ma con fuoco

Saturday, July 12

Kaul Auditorium | 8pm

Gold Sponsors: Bill & Diana Dameron

Prelude Performance | 7pm Local young musicians

David Shifrin, clarinet

Alexi Kenney, violin

Clancy Newman, cello

Ryota Yamazaki, piano

Tara Helen O’Connor, flute

Alexi Kenney, violin

Hyunah Yu , soprano

David Shifrin, clarinet

Yekwon Sunwoo, piano

Opus13 Quartet

Sonoko Miriam Welde, violin

Edvard Erdal, violin

Albin Uusijärvi, viola

Daniel Thorell, cello Yekwon Sunwoo, piano

Kian Ravaei’s iPod Variations was commissioned by CMNW with the generous support of the members of the CMNW Commissioning Club.

This was the first of the many works I composed for David Shifrin and Chamber Music Northwest. At Shifrin’s suggestion, I arranged music from my opera Gimpel the Fool, based on the famous story by I. B. Singer. The Divertimento has become my most popular piece and has been performed just about everywhere, but most memorably in the Palais de Luxembourg, in Paris. The Divertimento is drawn from several numbers in the opera. The movements are: Overture/the Rabbi; Wedding Song; Bread Song; Badkhen’s Song/Mazel Tov.

The idiom of my opera Gimpel the Fool owes much to the sound of the Klezmer band. Instead of trying to imitate authentic Klezmer music (which was just being revived when I started working on the opera in 1975) I sought to reconstruct the sound of this music from the traces it left in the works of Mahler, Stravinsky, and Kurt Weill. The music of the opera is unified by the use of the four Jewish liturgical scales and of “nusach,” traditional melodic formulas from Jewish liturgy, particularly from the High Holiday services.

—© David Schiff

In iPod Variations, I return to the music I loved as a teenager in an attempt to recreate my musical DNA. Like a shuffled playlist, each variation juxtaposes the musical styles of two different artists that were on my iPod, a technology that already evokes a previous era. It may seem unusual to pair Hendrix with Handel, or Bob Dylan with Deadmau5, but in my teenage years I didn’t grasp the importance of historical context—it was all just music to me. Here, I put listeners in the same position through eclectic contrasts.

By adding to the flute and violin soloists an arsenal of recorded instruments— harpsichord, fretless bass, Hammond B-3 organ, Persian tār, and video game sound chips, to name a few—I tried to condense ten years of listening into roughly ten minutes of music, paying homage to guitar-shredding heroes (I, II, IV), jazz idols (III, V), and electronic music masters (II, VI). Like Bach’s Goldberg Variations, the piece ends with a return to the opening aria—but now in an idealized rendering, as though seen through the lens of a nostalgic memory.

—© Kian Ravaei

One month before his death, Franz Schubert completed Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, one of his last two songs, to fulfil a request from Berlin opera diva Anna Milder-Hauptman for a concert aria. Today, Der Hirt auf dem Felsen is a popular showpiece for sopranos and clarinetists alike; it requires the utmost virtuosity from both musicians, along with a well-supported tone to properly execute Schubert’s lyrical phrases.

For the text, Schubert turned to a familiar poet, Wilhelm Müller, whose poems he had used in the song cycle Die schöne Müllerin. Schubert combined Müller’s words with a poem by Wilhelmine von Chézy; in 1823, Schubert provided incidental music for her play Rosamunde

The themes of Der Hirt auf dem Felsen ecstatic paeans to nature, beautiful landscapes, absent lovers longing for

one another—were familiar territory for Schubert. Rather than write a typical lied for voice and piano, Schubert added a solo clarinet to the mix. The inclusion of the clarinet created a dialog between singer and instrumentalist, and allowed Schubert to more fully explore the deeper emotions of the middle section.

The song begins with a shepherd perched high on a mountain singing to his lover below; the clarinet echoes back up the slope. The second section, in a melancholy minor tonality, expresses sorrow and uncertainty about the future, but joyful enthusiasm abounds in the final section, a celebration of spring’s awakening.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

César Franck’s Piano Quintet in F Minor began with a minor scandal that had little to do with the music itself. To trace its history, first we must meet Augusta Holmès.

Holmès, a Parisian singer and composer, rose to prominence in the 1870s for her talent and advocacy for women in the arts. Her peers idolized her; the composer Camille Saint-Saëns even proposed to her, recalling later, “Literary men, painters, musicians—any one of us would have been proud to make her his wife.”

Holmès began taking lessons with Franck in 1876, soon counting the Belgian composer as her most admired teacher. As for Franck, he may have revealed romantic feelings for Holmès in his Piano Quintet—a belief held by many since its 1880 premiere. None other than Camille Saint-Saëns's played the role of pianist. By the piece’s final bar, Saint-Saëns’s distaste was evident to everyone in attendance. But the only person who disliked it more than Saint-Saëns was Franck’s own wife. Despite its fraught premiere, Franck’s lyrical quintet soon became an audience favorite. His austere personality resounds in its broad lines and serious tone, while his feelings for Holmès may just explain the youthful exuberance that shines through.

—©

Ethan Allred

Sunday, July 13

Lincoln Performance Hall | 4pm

Silver Sponsor:

Monday, July 14

Kaul Auditorium | 8pm

Gold Sponsors: Jerome Guillen & Jeremy Gallaher

Timeless Works by Mozart, Bach & Messiaen

J. S. BACH (1685–1750)

“Bete aber auch dabei” (Pray Nevertheless Also) from Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit (Make Yourself Ready, My Spirit), BWV 115 • (7’)

W. A. MOZART (1756–1791)

OLIVIER MESSIAEN (1908–1992)

String Quartet No. 15 in D Minor, K. 421 • (28’)

I. Allegro moderato

II. Andante

III. Menuetto and Trio: Allegretto

IV. Allegretto ma non troppo

INTERMISSION

Quartet for the End of Time (1940) • (51’)

I. Liturgie de cristal (Crystal Liturgy)

II. Vocalise, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du temps (Vocalise, for the Angel Who Announces the End of Time)

III. Abîme des oiseaux (Abyss of Birds)

IV. Intermède (Interlude)

V. Louange à l'Éternité de Jésus (Praise to the Eternity of Jesus)

VI. Dane de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes (Dance of Fury, for the Seven Trumpets)

VII. Fouillis d’arcs-en-ciel, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du temps (Tangle of Rainbows, for the Angel who Announces the End of Time)

VIII. Louange à l'Immortalité de Jésus (Praise to the Immortality of Jesus)

Hyunah Yu, soprano

Tara Helen O’Connor, flute

Clancy Newman, cello Yekwon Sunwoo, organ

Opus13 Quartet

Sonoko Miriam Welde, violin

Edvard Erdal, violin

Albin Uusijärvi, viola

Daniel Thorell, cello

David Shifrin, clarinet

Alexi Kenney, violin

Clancy Newman, cello

Gloria Chien, piano

This soaringly beautiful aria, from Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantata Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit, BWV 115, is a favorite of sopranos worldwide. The cantata’s title, based on a recurring theme in the Gospel of Matthew, translates as “Make yourself ready, my spirit,” and refers to the preparations of the devout, through prayer, as they anticipate the Lord’s arrival.

Bach composed BWV 115 for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity (Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in Western church liturgies). It includes solo arias for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists, as well as an instrumental fantasia and a closing chorus.

In “Bete, aber Auch dabei” (Pray, Nevertheless, Also), the penitent pleads for mercy from the Judge to wash away all her guilt and sin. Bach’s setting captures the entreating cries of the speaker through long sighing notes that bloom with intense feeling. The harsh literal meaning of the words is transformed in Bach’s music into a gentler though no less heartfelt plea for redemption. The soprano is joined by flute, cello, and keyboard; the soft pulses of the continuo anchor the flute’s lilting countermelodies as the soprano floats above them.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

In 1783, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart met Joseph Haydn for the first time. The 17-year-old Mozart was a bit star-struck; Haydn was the most famous composer in Europe, and his prolific output included the virtual invention of a new format: the string quartet. For his part, Haydn was equally impressed with Mozart, and told Mozart’s father Leopold, “Before God and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me, either in person or by name.”

Two years later, Mozart completed a set of six string quartets and sent them as a gift to Haydn. Just below the dedication, Mozart wrote:

“A father who had decided to send his sons out into the great world thought it his duty to entrust them to the protection and guidance of a man who was very celebrated at the time, and who happened moreover to be his best friend. In the same way I send my six sons to you… Please, then, receive them kindly and be to them a father, guide, and friend!”

Of these six quartets, only the String Quartet in D Minor, K. 421, is in a minor key, and its overall disposition is reflec tive of the mercurial nature of D minor’s light-and-shadow qualities. The Allegro moderato maintains a steady tempo as it flickers in between D minor and its relative F major. In the Andante, Mozart pays tribute to Haydn by shifting from a sunny F major to a dramatic F minor—a nod to Sturm und Drang. According to Mozart’s wife Costanze, who gave birth to their first child while Mozart was composing K. 421, her husband made a musical transcription of her labor cries (there seems to be some confusion as to where these cries occur—some claim it to be a brief outburst in the Andante, while others suggest Mozart put it into the Minuet). Regardless, if this is true, it is one of the stranger examples of Mozart’s sense of humor. The final Allegretto’s theme and variations concludes with a burst of emotion atypical of Mozart, and finishes by shifting to an understated D major.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

In the late spring of 1940, German troops stormed through France, capturing more than a million prisoners including the composer Olivier Messiaen. After a long journey, Messiaen arrived at the Stalag VIII A prison camp in Görlitz, Germany, plagued with severe food shortages, poor shelter, and countless other hazards.

To keep morale up, prison guards encouraged the prisoners to entertain themselves. Messiaen, a pianist, decided to write a new work titled Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time), to be performed alongside three fellow prisoners: a violinist, a cellist, and a clarinetist.

The premiere took place in a camp barracks on January 15, 1941, before an audience of prisoners and guards alike. Messiaen later recalled, “Never was I listened to with such rapt attention and comprehension.”

Some hear the Quartet for the End of Time as a reflection of Messiaen’s experience in the prison camp: anguished, violent, apocalyptic, and despairing. Others hear it more as an escapist apparition, the music of a composer falling back on his religious beliefs to break free from the oppressive banality of life in prison. Murky harmonies and inconsistent rhythms create a feeling of timelessness, but perhaps the most prominent musical element that shapes the quartet is birdsong. Messiaen believed that birds symbolized a higher power, able to fly above our mundane concerns. In the context of his captivity, birdsong becomes an even more potent symbol: the power to simply fly beyond the prison’s walls.

—© Ethan Allred

Tuesday, July 15

Lincoln Recital Hall | 12pm

Protégé Series Sponsor: John & Linda Hardham

PROTÉGÉ SPOTLIGHT: Protégé Alumni Superstars:

Benjamin Beilman, Nina Bernat & Viano Quartet

EUGÈNE YSAYE (1858–1931)

J. S. BACH (1685–1750)

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)

Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op. 27, No. 3 (“Ballade”) • (7’)

Tate Zawadiuk, cello :

Benjamin Beilman, violin

Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011 • (25’)

I. Prélude

II. Allemande

III. Courante

IV. Sarabande

V. Gavotte I

VI. Gavotte II

VII. Gigue

String Quartet No. 3, Op. 44 No. 1 • (31’)

I. Molto allegro vivace

II. Menuetto: Un poco allegretto

III. Andante espressivo ma con moto

IV. Presto con brio

Nina Bernat, bass

Viano Quartet

Lucy Wang, violin

Hao Zhou, violin

Aiden Kane, viola

Belgian violinist/composer Eugène

Ysaÿe belongs to a storied tradition that includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Niccolò Paganini, Joseph Joachim, and other virtuoso violinists who composed bravura solo works. Ysaÿe’s six sonatas for solo violin are considered technical and artistic masterpieces. Written in 1924, Ysaÿe composed each one with a particular violinist in mind; the “Ballade” was written for Romanian violinist/composer George Enescu.

Ysaÿe declared those who played his sonatas “must be a violinist, a thinker, a poet, a human being, he must have known hope, love, passion and despair, he must have run the gamut of the emotions in order to express them all in his playing.”

Unlike its predecessors, the “Ballade” is written in one movement with two sections: a languid, quasi-recitative in a richly expressionistic vein, which leads into an eye-popping virtuoso Allegro, full of double-stops, dotted rhythms, and dizzying passages of triplets and sixteenth note runs executed at lightning speed.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

When Johann Sebastian Bach composed his Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, no precedent for such music existed. Even the cello itself was new; instrument makers in Bologna began experimenting with the cello’s predecessors around 1660, but it wasn’t until the early 1700s that the cello began to emerge as a new instrument in its own right, with distinctly unique timbres and expressive capabilities.

In the 300 years since they were composed, the Cello Suites have moved beyond the concert hall and into popular culture. Today, the ubiquity of this music makes the fact that all the cello suites languished in near-total obscurity for almost 200 years after Bach’s death seem bizarre. It was a 13-year-old Pablo Casals who discovered an old edition of the cello suites in a second-hand shop in Barcelona in 1890. According to some sources, Casals practiced them for 12 years before he felt ready to perform them in public. Today, Bach’s cello suites are a rite of passage for all cellists, professional and amateur alike, a yardstick used to measure both technical mastery and artistic expression.

The Cello Suite in C Minor, BWV 1011 is the most introspective of the six, and its C minor tonality creates a sober, occasionally stark mood. Bach enhances this quality by indicating the cello’s highest A string be tuned down from A to G, which allows chords in C minor to be played more easily. The Prelude, in the style of a French overture, feels weighty with the heaviness of its stop-and-start dotted rhythms. Bach contrasts this stateliness with a quasi-fugue section, in which the cello’s single line presents a swift-moving theme.

As with the other suites, the remainder of the movements are in the form of different Baroque dances: allemande, courante, sarabande, a pair of gavottes, and a concluding gigue. The central Sarabande features an eloquent melody, with no embellishing chords, that carries profound emotional resonance. French cellist Paul Tortelier described it as “an extension of silence,” and Yo-Yo Ma played it at the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks, while victims’ names were read aloud.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Felix Mendelssohn was that rarest of composers, a man who wrote great music in times of joy. It is a romantic trope that tragedy and turmoil are the most effective stimuli for creativity, and that little worthwhile art is generated from happiness. The greatest tragedy of Mendelssohn’s life was its brevity—he died at the age of 38—but that life was full of advantages: financial stability, prodigal talent, a first-rate education, and a close, loving family, among other things. Thus safeguarded and supported, Mendelssohn produced a masterful body of works in many genres, from expansive symphonies to elegant chamber works.

Mendelssohn wrote the three string quartets of Op. 44 in 1837-38, a time of both personal and professional achievement. In March 1837, he married Cécile Jeanrenaud; while the couple enjoyed their honeymoon in the Black Forest, Mendelssohn wrote the E Minor Quartet. Eight months later, the day before his first son was born, Mendelssohn completed the E-flat Major Quartet; the D Major Quartet followed in July 1838.

Of the three quartets in Op. 44, Mendelssohn seemed most pleased with the Quartet in D Major, Op. 44, No. 1. “I have just finished my Quartet in D,” he wrote to violinist Ferdinand David. “I like it very much. I hope it may please you as well. I rather think it will, since it is more spirited and seems to me likely to be more grateful to the players than the others.”

The Molto allegro vivace lives up to its tempo marking (very happy and lively) with its exuberant primary theme declared by the first violin. The Menuetto flows by smoothly with a gently rocking theme, like a boat bobbing in a shaded brook, and eases seamlessly into the expressive but pensive Andante Mendelssohn ends with a saltarello, an Italian Renaissance dance he had also used to conclude his high-spirited Italian symphony.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Wednesday, July 16

The Old Church | 7pm 6pm | Musical Conversation with Ethan Soledad Post-concert meet & greet with artists

Silver Sponsor:

Beth Fry

NEW@ NIGHT

NEW@NIGHT: Chamber Evolution

ETHAN SOLEDAD (b. 1999)

HELENA WINKELMAN (b. 1974)

ANDREA TARRODI (b. 1981)

Poems From Angel Island for Piano Quintet (2025) • (15')

WORLD PREMIERE • CMNW CO-COMMISSION

I. From Endless Sorrows, Tears and Blood Streak

II. Random Thoughts, Deep at Night

III. Cages of Jade

Selections from 5 Capriccios für Violine (2002) • (10')

I. Of big stars and lesser lights

II. Moon blues

III. Machinations of the mind

IV. Lady in the shell with a bell

String Quartet No. 2, “Madárdal” (2013)

I. Allegretto – Allegro – Meno mosso

II. Adagio – Meno mosso

III. Allegretto – Allegro – Allegretto – Coda meno mosso

Opus13 Quartet

Sonoko Miriam Welde, violin

Edvard Erdal, violin

Albin Uusijärvi, viola

Daniel Thorell, cello

Yoko Greeney, piano

Carolin Widmann, violin

Opus13 Quartet

Sonoko Miriam Welde, violin

Edvard Erdal, violin

Albin Uusijärvi, viola

Daniel Thorell, cello

Ethan Soledad’s Poems from Angel Island was commissioned by Emerging Voices, a collaboration by Chamber Music Northwest, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and Seattle Chamber Music Society supporting young, emerging composers of color.

San Francisco Bay’s Angel Island acted as an immigration station for mostly Chinese immigrants in the beginning of the 20th century during the Chinese Exclusion Act. Many of those coming through would pose as “paper sons or daughters,” forging documents to make it seem like they were related to someone already a citizen of the U.S. The U.S was aware of this and as such implemented an intense interrogation process to find out if they were telling the truth. Those held at the station would spend weeks, months, and even years on the island before being released or sent back to their origins. Hundreds of poems are inscribed on the walls telling of their feelings of anxiety, fear, boredom, and despair in the terrible living conditions and grueling questioning by the immigration officers.

Upon reading the poem inspiring the first movement, I had a very vivid image in my mind of a bird trying to escape from its cage and being yanked down violently each time. Just as the poem says, “After leaping into prison, I cannot come out,” the piece opens with the listener being thrust into the fray, evoking a sense of panic and anxiety in the quickly shifting textures. The movement comes to a climax with the cello playing against the other strings and the piano, creating a sense of conflict and violence before slowly fading out into nothing.

The second movement evokes the quiet emotions felt by those on the island, as so eloquently expressed by the poet. There’s a sense of loneliness, despair, grief and homesickness as the poet perhaps regrets coming to a foreign land. Through this movement, in addition to portraying the imagery of the poem, I wanted to portray the emotions left unsaid—a sense of hopelessness that may arise from the question “will I ever be released?”

The third movement immediately follows the second without pause, beginning with an extensive violin cadenza. I similarly wanted to portray a sense that the poet has lost all hope before finally being told that they’re going to be released into the U. S. What follows is a dramatic shift in the harmonic language. The violin solo continues, first echoed by the strings

before being joined at the unison by the piano. This represents the poet “rejoicing” with their fellow villagers and the Asian American community as a whole coming together to thrive in spite of the violence, racism, trauma, and other hardships they’ve faced. The piece ends with a short lullaby evoking the textures of the first movement, representing that this piece of history—one that is relatable to any immigrant population in the world—is one to live with and to learn from.

—© Ethan Soldedad

As a passionate hobby—astrologer in her youth, Winkelman sets out to portray in music the characteristics associated with five of the astrologically relevant bodies of our solar system. Each of them being attributed with a god/goddess of the old Greek/Roman Pantheon, they are also psychological archetypes. Of big stars and lesser lights is dedicated to the luminous royal presence of the sun and god Apollon (the father of all string instruments).

Iridescent, fast is written on top of this very virtuosic miniature which with its many parallel fifths.

Moon blues brings a gentle, pastoral resting place. A serenade with a playful pizzicato—self-accompaniment and whistling.

Machinations of the mind is dedicated to Mercury and the associated god Mercure/ Hermes with his quicksilver mind. Hear an occasional Till Eulenspiegel–moment and evil giggles of the mind that thinks itself all too powerful.

Lady in a shell with a bell is dedicated to the planet Venus and its goddess Aphrodite. The pizzicato accompaniments on the open E-string sound like a bright little bell. It appears playful, sometimes strict and sometimes a wild little tantrum. Big bang on a tiny can is dedicated to the planet Mars and its associated god of war. The tiny can refers to the violin—which is not a big instrument but can make a lot of noise. Note the typical three-note -rock rhythm and the distortion-sounds reminding of an e-guitar.

—© Helena Winkelman

Madárdal was commissioned by Sveriges Radio P2 and written for the Dahlkvist Quartet. The piece is inspired by both Swedish and Hungarian folk songs. Since I am half Swedish and half Hungarian I thought that it would be an interesting way of composing a piece.

Madárdal consists of three movements. The first movement is built on fragments from Romany/Hungarian melodies and gestures. The Adagio is based on two specific Swedish folk songs; Emigrantvisa and Polska från Medelpad. In the third and last movement, the Hungarian/ Romany and Swedish folk songs meet. Throughout the piece you also may hear both Hungarian and Swedish bird species. Madárdal is the Hungarian word for birdsong, hence the title.

—© Andrea Tarrodi

Thursday, July 17

The Reser | 7:30pm

Silver Sponsors:

Anonymous

Ronnie-Gail Emden & Andrew Wilson

Ravi Vedanayagam & Ursula Luckert

Prelude Performance | 6:30pm

Local young musicians

Saturday, July 19

Kaul Auditorium | 8pm

Gold Sponsors: Karen & Cliff Deveney

Prelude Performance | 7pm

Local young musicians

Powerhouse Strings: Mendelssohn’s Octet & More

ALISTAIR COLEMAN (b. 1998)

OLLI MUSTONEN (b. 1967)

Ghost Art Canticles for String Quartet and Double Bass (2025) • (17’)

WORLD PREMIERE • CMNW COMMISSION

I. Sunburst

II. Evensong

III. Perpetua

Nonetto II (2000) • (15’)

I. Inquieto

II. Allegro impetuoso

III. Adagio

IV. Vivacissimo

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)

INTERMISSION

String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 • (33’)

I. Allegro moderato con fuoco

II. Andante

III. Scherzo: Allegro leggierissimo

IV. Presto

Viano Quartet

Lucy Wang, violin

Hao Zhou, violin

Aiden Kane, viola

Tate Zawadiuk, cello

Nina Bernat, bass

Benjamin Beilman, violin

Carolin Widmann, violin

Sonoko Miriam Welde, violin

Hao Zhou, violin

Albin Uusijärvi, viola

Aiden Kane, viola

Tate Zawadiuk, cello

Daniel Thorell, cello

Nina Bernat, bass

Hao Zhou, violin

Lucy Wang, violin

Sonoko Miriam Welde, violin

Edvard Erdal, violin

Aiden Kane, viola

Albin Uusijärvi, viola

Tate Zawadiuk, cello

Daniel Thorell, cello

Alistair Coleman’s Ghost Art Canticles was commissioned by CMNW with generous support from Ravi Vedanayagam & Ursula Luckert.

Ghost Art Canticles, composed for String Quartet and Double Bass, is inspired by Austin, the final work of American artist Ellsworth Kelly. The only building Kelly ever designed, Austin takes the form of a chapel with vibrant stainedglass windows, a crossshaped layout, 12 abstract panels evocative of the Stations of the Cross, and other religious allusions. However, Kelly conceived Austin as a “secular chapel,” stripping away sacred function to create “a place of calm and light.” It embodies what The New Yorker describes as Kelly’s lifelong pursuit of Ghost Art: “a translation from reality into something fully real, itself, only different.”

Growing up singing in a local church choir, one of my earliest memories was hearing Bach’s organ music fill the church with a roar of sound. Writing a new piece for Chamber Music Northwest’s festival celebrating Bach made me reflect on how deeply his music, like mine, was influenced by the church. While Bach primarily wrote for liturgical settings, his music is now performed in concert halls, allowing performers and listeners to draw new, secular meanings. I see a parallel in Kelly’s Austin—a space where traces of religious symbols remain, but their purpose has shifted. Ghost Art Canticles imagines music inhabiting this in-between space, drawing from both Kelly and Bach, where spiritual symbols become afterimages—ghosts of their former selves—that inspire new meanings.

The first movement, Sunburst, begins with a simple idea that gradually expands through canons, echoing Bach’s contrapuntal techniques and shifting light patterns in Austin. The second movement, Evensong, is a chorale, a direct nod to Bach’s meditative works. The final movement, Perpetua, spins out in relentless motion, evoking the restless play of color and light within the chapel. This title refers to both moto perpetuo (perpetual motion) and lux perpetua, an “everlasting light” in sacred texts—an idea that reflects Bach’s timeless influence on my music and others.

Ghost Art Canticles was commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest with generous support from Ravi Vedanayagam & Ursula Luckert. The piece is written for, and dedicated to, Nina Bernat and the Viano Quartet.

—© Alistair Coleman

Pianist, composer and conductor, for Olli Mustonen it’s all one thing, and he excels in all three, playing an extraordinary role in shaping the musical world of today.

A regular on Australian and international stages as a concert pianist, Mustonen’s first instrument was the harpsichord, and perhaps that is where the crystal-clear sound in his compositions comes from, with a fascination with Baroque counterpoint placed side by side with modern techniques.

Mustonen’s Nonetto II for nine solo string players takes up ideas from the 17th and 18th centuries, with gorgeous, warmly expressive melodies and delicate interplay. Opening on a mysterious note, with tiny two-note iterations sounding alternately low and high, the work asserts itself with volleys of brash, energetic themes surrounded by more fragmented motifs. Where the serene slow third movement suggests a meditative stasis, the finale returns to ecstatic exultation, eventually building to a riveting rhythmic finale.

— Courtesy of Omega Ensemble

Felix Mendelssohn wrote the original Octet for Strings in E-flat Major (1825) when he only 16 years old. With this rulebending, sophisticated feat, Mendelssohn stepped into his maturity as composer—not even Mozart was so brilliant at such a young age.

Mendelssohn’s octet was inarguably the first of its kind, a work that integrates two string quartets and fully explores the potential textures, from unison passages to eight-part counterpoint. He may have been aware of one recent “double quartet” by Louis Spohr, but Spohr’s experimental work doesn’t compare in scope; otherwise, there is no known precedent.

Mendelssohn’s scope is indicated first by the unbelievable breadth of the Allegro moderato ma con fuoco, surpassing 600 measures as it was first notated. At times the ebullient movement seems like a vast symphony, at others like an intimate quartet.

The remarkable third movement Scherzo is a perfect example of early Romanticism. Felix’s sister Fanny recalled that he based the music on a dream sequence from Goethe’s Faust, in which the author satirically presents cultural figures of his time such as philosophers, critics, and religious leaders as participants in a turbulent witches’ Sabbath. Accompaniment for the Sabbath is provided by an orchestra of flies, mosquitoes, frogs, and crickets. The festivities end at dawn, and everything vanishes, represented by the final violin line at the end of the movement

In the Presto finale Mendelssohn pays tribute to two of his idols, Mozart and Beethoven, with a movement that contrasts lyrical melodies and incessant contrapuntal lines, ending in a symphonic outburst showing the power of eight instruments.

—© Ethan Allred

DATE:

Portland’s new professional opera company, OrpheusPDX, one classic work and one modern masterpiece, featuring (Portland, OR) — OrpheusPDX General and Artistic Director announced the details of the 2024 season, the company’s performed Acis, Galatea, and Polyphemus and Hertzberg’s August 2024, at Portland’s 472-seat Lincoln Performance

“I’m delighted to be producing our third season of professional Lincoln Hall. Both operas are splendid examples of magni assembled a stellar company of international guest artists rich community of local artists to bring these productions

“This season, our two operas share elements of fantasy Metamorphoses and the other based on a Hans Christian “Both operas, although separated by more than three us during this challenging time; they are set in a sometimes a vision of hope and compassion. It’s a truly beautiful Portland audiences.”

Each season, OrpheusPDX produces one classic, 18th century By experiencing them concurrently, audiences gain a and the beautifully varied ways the genre has transformed produced stagings that audiences expect from this rich Handel’s early work Acis, Galatea, and Polyphemus kicks and August 4. “The draw of this story lies in its depiction “This intensely dramatic opera is full of show-stopping case for each singer that will captivate seasoned opera Hertzberg’s The Rose Elf runs August 17 and August 18. audience to the music of David Hertzberg,” said Mattaliano. energetic, and colorful. Audience members who love are sure to enjoy David’s music.”

Sunday, July 20

Lincoln Performance Hall | 4pm

Silver Sponsors: Marvin & Abby Dawson

Protégé Project Celebration!

ROSSINI (1792–1868)

GEORGE WALKER (1922–2018)

Duet for Cello and Double Bass in D Major • (15’)

I. Allegro

II. Andante molto

III. Allegro

Molto adagio (“Lyric for Strings”) from String Quartet No. 1 (1946) • (7’)

Monday, July 21

Kaul Auditorium | 8pm

Gold Sponsors: CMNW Volunteers

Paul Watkins, cello

Nina Bernat, bass

BOTTESINI (1821–1889)

FELIX

MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)

Gran Duo Concertante for Violin, Bass and Piano • (15’)

INTERMISSION

String Quintet in B-flat Major, Op. 87 • (30’)

I. Allegro vivace

II. Andante scherzando

III. Adagio e lento

IV. Allegro molto vivace

Viano Quartet

Lucy Wang, violin

Hao Zhou, violin

Aiden Kane, viola

Tate Zawadiuk, cello

Benjamin Beilman, violin

Nina Bernat, bass

Ryota Yamazaki , piano

Carolin Widmann, violin

Benjamin Beilman, violin

Jonathan Vinocour, viola

Aiden Kane, viola

Paul Watkins, cello

Gioachino Rossini’s name is synonymous with Italian opera; he composed 39 in 23 years, including The Barber of Seville and his final opera, William Tell. At the age of 37, Rossini stopped composing operas—and most other music, in fact—and spent his remaining years traveling, enjoying his well-earned fame, and hobnobbing with the luminaries of Europe.

In 1824, Rossini and his wife Isabella visited London, where they met many influential people, including the banker Sir David Salomons, a scion of a prominent family who would later become the first Jewish Lord Mayer of London. Accounts differ as to whether Rossini composed his Duet for Cello and Bass for Sir David or for his cousin Philip Joseph, a gifted amateur double bass player. In either case, Rossini received a generous fee for his efforts. The first performance was at a private event in the Salomons’ home in 1824, with Philip Joseph playing double bass while his teacher, bass virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti, most likely performing the cello part.

The Duet remained in the Salomons family—and virtually unknown to the rest of the world—for the next 144 years, when the manuscript was sold at a Sotheby’s auction. It quickly became popular with double bass players and has entered the bass chamber repertoire. Its three movements reflect Rossini’s facility with singable melodies and musical dialogue. The two instruments take turns presenting an array of pleasing, often lighthearted tunes, shifting fluidly between the roles of soloist and accompanist.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Lyric for Strings was composed in 1946 and was originally the second movement of my first string quartet. After a brief introduction, the principal theme that permeates the entire work is introduced by the first violins. A static interlude is followed by successive imitations of the theme that leads to an intense climax. The final section of the work presents a more animated statement of the same thematic material. The coda recalls the quiet interlude that appeared earlier.

—© George Walker

Double bassists owe a huge debt to Giovanni Bottesini. Without him, the double bass might have remained hidden at the back of the string section, its players unknown and its potential as a solo instrument unrealized. Through his brilliant playing, Bottesini singlehandedly gave the double bass a new identity as a virtuoso instrument. He also composed many works that feature the double bass, although most are seldom performed today because of their extreme technical difficulty.

Bottesini became a bass player by accident. At 14, he entered the Milan Conservatory, but the only scholarships available were for bassoon and double bass. Bottesini quickly became a virtuoso player; after he left the conservatory, he soon established himself as an outstanding soloist. Bottesini performed throughout Europe and also toured America; it was during this time that he earned the nickname, “Paganini of the double bass.” In later life he became a noted conductor and composer, but it is for his double bass techniques that Bottesini is best remembered, and where he made his most significant musical contributions.

The Gran Duo Concertante dates from 1880 and was originally written for two solo basses and orchestra. An Italian violinist transcribed one of the solo parts for violin; this version is the one most often performed today. The

episodic music ranges from graceful arabesques to dramatic declarations and poignant interludes, and concludes with a twinkling-eyed one upmanship contest, in which the bass plays in its highest register as it partners (outshines?) the violin.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Felix Mendelssohn’s many professional obligations left him so exhausted he needed an extended break in the fall of 1844, an initial symptom of the overwork that contributed to his early death only three years later. He spent his break in Frankfurt, recuperating and rededicating his energy to composition.

Mendelssohn wrote all four movements of the String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major during this break, but he struggled to develop a fitting second theme for the final movement and eventually set the quintet aside. He never had a chance to return to it during his lifetime, but fortunately its posthumous publication allowed this vibrant, mature work to see the light of day.

Mendelssohn treats the ensemble like a miniature symphony by creating a full texture, packed with tremolos, double stops, and generally dense writing. Triplet rhythms power the Allegro vivace into quasi-operatic drama, pausing only for a moment to gather energy for an ecstatic conclusion.

Comparatively restrained, the Andante scherzando sounds more like a graceful waltz than Mendelssohn’s typically fiery scherzos. Then, the Adagio e lento introduces a more tragic tone to the quintet, pairing full-bodied symphonic accompaniments with plaintive, operatic melodies. Given Mendelssohn’s misgivings about the Allegro molto vivace finale, it holds together surprisingly well, finishing the quintet with an energetic display of ensemble virtuosity.

—© Ethan Allred

Tuesday, July 22

Lincoln Recital Hall | 12pm

Protégé Series Sponsors: John & Linda Hardham

Protégé Spotlight:

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger & Ryota Yamazaki

DORA PEJACEVIC (1885–1923) KATHERINE BALCH (b. 1991)

AMY BEACH (1867–1944)

MARIA THERESIA VON PARADIS (1759–1824)

FLORENCE PRICE (1887–1953)

Violin Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 43 (“Slavic”) • (17’)

I. Allegro con anima

II. Adagio

III. Allegro molto vivace

Iaspis (2013) • (8’)

Violin Sonata, Op. 34 • (30’)

I. Allegro moderato

II. Scherzo: Molto vivace

III. Largo con dolore

IV. Allegro con fuoco

Sicilienne • (4’)

Elfentanz (1937) • (4’)

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin Ryota Yamazaki, piano

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin Ryota Yamazaki, piano

The Sonata for Violin and Piano in B Flat Minor, Op. 43, written in 1917, is one of the first works in Croatian music which unquestionably commits itself to the national style. There is an obvious attempt at integration of folklorisms (augmented seconds, a double pedal tone in the fifth, simple dance melodies) in a personal musical language. Folk music elements appear in a stylised form, with no attempt at folkloristic regionality. The scintillation of grotesqueness and humour in the final movement forms a pleasing balance here to the dramatic first movement and the lyrical central movement of the sonata.

—© Muzicki Informativni Centar

An iaspis is a type of sparkling quartz.

—© Katherine Balch

conceived within the “classical” fourmovement sonata form with no descriptive titles or programmatic references (I. Allegro moderato, II. Scherzo: molto vivace, III. Largo con dolore, IV. Allegro con fuoco). This is pure music for music’s sake. The two instruments are true partners, sharing the material in equal measure. Richly lyrical and emotional, Beach’s sonata at times contains the same rhythmic ambiguity prevalent in Brahms.

The first movement starts with an ominous passage in octaves on the piano, setting a dark, somber tone. A second movement, light in mood, is a playful Scherzo with a lovely contrasting middle section. An extended piano solo begins the highly emotional third movement. The final movement’s momentum surges forward dramatically, with brief interludes of repose and one little “token” contrapuntal passage. This is music that impresses with its musicality and lyricism rather than with technical display. Anyone familiar with the violin sonatas of Brahms, Cesar Franck, and Schumann will find the neglect of this work inexplicable.

—© Mona DeQuis

A very fine concert pianist, Amy Marcy Cheney Beach’s (or Mrs. H.H.A. Beach as she was also known) compositions are well within the traditional European vein, despite the fact that she was one of the first Americans fully trained in the United States. Unlike some of her contemporaries (Arthur Foote) and the next generation of composers (Arthur Farwell and Charles Ives) who started to incorporate folk songs and elements of African American and Native American music, Beach was not interested in creating a nationalistic American style. Her work is close to Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, and Frédéric Chopin.

Along with her Gaelic Symphony, piano quintet, and Mass in E-flat, the Violin Sonata, Op. 34 is considered one of Beach’s most important works. It was first performed in 1897 with the composer at the piano and violinist Franz Kniesel, concertmaster of the Boston Symphony. Comparisons with Brahms are inevitable: the music is autumnal, serious, and

In 1924, Schott published a Sicilienne credited to the blind 18th-century keyboard virtuoso Maria Theresia von Paradis (1759-1824) as “revised and edited” by violinist Samuel Dushkin. Dushkin claimed that he had discovered this piece as a keyboard work, and had recast it for violin and piano. However, no such work survives among primary manuscript sources for von Paradis, and it is fairly certain that Dushkin composed this little violin encore himself. The doubtful pedigree of the Sicilienne has hardly prevented its popularity; it has a generous, graceful, and arching melodic line which shifts gently from major to minor over a simple, cradle-song rocking accompaniment. Violinists often program it as an encore, or in the middle of a concert which is made up of longer, more ambitious pieces; the Sicilienne provides a break for the ears. But it also pays off in musical satisfaction. Nathan Milstein made a famous recording of the Sicilienne in the

1950s, and the popularity of the melody has since leant itself to rearrangement on other instruments.

—© Ryan Linham

Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Florence Price (1887-1953) almost immediately faced obstacles to her musical training; the city’s white instructors refused to work with her, leaving her mother in charge of her artistic development. Throughout her life, she was plagued by such discrimination; in a letter to the conductor Serge Koussevitzky (conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the time), she writes explicitly of her “two handicaps…sex and race.” Despite this, she became a nationally acclaimed composer. Her songs were championed by famed contralto Marian Anderson, while her Symphony No. 1 in E Minor was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra—the first orchestral work by an African American woman to be performed by a major American orchestra. Many of her works languished in manuscript form, forgotten for over half a century. After being rediscovered in a dilapidated home (Price’s former summer house) in 2009, they are happily now gaining appreciation through publication and performance. Elfentanz (“Dance of the Elves”) is one of several short pieces originally written for violin and piano. It opens with a spritely theme made effervescent by pervasive offbeat rhythms, capturing the whimsy of the title. A lushly romantic middle section follows, with soaring melodies and yearning harmonies. The impish music tiptoes back in, however, and the work closes with a playful pizzicato wink.

—© Anya B. Wilkening

Wednesday, July 23

The Old Church | 7pm 6pm | Musical Conversation with Paul Watkins and Zlatomir Fung

Post-concert meet & greet with artists

Silver Sponsor: Beth Fry

NEW@NIGHT: Living Echoes

GYÖRGY KURTÁG (b. 1926)

HUW WATKINS (b. 1976)

CARLOS SIMON (b. 1986)

J. S. BACH (1685–1750)

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN (b. 1958)

DOBRINKA TABAKOVA (b. 1980)

MICHAEL DJUPSTROM (b. 1980)

BÉLA BARTÓK (1881–1945)

Arr. Walter Kurz

NEW@ NIGHT

ZLATOMIR FUNG (b. 1999)

Selections from Signs, Games, and Messages for Solo Violin (1987–2005) • (5')

1. Hommage à J. S. B.

2. Perpetuum mobile (for Ágnes Vadas)

5. Hommage à John Cage (Faltering words)

10. Anziksz Kellerannának (Postcard to Anna Keller)

Prelude for Solo Cello (2007) • (5')

Lickety Split (2015) • (5')

Largo from Violin Sonata No. 3 for Solo Violin, BWV 1005 • (4')

Excerpt from Lachen verlernt (2002) • (8’)

David McCarroll, violin

Paul Watkins, cello

Paul Watkins, cello

Ryota Yamazaki , piano

Leila Josefowicz, violin

Pirin (2000) • (6’)

Walimai (2011) • (15’)

Selections from 18 Duos for Two Cellos (1931) • (8’)

IV. Mosquito Dance

V. Lullaby

X. New Year’s Greeting

XVI. Hay-Harvesting Song

XVII. Wedding Song

XVIII. Ruthenian Kolomejka

Selections from The Elves and the Cellomaker Suite for Cello Duo (2023) • (5')

7. H-E-L-P! HELP!

9. June’s School Performance

Zlatomir Fung, cello

Beth Guterman Chu , viola

Yoko Greeney, piano

Zlatomir Fung , cello

Paul Watkins, cello

Zlatomir Fung , cello

Paul Watkins, cello

This New@Night weaves a rich tapestry of storytelling from exotic lands and cultures, including Hungary, Bulgaria, and even the fictional Children of the Moon tribe, and offers a nod to Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, a characterization of a whimsical colloquialism, along with original compositions by cellist Zlatomir Fung.

The evening opens with György Kurtág’s Signs, Games, and Messages for Solo Violin. A master of the miniature, Kurtág crafts each note and gesture to the maximum impact. This deeply personal work is a collection of brief “musical letters,” reflecting the composer’s inner world. Known for its brevity and intensity, the pieces are rich in emotional depth and technical complexity, achieving the ultimate expression with minimal means.

The theme of introspection continues with Huw Watkins’s Prelude for Solo Cello. A contemplative and expressive work, his work draws inspiration from the Baroque Sarabande—a stately dance in triple meter known for its slow and reflective essence. The meditative pacing and subtle shifts in tonality creates a sense of unfolding narrative, showcasing the cello’s lyricism.

The program takes a whimsical turn with Carlos Simon’s Lickety Split for cello and piano. Inspired by Simon’s childhood summers spent with his grandfather, whose favorite expression was “lickety split” when urging him to work with speed and precision. The piece captures this sense of playfulness and urgency through its rhythmic syllables as the central motif. Bursting with energy, groove and wit, it concludes in true lickety split fashion.

Lightness shifts to darkness with two compelling compositions, juxtaposing the old and new: the Largo from J. S. Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major, paired with Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Lachen Verlernt. Bach’s Largo stands as one of the most poignant works in the solo violin repertoire, its depth is resonated in Salonen’s own “chaconne,” titled “Laughing Unlearnt,” a reference to the ninth movement of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, where the narrator laments having unlearned the ability to laugh and pleads for its return.

Inspired by Bulgarian folk elements and the dramatic landscape of the Pirin Mountains in southwestern Bulgaria, Dobrinka Tabakova’s Pirin captures the essence of Bulgarian folk music by incorporating techniques drawn from the traditional bowed instrument, the gadulka. The piece creates a soundscape that is both evocative and deeply rooted in tradition.

The evocative folklore continues in Michael Djupstrom’s Walimai, inspired by Isabel Allende’s short story of the same name. Walimai, a name given by his father, means “wind” and carries significant symbolism. This piece immerses listeners in the mysterious rainforest, tracing the emotional journey of Walimai, a member of the Children of the Moon tribe, who becomes the bearer of a woman’s soul after her death. The music mirrors this bond, ultimately leading to peace and reconciliation.

The program concludes with two sets of spirited cello duos by Béla Bartok and Zlatomir Fung, performed by Fung himself and cellist Paul Watkins. Bartók’s duos are rich with his signature folk elements, wit and rhythmic drive, while Fung’s duos echo the same characters and vivacious spirit. Together, they form a joyful, vibrant finale that celebrates both the lineage of tradition and the storytelling power of music.

—© Gloria Chien

´

Thursday, July 24

The Reser | 7:30pm

Gold Sponsors:

David & Maryanne Holman

Prelude Performance | 6:30pm

Local young musicians

Latticework & Legends

SEAN SHEPHERD (b. 1979)

Latticework for Violin and Cello (2025) • (20’)

WORLD PREMIERE • CMNW CO-COMMISSION

Part I

Ornament I

Long Strands

Flicker I

Dervish

Ornament II

Part II

Flicker II

Mime

Ornament III

The Silk Spinner

Flicker III

IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882–1971)

Arr. Composer (1934)

Divertimento from The Fairy’s Kiss (1928) • (23’)

I. Sinfonia

II. Danses suisses

III. Scherzo

IV. Pas de deux

BRAHMS (1833–1897)

Saturday, July 26

Kaul Auditorium | 8pm

Gold Sponsor:

Prelude Performance | 7pm

Local young musicians

Leila Josefowicz , violin

Paul Watkins , cello

Leila Josefowicz , violin

Gloria Chien, piano

INTERMISSION

String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 18 • (37')

I. Allegro ma non troppo

II. Andante ma moderato

III. Scherzo: Allegro molto

IV. Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso

David McCarroll, violin

Soovin Kim, violin

Beth Guterman Chu, viola

Burchard Tang, viola

Zlatomir Fung, cello

Paul Watkins, cello

Sean Shepherd’s Latticework was co-commissioned by CMNW with the support of the CMNW Commissioning Fund.

The assignment, as it was presented on the phone now a while back, was tough: create a major work lasting some twenty minutes for (the classic treble/bass string duo, for which, interestingly to me, there are relatively few works, and yet still, it’s only) two players. But among those few pieces are the masterworks of those like Ravel and Kodály, who both do incredible things with very large orchestras, but who were able to give a very distinctly honest (in my opinion) essence of themselves writ small, clear, and direct.

I thought of the overlapping range of these two instruments—the violin’s lowest string sounds a pitch below the cello’s highest. And I began working with ideas of interweaving as abstractly as possible, and images of twisting shapes, veins on tree leaves, spiders creating intricate webs, and any number of ideas in textiles—threads, stiches, machines like looms—permeated the early footprint of the piece. The way the players (for me an equal-privilege, equalresponsibility pair throughout) interact with each other rests on these mental images.

Latticework is dedicated to Leila and Paul, for whom craft and passion (in performance and in their beings) are as deeply intertwined as any two to ever pick up the instruments.

—© Sean Shepherd

In one of Igor Stravinsky’s many interviews with his friend and colleague Robert Craft, the composer recalled the genesis for his 1928 ballet

The Fairy’s Kiss: “In 1928, Ida Rubinstein commissioned me to compose a full-length ballet. The thirtyfifth anniversary of Tchaikovsky’s death was 1928...and I therefore conceived my compatriotic homage as an anniversary piece. I chose [Hans Christian] Andersen’s The Snow Maiden because it suggested an allegory of Tchaikovsky himself. The fairy’s kiss on the heel of the child is also the muse marking Tchaikovsky at his birth, though the muse did not claim Tchaikovsky at his wedding, as she did the young man in the ballet, but at the height of his powers...My only precept in selecting the music was that none of the pieces should have been orchestrated by Tchaikovsky—i.e., my selection would have to come from piano music and songs. I was already familiar with about half of the music I was to use; the other pieces were discoveries. At this date [1962], I only vaguely remember which music is Tchaikovsky’s and which mine.”

The divertimento Stravinsky created from The Fairy’s Kiss includes approximately half the music from the full ballet and is an ingenious blend of Tchaikovsky’s melodies stitched together with Stravinsky’s transitions. Its four movements condense the ballet’s plot but preserve its general outline. In the Sinfonia, a mother and child become separated during a violent storm, and fairies spirit the child away into the night. The Danses suisses (Swiss dances) provide a festive atmosphere for the child’s (now grown into a young man) engagement party. The twinkly-eyed Scherzo is a blend of Tchaikovsky’s signature lyrical melodies with Stravinsky’s off-beat rhythmic energy, and the closing Pas de deux showcases two young lovers dancing together.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Johannes Brahms completed the first of his two string sextets in 1860, when he was 27. At this time, Brahms, an excellent pianist, was most familiar with his own instrument, and had little experience writing for strings; before 1859 all his compositions included or featured piano. Brahms was also intimidated by the prospect of writing a full symphony (it took him almost 20 years to complete his first). A typical string sextet—two violins, two violas, and two cellos— can function like a micro-orchestra, which made it a more approachable medium for composition. As chamber music, a sextet would also not garner the kind of scrutiny Brahms’s colleagues would give to larger work like a symphony.

Given all his trepidations, Brahms was likely pleasantly surprised to discover that the String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 18 became his most popular work after it was published in 1862. It remained so until 1868, when Brahms premiered A German Requiem

In Op. 18, Brahms immersed himself in the rich interplay of melody, countermelody, harmony, and rhythm, and savored the lower sonorities of the cellos and violas. A cello opens the Allegro with the main theme, fragments of which return throughout the movement. Dotted and triplet rhythms abound, and Brahms also confounds our ears with a four-beat theme in ¾ time.

Listeners may recognize the Andante’s theme and variations; Clara Schumann liked it so much that Brahms gave her a piano transcription of it for her 41st birthday. The Scherzo contrasts Brahms’s unexpected harmonic shifts with propulsive bursts of rhythm. In the closing Rondo, Brahms splits the sextet into two trios: violins and one viola vs. cellos and second viola. The two groups trade themes, counterthemes, melodies and harmonies, and the music ends with a flourish.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Sunday, July 27

Kaul Auditorium | 4pm

Gold Sponsor:

Festival Finale: Mozart, Ngwenyama & Brahms

NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA (b. 1976)

W. A. MOZART (1756–1791)

Miasma (2021) • (16’)

BRAHMS (1833–1897)

Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 493 • (26’)

I. Allegro

II. Larghetto

III. Allegretto

INTERMISSION

String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36 • (40’)

I. Allegro non troppo

II. Scherzo: Allegro non troppo

III. Poco adagio

IV. Poco allegro

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin

Beth Guterman Chu, viola

Zlatomir Fung, cello

Gloria Chien, piano

Soovin Kim, violin

David McCarroll, violin

Beth Guterman Chu, viola

Burchard Tang, viola

Paul Watkins, cello

Zlatomir Fung, cello

Miasma—an ancient Greek term for “pollution”—describes a cosmic imbalance caused by moral or physical corruption.

In Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex, the blind prophet Tiresias declares, “You are the unclean thing, the polluter of this land.” This concept resonated anew during the COVID-19 pandemic as an airborne virus reshaped our lives.

I began composing Miasma before the development of the mRNA vaccine, exploring the sonic potential of viral RNA sequences with advice from geneticist Dr. Christopher Biggs. Inspired by protein music and the genomic transcription featured in Carl Zimmer’s “Coronavirus Unveiled” (The New York Times Magazine, October 9, 2020), I transcribed the nucleobases adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil into musical motifs.

The piece unfolds from a fretful adagio into a moto perpetuo, echoing viral sequences and the emergence of variants. Thirty-three tolls of the poly-A tail mark its end, reaching toward transcendence.

Commissioned by Young Concert Artists’ “Keep Our Artists Working Fund,” I am deeply grateful to violinist Bella Hristova, Young Concert Artists, the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and all who supported and inspired this work. Miasma premiered on the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis Laureate Series in Indianapolis, IN on March 23, 2021.

—© Nokuthula Ngwenyama

In 1785, Viennese publisher/composer Franz Anton Hoffmeister commissioned a set of three “piano quartets”—a new instrumental combination at the time—from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Later that year, Mozart sent Hoffmeister the Piano Quartet in G Minor, K. 478. When Hoffmeister read through it, he deemed the music, especially the piano part, too difficult for the amateur players he had hoped would purchase it, and told Mozart not to bother writing the other two quartets.

For his part, Mozart was captivated by the new instrumental and musical possibilities of writing for violin, viola, cello, and piano, and found this microorchestra format offered exciting new opportunities to explore thematic development, harmonic transitions, and dialogues between strings and piano. The following year, while he conducted the first performances of The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart completed a second quartet, the Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 493.

In K. 493, Mozart ignored Hoffmeister’s concerns, and the resulting piano part is even more technically demanding and virtuosic than that of K. 478. The opening Allegro features a seemingly endless supply of agreeable melodies, usually introduced by the piano and answered by the strings. The lyricism of the mellow Andante centers on a simple, largely unadorned theme whose phrases shift between piano and strings in an intimate dialogue. The quicksilver runs of notes and the merry lightheartedness of the Allegretto’s opening theme require delicacy and precision, as piano and strings toss phrases back and forth in joyful play.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

Five years separate Johannes Brahms’s first string sextet from his second. In that time, Brahms completed two serenades for orchestra, his first piano concerto, and several chamber works. The two sextets reflect both the passage of time and Brahms’s growing confidence in his compositional abilities.

In the summer of 1858, Brahms traveled to Göttingen to visit his friends Clara Schumann and Jules Grimm. While there, Brahms met a beautiful and gifted young soprano, Agathe von Siebold. Throughout his life, Brahms had a particular fondness for female voices, and Agathe’s inspired him to write several songs for her after he left Göttingen. But Brahms’s interest in Agathe extended beyond music; before he returned home, the two had come to an understanding. Early in 1859, Brahms returned to Göttingen and spent a great deal of time with Agathe, setting off rumors of an engagement. Brahms and Agathe did in fact exchange rings in secret, but Brahms was quickly assailed by doubts. As a young composer, his financial prospects were uncertain, and he was hesitant to commit himself to a woman he was not confident he could support. More tellingly, however, Brahms struggled all his life with romantic entanglements. According to Agathe, after he left Göttingen, Brahms wrote her a letter in which he declared: “I love you! I must see you again! But I cannot wear fetters. Write to me whether I am to come back, to fold you in my arms, to kiss you, to tell you that I love you!” Devastated, Agathe broke off their engagement. Neither she nor Brahms ever married.

In hindsight, Brahms acknowledged his bad behavior: “I have played the scoundrel with Agathe.” As he composed the String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36, memories of Agathe filled Brahms’s thoughts. In the opening Allegro, Brahms made a theme out of the letters of her first name: A-G-A-H-E. In German music notation, “H” stands for B-natural, “B” for B-flat, and there is no counterpart to the letter “T”. The music of Op. 36 reflects a rueful emotional maturity, as Brahms looked back on his youthful mistakes. The four movements demonstrate Brahms’s emerging mastery of counterpoint and form, and are tinged with nostalgia, regret, and joy recalled through the lens of memory.

—© Elizabeth Schwartz

A WORLD OF MUSICAL THROUGHOUT

Western and world music from the Renaissance to the 21st century: Lewis & Clark’s vibrant music department and guest artists present

PORTLAND MONTHLY

34TH ANNUAL SEASON 2O25–2O26

Convenient new concert time! Saturdays at 2:OOpm St. Mary’s Cathedral in NW

25 October

MASS APPEAL

Masses by Bruckner and Stravinsky with Portland Youth Philharmonic

15 November

LIVING MEMORIES

Dimitris Skyllas: The Last Anthem (US Première)

3 January

CHRISTMAS WITH CAPPELLA Festive carols and motets in the 12 Days of Christmas!

7 February HOPE AND LIGHT

Mystical Chamber Music by Arvo Pärt, Tikey Zes, Ivan Moody & more

7 March

PASSION FOR LIFE

Stunning works for Passion Week by Steinberg and Gretchaninov

Thu. 23 Apr. 7:3Opm THE TALLIS SCHOLARS

Soaring Renaissance music and selections by Arvo Pärt

ALEXANDER LINGAS, MUSIC DIRECTOR

Bach's Musical Signature

Join us in welcoming OBT Music Director

Maestro Enrique Carreon-Robledo

Experience Enrique Carreón-Robledo’s artistry at George Balanchine’s THE NUTCRACKER and Christopher Stowell’s THE SLEEPING BEAUTY this season at OBT!

Known as Bach's musical signature, look carefully to see a sequence of notes that spell out his last name: B (B-flat), A, C, and H (B-natural)—in German musical notation, B-flat is written as B and B-natural is written as H. Although he didn't use this "signature," he did use these notes in this order. 19th-century fans created the "signature," and composers since then have used the BACH motif in their music as a tribute to him. The signature design for this year’s festival artwork was illustrated by our designer Jeff Hayes, who modernized the look and feel of the original signature’s style.

Photo by Jessie Kenney, courtesy of Tulsa Ballet

2025 FESTIVAL ARTISTS & COMPOSERS

Kit Armstrong

Piano/Harpsichord

1st Summer

Ever since Kit Armstrong entered the international music stage twenty years ago, his activities have exerted an enduring fascination upon music lovers. He performs recitals in major series, appears with the world’s finest orchestras, and has developed close artistic partnerships with leading instrumentalists and vocalists. He has held artist-in-residence appointments incorporating a wide spectrum of musical formats, combining his roles as composer, pianist, conductor, and organist. His project, Expedition Mozart, traverses Mozart’s music in various genres with an international group of distinguished chamber musicians and soloists—and has become a main feature at prestigious festivals and venues.

Armstrong came to classical music through composition at the age of five. He has since created a broad oeuvre of vocal, instrumental, chamber, and symphonic works, many of which have been commissioned by notable European cultural institutions. His compositions are published by Edition Peters.

Born in 1992 in California, USA, Armstrong pursued undergraduate studies in physics at California State University, chemistry, and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and mathematics at Imperial College London. Alfred Brendel has guided Armstrong as a musical mentor since 2005. In 2008, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and in 2012 a master’s degree in pure mathematics at the University of Paris VI. In 2012, Kit Armstrong purchased the Church of Sainte-Thérèse in Hirson, France, and transformed it into a hall for concerts, exhibitions, and outreach. This cultural centre has become home to interdisciplinary projects, reaching a regional as well as cosmopolitan public.

Edward Arron

Cello

YAI Faculty, festival artist

2nd Summer

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, cellist Edward Arron made his New York recital debut in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since that time, he has appeared in recital, as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a chamber musician throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

The 2024-25 season marks Mr. Arron’s 12th season as the co-artistic director with his wife, Jeewon Park, of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Mr. Arron tours and records as a member of the renowned Ehnes String Quartet and he is a regular performer at the Boston and Seattle Chamber Music Societies, the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Bargemusic, Caramoor, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Seoul Spring Festival in Korea, Music in the Vineyards Festival, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, and the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland. Other festival appearances include Salzburg, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Mostly Mozart, PyeongChang, Bridgehampton, Spoleto USA, Santa Fe, Evian, La Jolla Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest, Chesapeake Chamber Music, and the Bard Music Festival. Mr. Arron’s performances are frequently broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today.

In 2021, Mr. Arron’s recording, Beethoven Complete Works for Cello and Piano, with pianist Jeewon Park was released on the Aeolian Classics Record Label. The recording received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artists Award from the Classical Recording Foundation. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Mr. Arron currently serves on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Fleur Barron

Mezzo-Soprano

3rd Summer Hailed as “a knockout performer” by The Times, Singaporean-British mezzo Fleur Barron is a passionate interpreter of opera, symphonic works, and chamber music ranging from the Baroque to the contemporary. She is currently Artistic Partner of the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, for which she will curate and perform multiple projects across several seasons. The artist is mentored by Barbara Hannigan.

The 2024-25 season sees Fleur Barron emerge as an exciting, leading voice in Mahlerian repertoire across a series of important symphonic debuts: Das Lied von der Erde with Daniel Harding and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on tour across Germany, with Harding and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm, on tour to Spain with Kent Nagano and the Hamburg Staatsorchester at the Elbphilharmonie, and at the Oregon Bach Festival; Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Nathalie Stutzmann and the Atlanta Symphony; Mahler’s second symphony with the Orquesta de Valencia; Rückert Lieder with PhilZuid; and the Kindertotenlieder at Het Concertgebouw’s Mahler Festival with Julius Drake.

Other orchestral engagements include Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs with the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra, Saariaho’s Adriana Songs with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, and orchestrated Schubert songs with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias.

She takes on three new opera roles: Concepción in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra under Ludovic Morlot (including a studio recording); Comrade Chin/Shu Fang in Huang Ruo’s M. Butterfly at the Barbican Centre directed by James Robinson; and Galatea in Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo with La Nuova Musica at Wigmore Hall.

Benjamin Beilman

Violin

Past Protégé Project Artist

5th Summer

Benjamin Beilman is one of the leading violinists of his generation. He has won international praise for his passionate performances and deep, rich tone which The New York Times described as “muscular with a glint of violence”, and The Strad described as “pure poetry.“ Le Monde has described him as “a prodigious artist, who combines the gift of utmost sound perfection and a deep, delicate, intense, simmering sensitivity." Benjamin’s 2024/25 season includes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic and Kirill Petrenko on tour in the US, and returns to the Chicago, Cincinnati, and Antwerp symphonies. He also makes his debut with the Belgian National Orchestra the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony. He will also tour with pianist Steven Osborne across the US.

In recent seasons, Beilman’s commitment to and passion for contemporary music has led to new works written for him by Frederic Rzewski, Gabriella Smith, and a concerto by Chris Rogerson. He has also given multiple performances of Jennifer Higdon’s violin concerto, and recorded Thomas Larcher’s concerto with Hannu Lintu and the Tonkünstler Orchester

He has received many prestigious accolades including a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a London Music Masters Award. He has also recorded works by Stravinsky, Janáček, and Schubert for Warner Classics. In 2022, he became one of the youngest artists to be appointed to the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music.

He performs with the ex-Balaković F. X. Tourte bow (c. 1820), and plays the “Ysaÿe” Guarneri del Gesù from 1740, generously on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

Nina Bernat

Bass

Past Protégé Project Artist

2nd Summer American double bassist Nina Bernat, acclaimed for her interpretive maturity, expressive depth and technical clarity, emerges onto the world stage with awards and accolades, thrilling audiences everywhere. She was hailed by Star Tribune as a “standout” for her recent concerto debut with the Minnesota Orchestra, praising her performance as “exhilarating, lovely and lyrical...technically precise and impressively emotive.”

In 2023, Nina was honored as a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the CAG Elmaleh Competition. Recent 1st prizes include the Barbash J. S. Bach String Competition, the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition, the Juilliard Double Bass Competition, and the 2019 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition.

Engaged in all aspects of double bass performance, she has been invited to perform as guest principal bassist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Oslo Philharmonic, serving under the batons of conductors such as András Schiff and Osmo Vänskä. Nina is in demand as a passionate chamber musician. She began her involvement with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as a member of the Bowers Program in 2025. She has spent summers at Marlboro Music Festival, Verbier Festival, Music@Menlo, and Chamber Music Northwest.

She is quickly becoming a sought-after pedagogue, having given masterclasses at the Colburn School, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and University of Texas at Austin, among others. She is on the faculty of Stony Brook University.

Nina performs on an instrument passed down from her father, Mark Bernat, attributed to Guadagnini.

Jenna Breen Horn

1st Summer

Australian French horn player Jenna Breen obtained her Bachelor of Music Performance from the Queensland  Conservatorium of Music where she studied under Peter Luff on an Academic Scholarship. During her degree she received the Kurt Blumenthal Music Scholarship and the Yvonne Haysom Women in Music Bursary. Additional study was undertaken for 1 year at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne.

Since completing her studies, Jenna has held permanent positions in the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and now the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, where she has been a member since 2016.

In 2014 she was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to study with some of the best low horn players across the globe, visiting Berlin, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia. Breen has also worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Queensland, Adelaide, and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

In her spare time she enjoys flying single engine planes around the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Sunmi Chang Violin

2nd Summer

As the laureate of both the 2007 International Markneukirchen and Sion-Valais International Violin Competitions, Korean-born violinist Sunmi Chang has performed widely to much acclaim throughout North America and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician.

At the age of 17, she toured with the Yehudi Menuhin School Orchestra playing Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, conducted by Lord Menuhin in UNESCO Headquarters and Guildford

Cathedral in England. In 2008, Sunmi was the soloist on Yale Philharmonia’s tour to Seoul, Beijing, and Shanghai, performing the Beethoven Violin Concerto. To celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday, she returned to Yale, performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with cellist Paul Watkins and pianist Melvin Chen, conducted by Peter Oundjian.

An active chamber musician, she has performed in various chamber music festivals, including the Rising Stars Series at Caramoor, Vivace Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Music in the Vineyards, and Chamber Music Northwest. Sunmi is also the Founder & Artistic Director of Summit Chamber Music Series—committed to bringing world-class chamber music to West Virginia.

In December 2023, Sunmi released Mother Tales under the PARMA recording label with pianist Clara Yang—an album that pays tribute to four remarkable women composers Florence Price, Gabriela Lena Frank, Liliya Ugay, and Amy Beach.

Sunmi received her Bachelor’s degree at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin, a Master’s degree and an Artist Diploma at the Yale School of Music, and a Doctoral degree from the University of Michigan. Her principal teachers have included Eberhard Feltz, Peter Oundjian, Soovin Kim, and Ani Kavafian. She recently joined as the violin faculty at the School of Music at the University of Oregon.

Joyce Chen Harpsichord

1st Summer

A native of Taiwan, Dr. Joyce Wei-Jo Chen 陳瑋若 is Assistant Professor of Historical Keyboards at the University of Oregon. She is also a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Music (Historical Musicology) and the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Humanities at Princeton University. Dr. Chen holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Harpsichord Performance from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.

As a solo harpsichordist, Dr. Chen has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Taiwan. Dr. Chen received the 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts and was a featured soloist in the 2019 Emerging Artist Showcase by Early Music America. She has performed as a soloist in the Musica Antica Festival in Belgium (2018), the International Normandy Baroque Competition in France (2018), and the Prix Annelie de Man in Amsterdam (2023). In addition, Dr. Chen is releasing her first solo harpsichord album featuring English virginalist music in 2025. She just finished building her first harpsichord from a Troubadour Virginal Kit.

Outside academia, Dr. Chen is a dedicated church musician with over 13 years of experience. As an organist specializing in the Baroque repertoire, Dr. Chen recently received the Colleague certification from the American Guild of Organists. Since August 2024, she has been serving as Music Director at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Mt. Angel.

Gloria Chien

Piano

CMNW Artistic Director, festival artist

8th Summer Taiwanese-born pianist Gloria Chien has one of the most diverse musical lives as a noted performer, concert presenter, and educator. She made her orchestral debut at the age of sixteen with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard, and she performed again with the BSO with Keith Lockhart. She was subsequently selected by The Boston Globe as one of its Superior Pianists of the year, “who appears to excel in everything.” In recent seasons, she has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection, the Dresden Chamber Music Festival, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

In 2009, she launched String Theory, a chamber music series in Chattanooga, Tennessee that has become one of the region’s premier classical music presenters. The following year she was appointed Director of the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo. In 2017,

she joined her husband, violinist Soovin Kim, as Artistic Director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont. The duo became Artistic Directors at Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon in 2020. Chien studied extensively at the New England Conservatory of Music with Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman. She, with Kim, were awarded Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s 2021 CMS Award for Extraordinary Service to Chamber Music.

Chien is Artist-in-Residence at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, and she is a Steinway Artist. Chien received her B.M., M.M., and D.M.A. degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music as a student of Russell Sherman and Wha-Kyung Byun.

Beth Guterman Chu Viola

1st Summer

Beth Guterman Chu is one of the most sought after violists of her generation. Before joining the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2013 as principal, she was an Artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and enjoyed a varied career as a chamber musician and recitalist. Outside of her role as principal viola, Chu enjoys an avid chamber music career—including collaborations with Kim Kashkashian, Leon Fleisher, Mitsuko Uchida, Gil Shaham, Itzhak Perlman, Menahem Pressler, James Ehnes, and members of the Guarneri, Emerson, and Orion quartets.

Chu has performed as soloist with many distinguished conductors including Hannu Lintu, Nicholas McGegan, Bramwell Tovey, Leonard Slatkin, David Robertson, and James DePreist.

During the summer Chu performs and works with young musicians at the Marlboro Music Festival, National Youth Orchestra-USA, and the Taipei Music Academy and Festival. In recent years, she has also performed chamber music at festivals in Seattle, Washington; Lake Champlain, Vermont; Portland, Maine; Toronto, Canada; and Bridgehampton, New York.

Beth Guterman Chu received her Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory studying with Kim

Kashkashian and her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School studying with Masao Kawasaki and Misha Amory. She grew up in the Boston area and attended NEC Prep for 10 years. She currently lives in St. Louis with her husband Jonathan, another violist, and their three children. She plays on a Samuel Zygmuntowicz viola made in 2022.

Alistair Coleman

Past Protégé Project Artist

CMNW Commissioned & World Premiere Composer

3rd Summer

Alistair Coleman is a composer from Maryland and the 2023–25 Composerin-Residence of Young Concert Artists. Recent commissions include concertos for violinist Soovin Kim and cellist Zuill Bailey, a trombone sonata for Joseph Alessi (premiered on tour in China and Japan), and Moonshot, premiered by the Abeo Quartet in collaboration with Glenstone Museum and the Smithsonian Institution.

The 2024–25 season features premieres at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall by percussionist Michael Yeung, a marimba concerto for Ji-Su Jung, and a commission from the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium. Other projects include a European tour of a new chamber work for Philharmonische Gesellschaft Bremen’s 200th anniversary and a bass quintet for the Viano Quartet and Nina Bernat, commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest.

Recent highlights include performances by the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Curtis Symphony Orchestra, and National Philharmonic; collaborations with pianists Alessio Bax, Gloria Chien, Avery Gagliano, and Janice Carissa in collaboration with Steinway; and commissions from Chamber Music Lexington and the Lake Champlain Festival. He has received three ASCAP Morton Gould Awards as well as prizes from Juilliard, American Composers Forum, the Society for New Music, and NPR. In 2020, he founded a composition mentorship program with the Opportunity Music Project, in partnership with Carnegie Hall’s PlayUSA. He also serves on the Curtis Institute’s Musical Studies Faculty and teaches at Hidden Valley’s Emerging

Composers Intensive.

A graduate of Curtis and Juilliard, Alistair begins PhD studies at Princeton University as a Roger Sessions Fellow in fall 2025.

Marilyn de Oliveira

Cello

2nd Summer Brazilian cellist Marilyn de Oliveira enjoys an active career as a symphonic and chamber musician. Since joining the Oregon Symphony as the Assistant Principal cellist in 2009, Marilyn has been a founding member of Mousai Remix and Pyxis String Quartets, cellist of Third Angle and 45th Parallel Universe, and a guest with prestigious festivals such as Grand Teton Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, and Chamber Music Northwest.

In addition to her many performance engagements, Marilyn is also an educator, orchestral coach and music activist. She is part of the music faculty at Reed College, maintains a private studio with graduates now in renowned music schools worldwide, and founded the Oregon Symphony Musician’s Caroling Project—a collaborative effort which has brought music to those in need during the holidays for over a decade.

Prior to joining the OSO, Marilyn served as Acting Assistant Principal cellist and section member of the San Antonio Symphony and was a fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami, FL. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University, her Master of Music degree at Rice University, and was the Bronze Award Winner in the senior division of The Sphinx Competition in 2006.

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger

Violin

2025 Protégé Project Artist

1st Summer American violinist Isabelle Ai Durrenberger is praised for her imaginative performances and her ability to communicate with sincere artistry. Based in New York City, she is first violinist of the Aeolus Quartet and a recent graduate of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect program.

An avid chamber musician, Durrenberger is recognized for her unique collaborative instincts. Recent engagements include concerts with Boston Chamber Music Society, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Music Northwest, Jupiter Chamber Players, The Knights, A Far Cry, and Marlboro Music Festival.

Durrenberger grew up in a musical home in Columbus, Ohio, and began playing piano at age four, beginning violin lessons three years later. At age 13, she began her studies with Jaime Laredo at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She attended Meadowmount School of Music for four years, graduated from high school a year early, and at age 16 began her undergraduate program in Cleveland where she continued receiving mentorship from Laredo. Other influences include Jennifer Koh, Sharon Robinson, Joan Kwuon, Jinjoo Cho, Jan Mark Sloman, and Jun Kim.

In 2022, she completed her graduate studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston with Soovin Kim and Don Weilerstein. Durrenberger has a private violin studio in New York City and serves on the violin faculty at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School in Boston, where she teaches violin and coaches chamber music.

Durrenberger performs on a 2020 Zygmuntowicz violin on private loan from a patron in New York City.

Paul Dwyer

Cello

1st Summer

Cellist Paul Dwyer brings to life everything from early music on Baroque cello to brand new works by young composers. He has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in the US, Europe, and Asia, and has performed with Menahem Pressler, Jordi Savall, and artist-faculty of the Juilliard School and Aspen Music Festival. A prize-winner of numerous competitions, Paul is also the recipient of the Javits Fellowship, Presser Award, and a Fulbright Fellowship for studies with Anner Bylsma and FrancesMarie Uitti in Amsterdam. Paul holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, The Juilliard School, and the University of Michigan, where he was teaching assistant to Richard Aaron. Paul is a founding member of Diderot String Quartet, ACRONYM, The Colonials, and joined Lyric Opera of Chicago as Assistant Principal cellist this fall.

Growing up in Vienna and Munich, Paul originally wanted to play the double bass, but was told he was too short. His varied musical explorations began soon thereafter: as a teenager, he co-founded a heavy metal cello quartet and sang the role of Polyphemus in Handel’s Acis and Galatea. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, biking, and brewing beer.

Edvard Erdal

Violin (Opus13) 2025 Protégé Project Artist

2nd Summer

The Norwegian violinist Edvard Erdal (b. 1996) is a sought-after chamber musician and orchestra leader. He currently holds the position of First Concertmaster of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra in Norway. Edvard is a founding member of the string quartet Opus13, which was awarded 2nd prize in the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022. Edvard plays a Lorenzo Storioni violin dated 1780, generously on loan from Snefonn AS.

Emi Ferguson Flute

1st Summer

A 2023 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Emi Ferguson can be heard live in concerts and festivals with groups including the Handel and Haydn Society, AMOC*, Ruckus, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Manhattan Chamber Players, and as the music director of Camerata Pacifica Baroque.

Her recordings By George!, Amour Cruel, and Fly the Coop: Bach Sonatas and Preludes, celebrate her fascination with reinvigorating music and instruments of the past for the present and have been called “blindingly impressive ... a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination” by The New York Times.

Emi has spoken and performed at TEDx events and has been featured on the Discovery Channel, Amazon Prime, WQXR, and Vox talking about how music relates to our world today. As part of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab, she created the series “This Composer is SICK!” with Max Fine, exploring the impact of Syphilis on composers Franz Schubert, Bedřich Smetana, and Scott Joplin. She is also a host of WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase and Once Upon A Composer Her book, Iconic Composers, co-written with Nicholas Csicsko with artwork by David Lee Csicsko, was released in 2023.

Born in Japan and raised in London and Boston, she now resides in New York.

Jordan Frazier Bass

1st Summer

Double Bassist

Jordan Frazier has performed worldwide with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra since 1993 and was appointed a member of the orchestra in 2006. He is a former member of L’Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona, and currently is a member of the American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and is Principal Bass of the Westchester Philharmonic,

Little Orchestra Society, Bard Festival Orchestra, and at the Carmel Bach Festival in California. Jordan has also performed as Principal Bass with the St. Paul and Australian Chamber Orchestras, as well as the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphonies, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, among many others. He has also performed and recorded with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, both in Toronto and in Europe.

As a Chamber musician, he has performed with the Helicon Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, Los Angeles Piano Quartet, Horozowski Trio, Imani Winds and the Corigliano, Jupiter, Parker, and Daedalus Quartets.

His recording credits include Sony Classical, Harmonium Mundi, Nonesuch, London, Decca/Argo, EMI, Koch, Musical Heritage Society, Blue Note, and Deutsche Grammophon, including two Grammy Award-winning recordings with Orpheus (Shadow Dances) and with the Wayne Shorter Quartet (Emanon). Jordan is a founding member of The AllStar Orchestra, recording more than 20 episodes for Naxos and PBS.

A native of Cleveland, Jordan received his musical training at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Manhattan School of Music. He has been on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music and has given masterclasses at Interlochen, Yale, and Rice Universities and at the National Orchestral Institute.

Zlatomir Fung

Cello

Past Protégé Project Artist

3rd Summer

Cellist Zlatomir Fung burst onto the scene as the first American in four decades (and youngest musician ever) to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division. Subsequent accolades, critical acclaim, and standing ovations at performances around the world have established him as one of the preeminent cellists of our time. Astounding audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity, the 25-year-old has already proven himself a star among the next generation of world-class musicians.

In the 2024–2025 season, Fung gives recitals in New York City, Boston, and St. Louis, and performs the complete Bach Cello Suites at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts and in Arcata, California, following summer appearances at the Aspen and Ravinia Festivals. He joins orchestras in Rochester, San Antonio, and Billings, among others. Internationally, he performs in Europe and Asia with the London Philharmonic, Barcelona Symphony, and others, and offers a recital tour of Italy. In January 2025, Signum Records released Fung’s debut album, a collection of opera fantasies and transcriptions for cello and piano.

Fung served as Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2023–2024 season; recent debut appearances include the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille, and BBC Philharmonic, as well as Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Seattle, and Kansas City Symphonies.

Fung made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2021 and was described by Bachtrack as “one of those rare musicians with a Midas touch: he quickly envelopes every score he plays in an almost palpable golden aura.” Fung was a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Winner in 2022.

Jeff Garza Horn

2nd Summer

Jeff Garza was appointed Principal Horn of the Oregon Symphony in October 2019. He has previously held principal positions with the San Antonio Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Britt Festival Orchestra, and Festival Mozaic. Jeff has served as guest principal in dozens of orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Utah Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, and Melbourne Symphony. During the summer festival season, he is principal horn of the Bellingham Festival of Music.

As a chamber musician and soloist, Jeff has performed at festivals, workshops, and concert series throughout the United States; including Concordia Chamber Players, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, and Cactus Pear Music

Festival. He is a core member and former Artistic Director of Olmos Ensemble, a chamber music group based in San Antonio, Texas.

His recent recording credits include chamber music by composers Mark Abel (Spectrum, Delos Productions) and Andrew Lewinter (Music for Brass and Piano, Novona Records).

Jeff is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. He received additional musical training as a fellow with the New World Symphony and the Tanglewood Music Center. Jeff is currently Adjunct Professor of Horn and a chamber music coach at Oregon State University and the University of Portland. He has previously held faculty positions at Brevard Music Center, Interlochen Center for the Arts, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio College, and Trinity University.

2nd Summer Pianist and chamber music visionary Yoko Greeney adds excellence, depth, and diversity to Portland’s music scene through a multifaceted career of performing, teaching, directing, and engagement. Celebrated for her sensitivity and style, Greeney is a passionate collaborator and has enjoyed the role of accompanist in the Aspen Music Festival, Bard Music Festival, California State University Summer Arts, and guest artist with the distinguished Alexander String Quartet of San Francisco. Since residing in Portland, Oregon, she has shared stages with the Oregon Symphony, 45th Parallel Universe, Oregon Ballet Theater, BodyVox, and Portland Piano International, with additional live radio broadcasts on All Classical Radio. Of her technically demanding 2019 collaboration with BodyVox, the Portland Tribune noted that Greeney “excelled... bringing a fantastic attack to the energetic dancing.”

A dedicated music educator, Greeney teaches piano at Lewis and Clark College, maintains a private studio, and coaches chamber music at the Portland Summer Ensembles of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra.

Originally from Osaka, Greeney finally settled in Portland, Oregon in 2010 after following career opportunities to a diverse array of cities in Japan, Mexico, and the United States. She received a master’s degree from the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University, which is where she worked vigorously as an accompanist for both instrumentalists and singers, developing what would become her lifelong love of collaboration. Alongside her husband Jon, Greeney is a gracious and devoted supporter of the arts, culture, and education. In addition to frequently performing for fundraisers and charities, the couple often hosts development events in their home in Portland’s beautiful Northwest hills.

Peter Harvey

Oregon Bach Festival Bass soloist

1st Summer

One of the foremost interpreters of the music of J. S. Bach and his contemporaries, Peter Harvey has made well over 150 recordings in repertoire spanning eight centuries, with an emphasis on music from the High Baroque. A key participant in their Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, Peter’s recordings with Sir John Eliot Gardiner include the celebrated solo cantata, Iche habe genug

As well as with period ensembles like Akademie für Alte Musik, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, Dunedin Consort, The King’s Consort, and Tafelmusk Toronto, Peter has worked with orchestras and modern ensembles such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and Oslo Philharmonic, among others.

Peter Harvey studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, and at the Guildhall School of Music in London—where he won prizes in several international singing competitions.

Yoko Greeney Piano

Thomas Hobbs

Oregon Bach Festival Tenor soloist

1st Summer

Thomas Hobbs is one of the most interesting and significant Bach tenors and is in high demand with leading Baroque and early music ensembles across the world. Highlights of Hobbs’ 2024/25 season include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion for RIAS Kammerchor and the South Netherlands Philharmonic, and concerts with ensembles including Le Banquet Celeste, Gli Angeli Geneve, and Les Arts Florissants. Key engagements in recent seasons have included two tours across Europe with the Netherlands Bach Society. Hobbs also continues long running relationships with Gli Angeli Geneve, Le Banquet Céleste, Alia Mens, Tafelmusik, and Ensembles Masques. His recordings of Handel Chandos Anthems with Stephen Layton and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Mozart’s Requiem in D minor with John Butt and the Dunedin Consort have been universally praised, with the latter receiving the 2014 Gramophone Award for best choral recording.

Matthew

Hudgens Oboe

1st Summer

Matthew Hudgens picked up the oboe at 11—arguably the most rebellious choice a middle schooler can make— and never looked back. Trained at East Tennessee State University, the University of North Texas, and The Juilliard School, he began his career steeped in Classical tradition until early music hijacked his grad school plans. One listen to a Baroque oboe’s reedy charm, and he was a goner.

These days he’s like a modern-day minstrel, performing with period ensembles across North America— including Philharmonie Austin, American Bach Soloists, Cantata Collective, Lyra Baroque, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Seattle Bach Festival, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and more.

Matthew can be seen performing oboes from the Baroque to late Romantic; and, yes, even modern oboe, if the mood strikes.

When not nerding out over historical temperaments or debating reed setups with colleagues, Matthew is probably curled up with a good book and a coffee, hiking through the Pacific Northwest with his partner, or pretending to “unplug” while secretly brainstorming his next reed adjustment. Based in Portland, he’s equally at home enjoying the incredible food scene the city offers or exploring a sunlit forest—just don’t ask him to choose between the two.

Braizahn Jones Bass

5th Summer

Braizahn Jones is the Assistant Principal Bassist of the Oregon Symphony and a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer. Originally from Las Vegas, NV, he began his studies with Paul Firak before attending The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University under Jeffrey Weisner, later transferring to Curtis in 2014.

Braizahn has performed and toured with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony and is an active freelance musician, appearing at Chamber Music Northwest, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Bellingham Music Festival, and the Jackson Hole Chamber Music Festival.

A dedicated educator, he serves on the faculty of the National Orchestral Institute and Reed College, maintains a full private studio, and has taught at the Pacific Music Institute in Honolulu as well as various international double bass workshops.

Leila Josefowicz Violin

5th Summer

Leila Josefowicz’s passionate advocacy of contemporary music for the violin is reflected in her diverse programs and enthusiasm for performing new works. A favorite of living composers, Josefowicz has premiered many concertos, including those by Colin Matthews, Luca Francesconi, John Adams, and Esa-Pekka Salonen, all written especially for her.

Josefowicz’s 2024/25 season includes performances of Luca Francesconi’s Duende – The Dark Notes with New York Philharmonic and Susanna Malkki, and the British premiere of Helen Grime’s Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo at the Aldeburgh Festival. Further engagements include Minnesota Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, and Houston, San Diego, KBS, Singapore, City of Birmingham, Prague, and BBC symphony orchestras.

Highlights of recent seasons include appearances with Berliner Philharmoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Royal Concertgebouworkest, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, London, Oslo, Helsinki, and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Chicago, San Francisco, The Cleveland, and The Philadelphia orchestras, where she worked with conductors at the highest level, including Paavo Järvi, Matthias Pintscher, John Storgårds, Cristian Măcelaru, Thomas Søndergård, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Dalia Stasevska, Hannu Lintu, and John Adams.

Aiden Kane

Viola

(Viano Quartet)

Past Protégé Project Artist

3rd Summer

American violist

Aiden Kane has performed in North America, Europe, and Asia as a current member of the Viano Quartet, First Prize Laureates of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition and recipients of the 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant.

After leaving violin for the dark side, Aiden first studied viola with Daniel Foster through the National Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Fellowship Program. She subsequently earned a Bachelor’s and two Master’s degrees (in viola performance and chamber music studies, respectively) at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Paul Coletti. During her undergraduate years at Colburn, Aiden discovered her love for quartet life as the violist of the Calla Quartet, which received the Silver medal at the 2015 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and presented Colburn’s inaugural Musical Encounters outreach program. Since she joined the Viano Quartet, Viano has won international competitions, weathered a pandemic, moved from one coast to another, studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in the Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet-in-Residence program, and joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Bowers Program—and Aiden loves quartet life even more for it all. When she isn’t playing the viola, Aiden enjoys hiking, composing, and keeping an assortment of remarkably self-reliant houseplants.

Wenting Kang

Viola

YAI Faculty, festival artist

1st Summer Chinese violist Wenting Kang appeared as an “excellent violist” who “possesses a dark glowing sound” in The New York Times after her performance at Carnegie Hall. Kang’s playing also has been lauded as “elegant,” “precise,” as well as “pure” and “tone-passionate without ever losing a sense of control” in the Boston Musical Intelligencer

Her debut CD recording with pianist Sergei Kvitko, Mosaic received many positive reviews, among which Gramophone Magazine noted “Part of the allure is her golden and glowing tone, but the subtlety of her shading is just as transfixing.” It has won the gold medal as a recommended CD on the Melómano Magazine in Spain.

Ms. Kang has appeared as a soloist, collaborating with major orchestras such as Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, and Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra—working with renowned conductors including Ivor Bolton, Michiyoshi Inoue, and José María Moreno. Ms. Kang was appointed as Viola Faculty at the New England Conservatory in Boston in September 2024. Since 2016, Kang has been active as assistant professor alongside the renowned Nobuko Imai at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid. In recent years, Kang has taught masterclasses for viola and chamber music in prestigious institutions such as University Mozarteum, University of Graz, Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and Franz Liszt Academy of Music.

Alexi Kenney Violin

3rd Summer

Violinist Alexi Kenney is forging a career that defies categorization, following his interests, intuition, and heart. He is equally at home creating experimental programs and commissioning new works, soloing with major orchestras, and collaborating with some of the most celebrated artists and musicians of our time. Alexi is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.

Alexi has performed as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the San Francisco, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and San Diego symphonies, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Gulbenkian Orchestra, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. This season, he plays the complete violin sonatas of Robert Schumann with Amy Yang on period instruments at the Frick Collection, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Phillips Collection.

He continues to tour his project Shifting Ground in collaboration with the new media artist Xuan, which intersperses works for solo violin by J. S. Bach with pieces by Matthew Burtner, Mario Davidovsky, Salina Fisher, Nicola Matteis, Angélica Negrón, and Paul Wiancko.

Alexi is a founding member of the two-cello quartet Owls, hailed as a “dream group” by The New York Times. He regularly performs at chamber music festivals including Caramoor, ChamberFest Cleveland, Chamber Music Northwest, La Jolla, Ojai, Marlboro, Music@Menlo, Ravinia, Seattle, and Spoleto. He is an alum of the Bowers Program at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

He plays a violin made in London by Stefan-Peter Greiner in 2009 and a bow made in Port Townsend, WA by Charles Espey in 2024.

Soovin Kim Violin

CMNW Artristic Director, YAI Faculty, festival artist

7th Summer

Soovin Kim enjoys a broad musical career regularly performing Bach sonatas and Paganini caprices for solo violin, sonatas for violin and piano ranging from Beethoven to Ives, Mozart, and Haydn concertos and symphonies as a conductor, and new world-premiere works almost every season.

When he was 20 years old, Kim received first prize at the Paganini International Violin Competition. He immersed himself in the string quartet literature for 20 years as the 1st violinist of the Johannes Quartet. Among his many commercial recordings are his “thrillingly triumphant” (Classic FM Magazine) disc of Paganini’s demanding 24 Caprices and a two-disc set of Bach’s complete solo violin works that were released in 2022.

Kim is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival (LCCMF) in Burlington, Vermont. In addition to its explorative programming and extensive work with living composers, LCCMF created the ONE Strings program through which all 3rd through 5th grade students of the Integrated Arts Academy in Burlington study violin. The University of Vermont recognized Soovin Kim’s work by bestowing an Honorary Doctorate upon him in 2015.

In 2020, he and his wife, pianist Gloria Chien, became Artistic Directors of Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon. He, with Chien, were awarded Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s 2021 CMS Award for Extraordinary Service to Chamber Music. Kim devotes much of his time to his passion for teaching at the New England Conservatory in Boston and the Yale School of Music in New Haven.

Jessica Lee Violin

YAI Faculty, festival artist

4th Summer Violinist Jessica Lee has built a multifaceted career as soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue, former Assistant Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, and now as Associate Concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony. She was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2005 Concert Artists Guild International Competition and has been hailed as “a soloist which one should make a special effort to hear, wherever she plays.”

Her international appearances include solo performances with the Plzen Philharmonic, Gangnam Symphony, Malaysia Festival Orchestra, and at the Rudolfinum in Prague. At home, she has appeared with orchestras such as the Houston, Grand Rapids, and Spokane symphonies. Jessica has performed in recital at venues including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Ravinia “Rising Stars,” the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., and the Kennedy Center.

A long-time member of the Johannes Quartet as well as of The Bowers Program (formerly the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two), Jessica has also toured frequently with Musicians from Marlboro, including appearances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Boston’s Gardner Museum, and with the Guarneri Quartet in their farewell season. Her chamber music festival appearances include Chamber Music Northwest, Bridgehampton, Santa Fe, Seoul Spring, Caramoor, Olympic, and Music@Menlo. She also put together a six-video chamber music series during the pandemic which was a collaboration between the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Clinic to bring chamber music from iconic spaces in Cleveland to the greater Cleveland community. Jessica has always had a passion for teaching and has served on the faculties of Vassar College, Oberlin College, and as Head of the Violin Department at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age fourteen following studies with Weigang Li, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree under Robert Mann and Ida Kavafian. She completed her studies for a master’s degree at the Juilliard School.

Ulrike Malotta

Oregon Bach Festival Alto soloist

1st Summer

An internationally sought-after mezzosoprano, Ulrike Malotta's uniquely warm vocal tone, versatility, and sensitivity covers a broad repertoire— spanning from the Renaissance to contemporary music.

Highlights of this past season include a tour featuring Bach cantatas under the direction of Justin Doyle and his RIAS Chamber Choir, a St. Matthew’s Passion tour across the Netherlands led by Peter Dijkstra, as well as a concert tour of Mendelssohn’s Elijah and St. Paul, including performances in Canada. She performed Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis at the Herkulessaal in Munich, Paul Jenkins's The Armed Man at the Tonhalle Zurich, and Stanford’s Requiem at the Cologne Philharmonie.

Ulrike is at home on major international concert stages and regularly collaborates with ensembles like the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Akademie für Alte Musik, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Concerto Köln, Dresden Festival Orchestra, Gürzenich Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Bochum Symphony, Munich Radio Orchestra, Munich Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, as well as the choirs of Bayerischer Rundfunk, WDR, and NDR. She has appeared on numerous releases, including J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion under Peter Dijkstra (BR Klassik), as well as C. Loewe’s Jan Hus (Oehms).

Also highly accomplished on the operatic stage, Ulrike has performed at the State Theater Darmstadt (Endimione, La Calisto), the State Theater Wiesbaden (Flosshilde and Second Norn, Der Ring), and at the Bavarian State Opera (Ursuline, The Devils of Loudun).

She studied voice at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, where she earned her master’s degree.

David McCarroll

Violin

1st Summer

David McCarroll was appointed concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2022, holding the Rachel Mellon Walton Concertmaster Chair. He has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich (Simone Young, Grafenegg), Hong Kong Sinfonietta (Christoph Poppen), and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (Manfred Honeck). He regularly performs in major concert halls such as Konzerthaus Berlin, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Library of Congress, Kennedy Center, 92nd Street Y, and Carnegie Hall. Also an active chamber musician, he served from 2015 to 2022 as the violinist of the renowned Vienna Piano Trio with whom he toured and recorded extensively. The Trio’s recording of the complete Brahms piano trios was awarded the 2017 Echo Klassik prize and in 2020 the Trio’s Beethoven recording won the Opus Klassik award. Recent performances have included Stravinsky’s violin concerto at the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Pittsburgh premiere of Schumann’s violin concerto, touring with Musicians from Marlboro, and performances of György Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments for violin and soprano. In demand as a teacher, David is on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Music. He has previously taught at Salzburg’s Mozarteum University, and has given masterclasses in violin and chamber music at Ravinia’s Steans Institute, at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and at the San Francisco Conservatory. David plays a 1761 violin made by A&J Gagliano.

Paul Neubauer Viola

41st Summer

Violist Paul Neubauer’s exceptional musicality and effortless playing led The New York Times to call him “a master musician.” In 2025 he will release two albums for First Hand Records that feature the final works of two great composers: an all-Bartók album including the revised version of the viola concerto, and a Shostakovich recording including the monumental viola sonata.

At age 21, Mr. Neubauer was appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic, and he held that position for six years. He has appeared as soloist with over 100 orchestras including the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki philharmonics; Chicago, National, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth symphonies; and Mariinsky, Santa Cecilia, English Chamber, and Beethovenhalle orchestras.

He has also premiered viola concertos by Béla Bartók (revised version of the Viola Concerto), Reinhold Glière, Gordon Jacob, Henri Lazarof, Robert Suter, Joel Phillip Friedman, Aaron Jay Kernis, Detlev Müller-Siemens, David Ott, Krzysztof Penderecki, Tobias Picker, and Joan Tower. He performs with SPA, a trio with soprano Susanna Phillips and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, with a wide range of repertoire including salon style songs.

He has been featured on CBS’s Sunday Morning, A Prairie Home Companion, and in Strad, Strings, and People magazines. A two-time Grammy nominee, he has recorded on numerous labels including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA Red Seal, and Sony Classical.

Mr. Neubauer appears with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and is the artistic director of the Mostly Music series in New Jersey. He is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Mannes College.

Clancy Newman Cello

2nd Summer Cellist Clancy Newman has enjoyed an extraordinarily wide-ranging career, not only as a cellist, but also as a composer, producer, writer, and educator.

He received his first significant public recognition at the age of twelve, when he won a Gold Medal at the Dandenong Youth Festival in Australia, competing against contestants twice his age. He went on to win first prize at the Naumburg International Competition, and he has performed as soloist throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. A recipient of an Avery Fisher career grant, he can often be heard on NPR’s Performance Today and has been featured on A&E and PBS.

As a composer, he has expanded cello technique in ways heretofore thought unimaginable, particularly in his “PopUnpopped” project, and he has been featured on series by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Chicago Chamber Musicians. His piano quintet was premiered at the opening ceremony of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC, and in 2021 he was commissioned by the Kingston Chamber Music Festival to produce four educational videos to assist school teachers as they navigated the Covid-19 pandemic.

Currently on the faculty of Princeton University, Mr. Newman is a graduate of the five-year exchange program between Juilliard and Columbia University, receiving a M.M. from Juilliard and a B.A. in English from Columbia.

Johanna Novom Violin

1st Summer

Johanna Novom grew up in the woods of New Hampshire, and is currently based in Brooklyn. Her unusual schooling encouraged a variety of artistic inclinations that she thrives on to this day. She began playing violin at age 10, and the collaborative, communicative aspects of music have always inspired her, making chamber music an obvious priority.

Johanna discovered Baroque violin while pursuing her BM with Marilyn McDonald at Oberlin, and went on to achieve a Master’s in Historical Performance. She also spent a fellowship year in the Yale Baroque Ensemble under Robert Mealy.

First prize winner of ABS’ 2008 International Young Artists’ Competition, Johanna is Associate Concertmaster of Apollo’s Fire, and performs with many period ensembles, including Trinity Wall Street Choir and Baroque Orchestra, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, TENET, Concert Royal, Washington National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, ACRONYM, and the Sebastian Chamber Players.

Recent festival engagements include the Carmel Bach Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Tanglewood Festival, and the BBC Proms.

Tara Helen O’Connor

Flute

23rd Summer

Tara Helen O’Connor, who Art Mag has said “so embodies perfection on the flute that you’ll forget she is human,” is an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, a two-time Grammy Award nominee, and a recipient of the Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award.

A Wm.S. Haynes artist, she is a season artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She is professor of flute at the Yale School of Music and is the Artistic Director of the Music from Angel Fire Festival and in 2026, the Essex Winter Series.

Tara has also appeared on numerous film and television soundtracks including Barbie, Respect, The Joker, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Only Murders in the Building, and Schmigadoon! Festival appearances include the Bravo! Vail festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Music@Menlo, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Music, the Great Mountains Music Festival, and Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival.

A charismatic performer noted for her artistic depth, brilliant technique and colorful tone spanning every musical era, O’Connor has collaborated with such distinguished artists as vocalists Jennifer Johnson Cano, Susanna Phillips, and Dawn Upshaw, violinist Jaime Laredo, clarinetist David Shifrin, guitarist Eliot Fisk, and pianists Jeremy Denk, Peter Serkin, and Stephen Prutsman, and with such revered ensembles as the Emerson, Orion, and St. Lawrence string quartets.

Tara has appeared on A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts, PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center, and has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Koch International, CMS Studio Recordings, and Bridge Records.

Opus13

String Quartet

Protégé Project Ensemble

2nd Summer

EDVARD ERDAL violin

ALBIN UUSIJÄRVI viola

DANIEL THORELL cello

The SwedishNorwegian string quartet, Opus13, is one of Europe’s most promising, up-andcoming young string quartets. Formed in 2014, the ensemble now comprises Sonoko Miriam Welde, Edvard Erdal, Albin Uusijärvi, and Daniel Thorell. They were 2nd prize winners of the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition 2022. In 2023, they received the Norwegian Equinor Classical Music Award, a coveted prize of one million Norwegian Crowns (approx. $96,000). Previous recipients of the award include Leif Ove Andsnes, Lise Davidsen, and Vilde Frang.

They have guested concert series and festivals such as the International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht in the Netherlands, Yeulmaru and Yonsei Chamber Music Festivals in South Korea, Rusk Festival in Finland, Swiss Chamber Concerts, and most of the major chamber music festivals in Norway, including Bergen International Festival, Stavanger, Rosendal, Trondheim, and Risør Chamber Music Festivals. Highlights in 2024 included debuts in Scotland and the United States.

Opus13 has collaborated with international top musicians such as Janine Jansen, Olli Mustonen, Julian Bliss, Alisa Weilerstein, Tabea Zimmermann, Jonathan Biss, and Konstantin Heidrich. They are mentored by Berit Cardas and Bjørg Lewis of the Vertavo Quartet, and have benefitted from masterclasses with many of the world’s leading chamber musicians, including members of the Belcea Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, Artemis Quartett, Oslo String Quartet, and Quatuor Mosaïques.

In their early years, Opus13 received invaluable support and performing experience from the Oslo Quartet Series’ Talent Program and the Crescendo Mentoring Program. The Opus13s are Founders and Artistic Directors of Vinterspill på Lillehammer, a chamber music festival in the winter town of Lillehammer.

Oregon Bach Festival Baroque Orchestra

4th Summer

The Oregon Bach Festival Baroque Orchestra is comprised of the world’s best Baroque and Classical instrumentalists. The orchestra varies in size, based on the annual needs of the festival, and many of the musicians serve as faculty members of the festival’s prestigious Berwick Academy for Historically Informed Performance. The 2025 presentation of Bach’s Mass in B Minor features 25 members of the Baroque Orchestra who perform the piece in Eugene (July 3), Mount Angel Abbey (July 5), and Portland (July 6).

SONOKO MIRIAM WELDE violin

Oregon Bach Festival

Ripieno Ensemble

1st Summer

The 2025 Oregon Bach Festival Ripieno Ensemble features 8-12 vocalists who form a small choir in support of the Mass in B Minor vocal soloists. The ensemble’s composition is designed to emulate choruses that Bach and his audiences would have experienced. Members of the ensemble are handselected from the festival’s larger, Grammy-winning chorus.

Clara Osowski

Oregon Bach Festival

Soprano soloist

1st Summer

Mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski, praised for singing “from inside the music with unaffected purity and sincerity” (The Telegraph), is an active soloist and chamber musician performing across the United States and Europe. Her 2024/2025 season included performances of Copland’s Old American Songs and Handel’s Messiah with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Mozart’s Requiem with the Rochester Philharmonic; Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the South Dakota Symphony; Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Mid-Columbus Symphony; and the role of Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress at the 2024 NDSU Chamber Music Festival.

Recent career highlights include her London debut at Wigmore Hall, Handel’s Messiah with the Kansas City Symphony, and Mozart’s Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Milwaukee Symphony. Clara earned her Bachelor of Musical Arts from North Dakota State University and her Master of Arts in Voice from the University of Iowa. She currently serves as the Artistic Director of Source Song Festival in Minneapolis.

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt

Viola

9th Summer

Praised by The Strad magazine as having “lyricism that stood out...a silky tone and beautiful, supple lines,” Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt has established herself as one of the most sought-after violists of her generation. In addition to appearances as soloist with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, and Symphony in C, she has performed in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, including an acclaimed 2011 debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, which was described in The Strad as being “fleet and energetic...powerful and focused.”   Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was the founding violist of the twice-Grammynominated Dover Quartet, and played in the group from 2008-2022. During her time in the group, the Dover Quartet was the First Prizewinner and recipient of every special award at the Banff International String Quartet Competition 2013, and winner of the Gold Medal and Grand Prize in the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Also during her tenure, the Dover Quartet received the Cleveland Quartet Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Her numerous awards also include First Prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at the Sphinx Competition and the Tokyo International Viola Competition.

While in the Dover Quartet, Ms. Pajarovan de Stadt was on the faculty at The Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, and a part of the Quartet in Residence of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She is now a member of the newly formed piano quartet, Espressivo!, along with acclaimed artists Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, and Anna Polonsky.

Rowan Pierce

Oregon Bach Festival Soprano soloist

1st Summer Yorkshire-born Rowan Pierce is a former Rising Star of the OAE and a Harewood Artist at ENO.

She appears regularly with ensembles including AAM, Gabrieli Consort, SCO, BBC Scottish Symphony, OAE, City of Birmingham Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Les Arts Florissants, and Florilegium, and has appeared at the Wigmore Hall on many occasions both in recital and with chamber ensembles.

Operatic roles include Tiny (Paul Bunyan), Papagena (The Magic Flute), Dede (A Quiet Place), several appearances as Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro), Papiria (Lucio Papirio Dittatore), Oberto (Alcina), and multiple appearances as Quivera and as Orazia (The Indian Queen).

Recent and future festival appearances include the Ryedale, Oxford Lieder, Bath, Cheltenham, BBC Proms, Lammermuir, Edinburgh, Oregon Bach, Leeds Lieder, and Chiltern Arts Festivals.

Recordings include a solo disc of Purcell songs, Vaughan Williams’s Ninth Symphony with the RLPO, the awardwinning King Arthur and The Fairy Queen with the Gabrieli Consort, well as recording collaborations with Roderick Williams and Christopher Glynn.

Rowan Pierce studied at the Royal College of Music where she won various awards, winning both the Song Prize and First Prize at the inaugural Grange Festival International Singing Competition after graduating. She is a Samling Artist and was generously supported by the Countess of Munster Award and Midori Nishiura at the RCM.

Adriane Post

Violin

1st Summer

Sought after as a soloist, leader, collaborator, and teacher across the U.S., Adriane Post formed her first string quartet at age 11, and was hooked. A founding member of Diderot String Quartet and ACRONYM Ensemble, Adriane is leader of Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, and The Thirteen. She dedicates her time to performing and teaching Baroque, Classical, and Early Romantic repertoire on historical instruments.

She has served as Concertmaster of the Washington National Cathedral Orchestra, tenured member of Handel + Haydn Society, a member of Apollo’s Fire, frequent guest artist and soloist with Four Nations Ensemble, and a regular with Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra. She has appeared with Harry Bicket and The English Concert, with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants in Thiré, France, as guest concertmaster with groups such as Seraphic Fire in Miami, New York Baroque Inc., and with many ensembles across the U.S. Recent tour and festival appearances include The Proms, Carnegie Hall, Caramoor, Tanglewood, Ravinia, and Carmel Bach Festival.

Teaching has brought her to Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute, The Smithsonian, De Paul University, and Cincinnati Conservatory. Post completed a Bachelor of Music at Oberlin Conservatory, and a master’s with the inaugural class of The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance program.

Post was born and raised in Vermont.

Kian Ravaei

CMNW Commissioned & World Premiere Composer Past Protégé Project Artist

2nd Summer

Whether composing piano preludes inspired by mythical creatures, flute melodies that mimic the songs of endangered birds, or a string quartet that draws from the Iranian music of his ancestral heritage, composer Kian Ravaei (b. 1999) takes listeners on a spellbinding tour of humanity’s most deeply felt emotions.

Ravaei has collaborated with performers and ensembles such as Eliot Fisk, Bella Hristova, Salastina, and Juventas New Music Ensemble, and has served as a Copland House CULTIVATE Fellow and a Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Composer Teaching Artist Fellow. In recent months, Ravaei was featured on an episode of Performance Today, America’s most popular classical music radio program.

His string quartet, Family Photos, has garnered numerous awards, including First Prize in the Spectrum Chamber Music Composition Competition, Second Prize in the instrumental chamber music division of the American Prize, and Honorable Mention in the Tribeca New Music Young Composer Competition. DJs know Ravaei as the go-to person for creating orchestral versions of dance songs, including Wooli & Codeko’s Crazy feat. Casey Cook (Orchestral)

Ravaei counts celebrated composers Richard Danielpour, Derek Bermel, and Tarik O’Regan among his teachers. He is an alumnus of UCLA and the Curtis Institute of Music Young Artist Summer Program.

Kai Rocke Bassoon

1st Summer

Kai Rocke embraces a varied career as an orchestral performer, chamber musician, and teacher. Originally from Virginia, Mr. Rocke moved to Portland, Oregon in 2021 to fill that role as acting Contrabasson/Utility basson of the Oregon Symphony, and has been a full-time member in that role since 2022.

Mr. Rocke has performed with various ensembles including the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, Ft. Worth Symphony, New World Symphony, and the Amici Wind Quintet. His primary teachers include Benjamin Kamins, Gregg Henegar, Sue Heineman, and Lewis Lipnick. In his spare time, Mr. Rocke enjoys spending time with friends and family, practicing capoeira, reading books, and cooking.

Sam Rockwood Oboe

1st Summer

Sam Rockwood is a freelance oboist based in Portland, Oregon. Born and raised in the PNW, Sam has performed with many prominent orchestras in the region, including the Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, 45th Parallel Universe, Symphony Tacoma, Vancouver Symphony (USA), Bellingham Symphony, and Juneau Symphony. During his graduate studies, Sam also performed as a substitute for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Some notable conductors he has collaborated with include Andris Nelsons, Leonard Slatkin, Ludovic Morlot, Karina Canellakis, Michael Stern, David Danzmayr, Mei-Ann Chen, Norman Huynh, Earl Lee, and Hugh Wolff.

Recently Sam was a super-finalist for the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra’s 2nd Oboe/English Horn audition. He has an upcoming trial period with the orchestra.

Sam began his oboe studies with Jennifer Weeks in his hometown of Anacortes, WA. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Washington, studying with Mary Lynch VanderKolk, and his Master of Music degree at the New England Conservatory, studying with Mark McEwen. Throughout his training, Sam has participated in several summer festivals, including the National Repertory Orchestra and the Marrowstone Music Festival.

Shunske Sato

1st Summer

Shunske Sato is a violinist, conductor, chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. The diversity of his activities reflects his versatile and resourceful nature. Historically-informed performance practice is central to his identity, allowing him to inhabit the music and communicate with audiences in dramatic, revelatory ways.

Shunske directs and appears as soloist with period ensembles as well as symphonic orchestras around the world, and has led several staged productions. Resident in the Netherlands, Shunske has been a faculty member of the Amsterdam Conservatory since 2013.

From 2013 to 2023 Shunske was artistic leader and concertmaster of the Netherlands Bach Society. Since 2011, he has worked closely with Concerto Köln, where he has been making noteworthy strides into the realm of the performance practice of the 19th century.

Highlights of the 2024-2025 season included Shunske’s conducting debut with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the tour celebrating the release of Bee1h0ven | The Complete Violin Sonatas—Shunske’s recording of Beethoven’s complete violin sonatas with pianist, Shuann Chai. Born in Tokyo, Shunske immigrated to the US at the age of four. Shunske studied at the Juilliard School in New York, Conservatoire National de Région in Paris, and Die Hochschule für Musik und Theather in Munich.

David Schiff

CMNW Commissioned Composer

6th Summer Composer and author David Schiff was born in New York City on August 30, 1945. He studied composition with John Corigliano and Ursula Mamlok at the Manhattan School of Music, and with Elliott Carter at the Juilliard School where he received his D.M.A. He holds degrees in English literature from Columbia and Cambridge Universities.

His major works include the opera Gimpel the Fool, with libretto by I. B. Singer; the Sacred Service, written for the 125th anniversary of Congregation Beth Israel of Portland; Slow Dance, commissioned by the Oregon Symphony; Stomp, commissioned by Marin Alsop for Concordia, and recorded by the Baltimore Symphony conducted by David Zinman; Solus Rex, for bass trombone and chamber ensemble commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and premiered by David Taylor; Speaking in Drums, a concerto for timpani and string orchestra commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra for its timpanist, Peter Kogan; Vashti, a retelling of the Book of Esther for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, and piano commissioned by the Gold Coast Chamber Music Festival; 4 Sisters, a concerto for jazz violin and orchestra which premiered in Cambridge, England in 1997 and received its American premiere with Regina Carter and the Detroit Symphony in January 2004; New York Nocturnes, a piano trio written for Chamber Music Northwest; Pepper Pieces, arrangements of songs by Jim Pepper for jazz violinist Hollis Taylor and strings; Canti di Davide, a concerto for clarinet and orchestra premiered by David Shifrin and the Virginia Symphony in October 2001; Singing in the Dark, for alto saxophone and string quartet premiered at Chamber Music Northwest in July 2002 by Marty Ehrlich and the Miami String Quartet; All About Love, a song cycle for mezzo-soprano, tenor, and chamber ensemble which premiered at Chamber Music Northwest in July 2004; and Canzona, for brass, percussion, and strings commissioned and premiered by the Seattle Symphony in January 2005, conducted by Gerard Schwarz.

Three of his compositions, Divertimento from Gimpel the Fool, the Suite from Sacred Service, and Scenes from Adolescence may be heard on Delos CD #3058, performed by artists of Chamber Music Northwest and the composer’s wife, Cantor Judith Schiff. Shtik, written for David Taylor, appears on the album Past Tells on the New World label.

Schiff is the R. P. Wollenberg Professor of Music at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of The Music of Elliott Carter (Cornell University Press) and George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Cambridge University Press) as well as many articles on music for The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Opera News, and Tempo Magazine

Sean Shepherd

CMNW Commissioned & World Premiere Composer

1st Summer

Sean Shepherd has earned wide acclaim for his “fantastic gift for orchestral color” (The New York Times), and commissions from major ensembles and performers across the US and Europe. His music has been commissioned and performed by the BBC, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Gewandhaus, Minnesota, Montréal, National, New World symphony orchestras, the New York Philharmonic, radio orchestras in Austria, France, and Germany, and by leading European ensembles including Ensemble intercontemporain, the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble, and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

Conductors who champion Shepherd’s work include Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert, Cristian Macelaru, Susanna Mälkki, Andris Nelsons, Donald Runnicles, and Franz Welser-Möst. His works have been performed at festivals in Aldeburgh, Heidelberg, La Jolla, Lucerne, Santa Fe, Aspen, the Grand Tetons, and Tanglewood.

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra commissioned Shepherd to write a Quadruple Concerto for its principal winds, led by Fabio Luisi in April of 2025. 2023 saw the world premiere of On A Clear Day, a large-scale work for conductor Kent Nagano, cellist Jan Vogler, the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, and a choir

Violin

of young singers from around the world. The piece, setting poetry by Ulla Hahn, was premiered at Carnegie Hall, followed by performances at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and Dresden Musikfestspiele.

After composing Magiya for the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America’s inaugural season and tour, he developed the NYO-USA’s Composer Apprentice program with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, which he continues to direct. He lives in New York with his husband and two children, and his music is published by Boosey and Hawkes.

David Shifrin

Clarinet

CMNW Artistic Director Emeritus, festival artist

48th Summer Clarinetist David Shifrin graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in 1967 and the Curtis Institute in 1971. He made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra having won the Orchestra’s Student Competition in 1969. He went on to receive numerous prizes and awards worldwide, including the Geneva and Munich International Competitions, the Concert Artists Guild auditions, and both the Avery Fisher Career Grant (1987) and the Avery Fisher Prize (2000).

Shifrin received Yale University’s Cultural Leadership Citation in 2014 and is currently the Samuel S. Sanford Professor in the Practice of Clarinet at the Yale School of Music where he teaches a studio of graduate-level clarinetists and coaches chamber music ensembles. He is also the artistic director of Yale’s Oneppo Chamber Music Society and the Yale in New York concert series. Shifrin previously served on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the University of Southern California, the University of Michigan, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the University of Hawaii.

Shifrin served as Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 1992 to 2004 and Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon from 1981 to 2020. He has appeared as soloist with major orchestras in the United States and abroad and has served as Principal Clarinet with the Cleveland Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra (under Stokowski),

the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of New Haven, Honolulu, and Dallas. Shifrin also continues to broaden the clarinet repertoire by commissioning and championing more than 100 works of 20th and 21st century American composers. Shifrin’s recordings have consistently garnered praise and awards including three Grammy nominations and “Record of the Year” from Stereo Review

Shifrin is represented by CM Artists in New York and performs on Backun clarinets and Légère reeds.

Joshua Smith Flute

1st Summer

Joshua Smith is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. He was appointed as The Cleveland Orchestra’s principal flute in 1990 at the age of twenty. He appears regularly as a soloist with the orchestra, in repertoire ranging from Bach and Mozart to Penderecki and Widmann. In 2014, he was featured with the orchestra on tour in Europe, playing Jörg Widmann’s flute concerto at the London Proms, Lucerne Festival, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, and Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

Joshua received a Grammy nomination for his Telarc recording Air. He appeared on a Live from the Marlboro Music Festival recording and can be heard on more than 100 Cleveland Orchestra recordings.

Intrigued with exploring new ways of connecting with audiences, Smith leads the innovative chamber group Ensemble HD, which includes fellow Cleveland Orchestra members and special guests. Joshua was invited to speak to the National Endowment for the Arts Council about community engagement efforts spearheaded by Ensemble HD.

Joshua appears as a chamber musician throughout the United States, including recent and ongoing appearances with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, at the Marlboro and Santa Fe chamber music festivals, and with the Israeli Chamber Project. He has performed in collaborative concerts at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Pensacola Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art

in Miami, and the 92nd Street Y in New York. Upcoming appearances include Chamber Music Northwest and Taipei Music Academy and Festival.

Joshua served until recently on the flute faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is a Powell Artist and performs most often on a new Mopane Légende Powell. A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, he worked closely with renowned pedagogue Frank Bowen before attending Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner.

Ethan Soledad

CMNW Commissioned & World Premiere Composer

1st Summer

Bold, dramatic, with an exquisite attention to detail, Ethan Soledad (b. 1999) is a Filipino American composer whose work aims to express emotions in their rawest form. An experienced singer, he incorporates drama in his work, emphasizing the importance of silence and one’s perception of time. Ethan’s music draws from a wide palette of compositional styles and colors ranging from impressionism and neoclassicism to post-minimalism and the avant-garde. His musical style is marked by unapologetic expression, dynamic extremes, and the ability to do more with less but never shying away from doing more with more.

His music has been performed and recognized by ensembles such as Musiqa, DACAMERA Houston, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, New York Youth Symphony (First Music Commission Honorable Mention), the Greater Miami Youth Symphony, Choral Arts Initiative, Fifth House Ensemble, Bent Frequency, the East Coast Contemporary Ensemble (ECCE), Fear No Music, Crossing Borders Music, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, the Washington Gay Men’s Chorus, The Choral Project, the Beo String Quartet, and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York.

He is a former teacher at the Shepherd School of Music pre-college program and a former young artist at DACAMERA Houston, engaging in outreach programs with elementary and middle schools.

He graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in Music degree at Florida State University 2021 studying under Liliya Ugay and his Master of Music in Composition degree at Rice University 2024 studying under Pierre Jalbert, ShihHui Chen, and Karim Al-Zand. Currently he is pursuing his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Composition at the University of Michigan, studying under Kristy Kuster.

Peter Stumpf

Cello

YAI Faculty, festival artist

4th Summer

Peter Stumpf is professor of cello at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to his appointment, he was the principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 9 years following a 12-year tenure as Associate Principal Cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He received a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and an artist’s diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music.

A dedicated chamber musician, he is a member of the Weiss-Kaplan-Stumpf Trio and has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, in Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Cologne. He has performed with the chamber music societies of Boston and Philadelphia, and at numerous festivals including Marlboro, Santa Fe, Bridgehampton, Spoleto, and Aspen. He has toured with The Musicians from Marlboro, and with pianist Mitsuko Uchida in performances of the complete Mozart Piano Trios. As a member of the Johannes Quartet, he collaborated with the Guarneri String Quartet on a tour, including premieres of works by Bolcom and Salonen.

Concerto appearances have included the Boston Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Aspen Music Festival. He has also performed solo recitals at Jordan Hall in Boston, on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society series, on the Chamber Music in Historic Sites series in Los Angeles, and at the Philips and Corcoran Galleries in Washington D.C. His awards include first prize in the Washington International Competition. He has served on the cello faculties at the New England Conservatory and the University of Southern California.

Yekwon Sunwoo

Piano

Past Protégé Project Artist

3rd Summer

Yekwon Sunwoo has been hailed for his “unfailingly consistent excellence” (International Piano) and celebrated as “a pianist who commands a comprehensive technical arsenal that allows him to thunder without breaking a sweat” (Chicago Tribune). A powerful and virtuosic performer, he strives to reach for the truth and pure beauty in music.

The first Korean gold medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Yekwon’s 24/25 season included appearances with Ann Arbor Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Colorado Springs Philharmonic, as well as recitals at Bechstein Hall and Carnegie Hall. In previous seasons, he has performed as a soloist with the Munich Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev, Washington Chamber Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Collaborations included Clara Jumi Kang, Sebastian Bohren, lsang Enders, Tobias Feldmann, and Gary HoAman. He has also toured Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama with the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation and appeared in recitals around Japan and at the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

In addition to the Cliburn gold medal, Yekwon has won first prizes at the 2015 International German Piano Award, the 2014 Vendome Prize held at the Verbier Festival, the 2013 Sendai International Music Competition, and the 2012 William Kapell International Piano Competition.

Born in Anyang, South Korea, Yekwon began learning the piano at the age of 8 and made his recital and orchestral debuts in Seoul at 15. His teachers include Seymour Lipkin, Robert McDonald, Richard Goode, and Bernd Goetzke.

In September 2023, Yekwon released his second album for Decca’s Universal Music Korea label, featuring works by Rachmaninov following his 2020 album of works by Mozart. In 2017, Decca Gold released Cliburn Gold 2017: 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which includes Yekwon’s award-winning performances of Ravel’s La Valse and Rachmaninov’s second Piano Sonata.

Burchard Tang Viola

2nd Summer Burchard Tang joined The Philadelphia Orchestra viola section in September 1999. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in May 1999 from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Joseph DePasquale (retired Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Viola), and Choong-Jin Chang (the orchestra’s current Principal Viola). Mr. Tang has served as Principal Viola with the Curtis Symphony and the New York String Seminar, and has performed with the Brandenburg Ensemble. A 1993 winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition, Mr. Tang performed with the orchestra as a soloist. As a chamber musician, he has performed at festivals across the country including Marlboro, Seattle, Lake Champlain, Angel Fire, Caramoor, Kingston, and Ravinia. Mr. Tang plays on a viola made for him in 2022 by Samuel Zygmuntovicz.

John Thiessen Trumpet

1st Summer Described by The New York Times as “the gold standard of Baroque trumpet playing in this country”, John Thiessen has appeared on period instruments as soloist and principal with Trinity Baroque, Boston Early Music Festival, Tafelmusik, Philharmonia Baroque, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, American Bach Soloists, and Opera Lafayette. He has also performed with the Academy of Ancient Music, Taverner Players, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.

John serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance Department, gives masterclasses throughout the US and Canada, and is the Executive Director of Gotham Early Music Scene, New York’s foremost advocate for early music. On modern trumpet, he has performed Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 with the San Francisco Symphony, the Bach Virtuosi Festival, and the Pegasus Orchestra, and was formerly Principal Trumpet of the Toronto Pops Orchestra.

Highlights this season have included Bach projects with the Handel and Haydn Society, New York’s Bach Vespers, Trinity Baroque, and the Bach Virtuosi Festival, as well as Beethoven and Mozart with the American Classical Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah in New York and Arizona.

Thiessen has recorded extensively for Sony Classical Vivarte, Telarc, EMI, BMG, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, London Decca, Analekta, CBC, Tafelmusik Media, and Denon, including the major works of J. S. Bach, Handel, Biber, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. A forthcoming solo recording, Music from Grace, features 17th century German repertoire by Schütz and Pezel.

Daniel Thorell

Cello (Opus 13)

2025 Protégé Project Artist

2nd Summer

Daniel Thorell is a cellist from Stockholm, Sweden. Though only 26-years-old, he has already had great success as a soloist and chamber musician, both nationally and internationally. Praised for his mature and expressive music making, he is currently regarded as one of Scandinavia’s most promising young cellists.

He is a first-prize winner in no less than nine international competitions, most notably Rovere D’oro (2017), where he was also awarded a gold medal. In May of 2019, he was a major prize winner in the 54th Markneukirchen International Cello Competition. He was also a laureate at the sixth season of La Classe d’Excellence de Violoncell with Professor Gautier Capucon.

Born into a family of musicians, Daniel began playing the cello at the age of five. He made his debut as a soloist at the age of eleven, performing Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto in A Minor with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since then, he has performed regularly as a soloist with orchestras around Sweden, including the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

Daniel is also an experienced chamber musician and since 2019 is a member of the Norwegian-based string quartet, Opus13. In 2022, they were awarded second prize in the Banff international string quartet competition and have performed at festivals such as Kamermuziek festival Utrecht, Risør kammermusikkfest, Valdres sommersymfoni, Midtåsen kulturfestival, and many more. In 2021, they made their debut at the Oslo Quartet Series.

Daniel recently finished his soloist diploma studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music with Professor Torleif Thedéen, and has studied with a number of renowned professors, including JensPeter Maintz, Danjulo Ishizaka, Maria Kliegel, Claudio Bohorquez, and Antonio Meneses. He is a recipient of numerous scholarships from foundations such as SWEA International Scholarship for the Arts, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

Titus Underwood Oboe

1st Summer

Titus Underwood is the Principal Oboist of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Gateways Music Festival, and co-principal of the Chineke! Orchestra. Underwood is also the Associate Professor of Oboe at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In addition, Titus is a faculty artist at the Aspen Music Festival and National Youth Orchestras at Carnegie Hall. A fierce advocate for amplifying voices of the historically underrepresented, he co-founded the Black Orchestral Network (BON) and Sphinx Orchestral Partners Auditions (SOPA).

His personal endeavors in digital media have led to multiple releases, notably the short film, A Tale of Two Tails. Underwood also holds the honors of a Sphinx Medal of Excellence award for his ongoing commitment to leadership and community, and an Emmy Award for his work executive-producing We Are Nashville with the Nashville Symphony. Underwood is a graduate of The Juilliard School, The Colburn School, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Albin Uusijärvi Viola (Opus13)

2025 Protégé Project Artist

2nd Summer

Albin Uusijärvi, born in 1995 in Nyköping, Sweden, started his musical education in Stockholm and switched from violin to viola at the age of twelve. He studied under Göran Fröst at Lilla Akademien in Stockholm, with Walter Küssner and Tabea Zimmermann at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin, and later with Ulrich Knörzer at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic. Mentors such as Eberhard Feltz, Oliver Wille, and Mats Zetterqvist have also had a great influence on his passion for chamber music.

In 2014, he was awarded first prize in the Polstjärnepriset competition in Gothenburg, Sweden, which led to him representing Sweden at the Eurovision Young Musician Competition, performing live with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne.

After working as solo violist of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, he won the audition for principal violist of his hometown orchestra, the Swedish Radio Orchestra, where he currently collaborates under the leadership of chief conductor, Daniel Harding. He divides his time between his role in the orchestra and as violist of the string quartet, Opus13.

Jos van Veldhoven

Oregon Bach Festival Conductor

2nd Summer

In addition to guest conducting many choirs and orchestras in the Netherlands and far beyond, Jos van Veldhoven is currently Artistic Partner of the Oregon Bach Festival in the United States.

Jos was Artistic Director of the Netherlands Bach Society for more than 35 years, where he developed the company into a leading, world-class ensemble. Under his leadership an impressive CD series was created, and he made many concert tours in the Netherlands, Europe, the United States, and Japan. Not only the music of Bach and his contemporaries sounded, but also “new” repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries. In his programming, Jos van Veldhoven knows how to connect tradition and adventure over and over again.

He is also the initiator of “All of Bach,” an unprecedented project in which the Netherlands Bach Society performs, records, and publishes all of Bach’s works online. More than 20 million followers worldwide now enjoy the recordings on YouTube, and they have received large acclaim all over the world.

Jos often attracts attention with performances of “new” repertoire within the early music genre, including many lesser known 17th century oratorios and dialogues, and a large number of modern premieres of Baroque operas by composers such as Mattheson, Keiser, Bononcini, Legrenzi, Conti, and Scarlatti. In great demand as a guest conductor, Jos has conducted— among others—the Dutch Chamber Choir, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Flemish Radio Choir, the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, the Robert Schumann Philharmonic, the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and many of the Dutch symphony orchestras.

Jos has been associated with the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague as a teacher of choral conducting for more than 30 years. In 2007, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands made him a Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion for his groundbreaking work in early music.

Viano Quartet

String Quartet

Past Protégé Project Ensemble

3rd Summer

HAO ZHOU

AIDEN KANE viola

TATE ZAWADIUK cello

Praised for their “virtuosity, visceral expression, and rare unity of intention” (Boston Globe), the Viano Quartet is one of the most sought-after ensembles today and recipients of the prestigious 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Since soaring to international acclaim as the first-prize winner at the 13th Banff International String Quartet Competition, they have traveled to nearly every major city across the globe, captivating audiences in New York, London, Berlin, Hong Kong, Vancouver, Paris, Beijing, Toronto, Lucerne, and Los Angeles. They are currently in-residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program from 2024-2027.

During the 2025 summer season, the quartet will debut at Klavier-Festival Ruhr, CMS Summer Evenings, Tippet Rise, and Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Their many return visits include Music@Menlo, Mt. Desert Festival of Chamber Music, and MISQA. Their latest album, Voyager, was released with Platoon Records in Spring 2025.

The Viano Quartet has collaborated with world-class musicians including Emanuel Ax, Fleur Barron, Sir Stephen Hough, Miloš Karadaglić, Mahan Esfahani, and Marc-André Hamelin. Dedicated advocates of music education, they have given classes at institutions such as Northwestern University, University of Victoria, Colburn Academy, Duke University, and SMU Meadows School of the Arts. Each member of the quartet is grateful to the interminable support from their mentors at the Curtis Institute and Colburn Conservatory, including members of the Dover, Guarneri, and Tokyo string quartets. The name “Viano” reflects the unity of four string instruments acting as one, much like a piano, where harmony and melody intertwine.

Jonathan Vinocour Viola

1st Summer Violist Jonathan Vinocour enjoys a varied career as an orchestral player, chamber musician, and soloist.  He was appointed principal viola of the San Francisco Symphony in 2009 having previously served as principal viola of the Saint Louis Symphony and Guest Principal of the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Since that time, he has appeared frequently as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony. Concerto performances have also brought him to the Saint Louis Symphony, La Jolla Music Society, Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and the New World Symphony where he was a featured artist of their Viola Visions Festival alongside Tabea Zimmerman, Kim Kashkashian, Roberto Diaz, and Cynthia Phelps.

A sought-after chamber musician, he is a regular guest of festivals such as the Seattle Chamber Music Society, La Jolla SummerFest, Marlboro, Bridgehampton, Salt Bay festivals, and Chamberfest Cleveland.  Chamber music partners have included Yefim Bronfman, Yo-Yo Ma, Augustin Hadelich, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Igor Levit, and James Ehnes among others. He also performs frequently on the chamber music series of the San Francisco Symphony and as a recitalist and chamber musician on concert series around the country.

Jonathan graduated from Princeton University with a degree in chemistry and from the New England Conservatory where he studied with Kim Kashkashian.  An active and dedicated teacher, he serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as well as the Aspen Music Festival and School and is a frequent coach at the New World Symphony. Jonathan plays on a 1784 Lorenzo Storioni viola on loan from the San Francisco Symphony.

LUCY WANG violin

violin

Lucy Wang Violin (Viano Quartet)

Past Protégé Project Artist

3rd Summer Canadian violinist

Lucy Wang has garnered praise as an artist whose “technical prowess, tonal mastery, and stage presence can come as no surprise to anyone who has seen her work” (Peace Arch News). A native of Vancouver, she is a founding member of the Viano Quartet—First Prize Laureates of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition and recent graduates of the Nina von Maltzahn Graduate String Quartet-in-Residence Program at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Lucy obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Colburn Conservatory and has performed as soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician in venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Izumi Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Konzerthaus Berlin. Lucy has also given recitals with the Viano Quartet at Hong Kong’s Intimacy of Creativity Festival, the Banff International String Quartet Festival, Bravo!Vail Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, and Minnesota Beethoven Festival, among others.

In addition to touring with the Viano Quartet, Lucy maintains an active individual presence on social media, with over 50 million views on her videos and over 600,000 followers across various platforms. Reaching people across six continents, Lucy aims to craft a unique path as an artist that builds bridges across different musical and cultural communities.

Paul Watkins Cello

8th Summer Acclaimed for his inspirational performances and eloquent musicianship, Paul Watkins enjoys a distinguished career as concerto soloist, chamber musician, and conductor.

He is the Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit (since 2014), the cellist of the Emerson String Quartet (2013-2023) and Visiting Professor of Cello at Yale School of Music (since 2018). He took first prize in the 2002 Leeds Conducting Competition, and has held the positions of Music Director of the English Chamber Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra.

As a cellist, Watkins has given regular concerto performances with prestigious orchestras across the globe. Also, a dedicated chamber musician, Watkins was a member of the Nash Ensemble (1997-2013) and the Emerson String Quartet (2013-2023). After 44 successful seasons, the quartet decided to retire, and undertook an extensive series of farewell tours, culminating in their final performances in New York Lincoln Center in October 2023. This concert was filmed for a documentary by filmmaker Tristan Cook, and the release of their final recording of Berg, Chausson, Schoenberg, and Hindemith with prestigious guests soprano Barbara Hannigan and pianist Bertrand Chamayou.

As a conductor, Watkins has conducted all the major British orchestras and a wide range of international orchestras. In 2006, he made his opera debut conducting a critically praised new production of Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine for Opera North.

Sonoko Miriam Welde

Violin (Opus 13)

2025 Protégé Project Artist

2nd Summer Norwegian violinist Sonoko Miriam Welde (b. 1996) is winner of the “Virtuos” competition, the Norwegian Soloist Prize 2014, and the Equinor Classical Music Scholarship 2016.

As a soloist she has performed with orchestras such the Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Bournemouth Symphony, and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, and conductors including Andrew Litton, James Gaffigan, Han-Na Chang, Marta Gardolinska, Joshua Weilerstein, and Edward Gardner.

An enthusiastic chamber musician, Sonoko has been championed by Leif Ove Andsnes, with whom she performs regularly, and has also worked with Tabea Zimmermann, Clemens Hagen, Sergio Tiempo, Gidon Kremer, Alisa Weilerstein, Jonathan Biss, and Janine Jansen.

She is a founding member of the string quartet, Opus13, who took second prize in the 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition.

In 2021, she released her debut album of Bruch and Barber violin concertos and The Lark Ascending with the Oslo Philharmonic on LAWO Classics. It was nominated for the Norwegian “Spellemannprisen” in the classical music category and received rave reviews from publications such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and The Strad

Sonoko studied with Janine Jansen in Sion, where she also had lessons with Denis Kozhukhin. She has also studied with Stephan Barratt-Due in Oslo and Kolja Blacher in Berlin. In 2018-2020 she was part of the Crescendo Mentoring Program.

Carolin Widmann Violin

1st Summer

A wonderfully versatile musician, Carolin Widmann’s activities span the great classical concerti, new commissions specially written for her, solo recitals, a wide variety of chamber music and period instrument performances, including play/direction from the violin.

Widmann was awarded the Bayerischer Staatspreis for music in 2017, honoring her individuality and exceptional musicianship. Widmann was also the recipient of an International Classical Music Award (Concerto category) for her critically acclaimed recording of both Mendelssohn’s and Schumann’s violin concertos with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, released in August 2016 by ECM and which Widmann herself conducted from the violin.

Named Musician of the Year at the International Classical Music Awards 2013, Ms. Widmann has played with Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Czech Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Vienna Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, and Bayerische Rundfunk; and with distinguished conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Chailly, Edward Gardner, Vladimir Jurowski, Sakari Oramo, Daniel Harding, François-Xavier Roth, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, and JukkaPekka Saraste. She also appears at such widely known festivals as Musikfest Berlin, Salzburger Festspiele, Lucerne Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Prague Spring International Festival, Pau Casals Festival, and Festival d’Automne in Paris.

Carolin debuted with an extensive number of orchestras over the 2024/25 season, including with the Danish National Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Royal Scottis National Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Further highlights included the Robert Gerhard concerto with Orquestra Sinfònica de Barcelona, a Kurt Weill inspired playdirect programme with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris featuring Ute Lemper, a tribute to Kaaja Saariaho with SWR Symphonieorchester,and the U.K. premiere of Jörg Widmann’s Violin

Concerto No. 2, a piece written for and dedicated to her, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. She is also the Fondazione Arturo Toscanini’s artist-inresidence for the 24/25 season.

Chamber music projects for the season include two recitals at the Pierre Boulez Saal; a quartet programme with Nils Mönkemeyer, Julian Steckel, and William Youn, as well as a solo project for violin and electronics; and a return to the Alte Oper Frankfurt.

Carolin Widmann is playing a G. B. Guadagnini violin from 1782 which is on loan from a Charitable Trust.

Ryota Yamazaki

Piano

2025 Protégé Project Artist

1st Summer

Japanese pianist Ryota Yamazaki began his piano studies at age seven. He has won numerous awards including the third prize and Junior Jury Prize at the 64th Busoni International Piano Competition (2023), Grand Prize and the Audience Prize at the PTNA Piano Competition (2014), and first prizes at the K’Alohi International Piano Competition (2022), the Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition (2016), the Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Audition (2013), and at the Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition (2012). He is currently one of thirty competitors chosen from an international pool of over 340 pianists for the Seventeenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (2025).

He has performed with orchestras all over the world, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Haydn Orchestra Bolzano and Trento, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, and Hawaii Symphony Orchestra.

Ryota has performed solo recitals in various places such as Hamarikyu Asahi Hall in Tokyo, Munetsugu Hall in Nagoya, and the Symphony Hall in Osaka. He has participated in masterclasses with renowned pianists including Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Emanuel Ax, Jon Nakamatsu, Jerome Rose, Jon Kimura Parker, Michel Beroff, Piotor Paleczny, William Grant Naboré, and Stanislav Ioudenitch.

He entered Toho Gakuen School of Music with a full scholarship and studied with Yuko Ninomiya. Ryota is currently studying at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, where he studies with Fabio Bidini.

Hyunah Yu Soprano

6th Summer Applauded for her “absolutely captivating voice with exceptional style” and “effortless lyrical grace” (The Washington Post), soprano Hyunah Yu has garnered acclaim for her versatility in concert and opera roles of several centuries, for her work in chamber music, for her support of newly commissioned work, and for her recorded and broadcast performances.

A recipient of the prestigious Borletti Buitoni Trust Award and known particularly for her performances of the music of J. S. Bach, Hyunah has appeared regularly with esteemed conductors, festivals, and orchestras throughout the US, Europe, and Asia.

An avid chamber musician and recitalist, Hyunah has enjoyed engagements with Baltimore’s Shriver Hall Concert Series, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Vancouver Recital Society, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., Musicians from Marlboro, and many others.

A highlight of Hyunah’s opera career was singing the title role in Peter Sellar’s new production of Mozart’s Zaide in the joint production of the Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Barbican Centre, and the Wiener Festwochen played in New York, London, and Vienna.  She has recorded Bach and Mozart arias on EMI’s Debut Series and solo recitals broadcast for the BBC Voices program.

Hyunah was a prizewinner at the Walter Naumburg International Competition and a finalist in both the Dutch International Vocal and Concert Artist Guild International competitions. Hyunah also holds a degree in molecular biology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Tate Zawadiuk

Cello

(Viano Quartet)

Past Protégé Project Artist

3rd Summer

Canadian cellist Tate

Zawadiuk is both an engaging soloist and founding member of the Viano Quartet. The ensemble won first prize at the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition and has performed internationally in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Berlin Konzerthaus, Flagey, and Bremen Die Glocke.

As a soloist, Tate has performed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vancouver Philharmonic, New Westminster Symphony, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with world-renowned artists such as Emanuel Ax, James Ehnes, Marc-André Hamelin, Inon Barnatan, Clive Greensmith, Scott St. John, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, and Johannes Moser.

Tate is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music as a member of the Nina von Maltzahn Graduate String Quartet-inResidence. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Colburn Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Clive Greensmith and Ronald Leonard.

Hao Zhou

Violin

(Viano Quartet)

Past Protégé Project Artist

3rd Summer

“Personal, impassioned, courageous, and unostentatiously brilliant” (Musical America), American violinist Hao Zhou rose to international acclaim as both the Grand Laureate and Audience Favorite of the 2019 Concours Musical International de Montréal and a first-prize winner of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition.

An accomplished soloist and chamber musician, Hao made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 12. He made solo appearances with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Downey Symphony Orchestra, and Peninsula Symphony Orchestra, alongside conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Alexander Shelley, and Thierry Fischer.

Hao is a founding member of the award-winning Viano Quartet and has performed worldwide alongside such internationally distinguished artists as Emanuel Ax, Roberto Diaz, James Ehnes, Noah Bendix-Balgley, and MarcAndré Hamelin. In 2023-24, Hao will be performing recitals all over the world in cities such as New York, Hong Kong, Nova Scotia, Buffalo, and Banff.

Hao is a recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music as a member of the Nina von Maltzhan Graduate String Quartet-in-Residence. He has been invited to perform at the Kronberg Academy Festival, Bravo! Vail, Bard Music Festival, and at Chamber Music Northwest. He was the first recipient of the Frances Rosen Violin Prize at the Colburn Conservatory, where he studied with Martin Beaver and received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

Hao plays on a 1783 Joseph and Antonio Gagliano violin, on generous loan from the Aftergood Family.

WorldOregon

salutes 55 years of Chamber Music Northwest’s Annual Summer Festival

—and bringing us all a little closer through music!

You can help keep Oregon connected to the World this summer by hosting international visitors for dinner, attending a program, and supporting our mission through your donations.

Since 1950, WorldOregon programs have kept Oregonians connected to the people, places, and ideas that are shaping our shared global future —and with each other.

2025 YOUNG ARTIST INSTITUTE

Institute Faculty

Soovin Kim (violin) • Jessica Lee (violin) • Wenting Kang (viola) • Edward Arron (cello) • Peter Stumpf (cello)

Please see their biography listings in the Festival Artists & Composers section of this program

Institute Staff

Alyssa Tong

Institute Manager

Alyssa Tong has managed the Young Artist Institute of Chamber Music Northwest since its inception in 2022. During the academic year, she is currently the Assistant Director of Enrollment Management at the New England Conservatory, working with the Strings and Contemporary Musical Arts faculty.

In 2018, after sustaining a tendonitis injury while playing violin, she dove into the administrative world, founding String Insiders, an educational nonprofit that focuses on providing preprofessional string players access to teachers, resources, and information. Since 2020, String Insiders has hosted the Online Solo Strings Intensive (OSSI) every summer, created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as the first ever online music festival. OSSI gives over 100 students annually the opportunity to work closely with top professors and teachers from around the country. Alyssa formerly hosted the Strings Virtual Summit, an online conference with over 1,000 attendees at each iteration that provided access to interviews with leading music professionals free of charge. Through her work with String Insiders, she has worked with faculty members such as Clive Greensmith, Soovin Kim, Paul Kantor, Ani Kavafian, Paul Katz, Carol Rodland, and many others. She is passionate about increasing accessibility to classical music by revitalizing the concert stage, providing quality music education to youth, and opening conversations around careers and holistic musicianship.

Before working full-time in administration, she obtained her Master’s degree in Violin Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying under Simon James.

She previously studied under Nelson Lee of the Jupiter String Quartet at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Music. When she’s not buried in spreadsheets, you can find her exploring Boston where she lives, or cooking something new.

David Paligora

Resident Mentor & Production Assistant

Raised in Aotearoa, New Zealand, David studied classical performance at the University of Auckland and Te Kōki New Zealand School of Music. He is a member of the National Band of New Zealand, and has performed with Aotearoa's leading professional musical ensembles, including with the New Zealand Symphony and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestras. He has also extensively toured the country both as part of ensembles and as a soloist, including with the Rodger Fox Big Band on their album tour of “RFBB plays Hone Tuwhare,” a collection of music from New Zealand composers inspired by the poetry of Hone Tuwhare.

Community music is at the core of David’s musical journey. Music performed together and for each other helps each of us construct clearer versions of our own identities. This idea is resonated through David’s core involvement in the brass band movement in New Zealand, one of the largest community music organizations in the country, and through research presented at the ICTMD World Conference in ethnomusicology in the winter of 2025.

David moved to Boston to pursue a Master's Degree in Music in Trombone Performance under James Markey of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, graduating in the Spring of 2025 with full honors.

Hannah Wendorf

Resident Mentor & Production Assistant

Violist Hannah Wendorf (she/they) sees music as an essential expression of the human experience. She especially values the creativity of living composers, and has performed with contemporary ensembles such as New Century Chamber Orchestra, Kronos Quartet, Post:ballet, and the IU and SFCM New Music Ensembles, as well as premiered over a dozen new works.

Over the past few years, Hannah has collaborated with a variety of esteemed artists, including Lara Downes, Alexi Kenney, Lauryn Hill, Conrad Tao, Joshua Bell, and Steven Osgood. With a deep love for chamber music, Hannah was most recently coached by the Pacifica Quartet in the advanced quartet seminar at Indiana University, and was a finalist in the 2022 Saint Paul String Quartet Competition. Also an experienced orchestral musician, Hannah has performed with the Richmond and Terre Haute symphonies, and was recently principal viola of the IU chamber orchestra. Previous summer festival experiences include ENCORE Chamber Music Institute, Brevard Music Center, and Bowdoin International Music Festival, where she will return this year after her time at CMNW.

Hannah holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Dimitri Murrath, and is currently earning a Master of Music at Indiana University under the tutelage of Atar Arad.

Maureen Sheehan

Operations Associate

Boston-based violist Maureen Sheehan is thrilled to be returning to CMNW’s Young Artist institute for a second year. A recent Master’s graduate of the New England Conservatory (NEC), Maureen performs regularly around the Northeast, including appearances with Grammynominated A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra and Palaver Strings. An avid chamber musician, she also enjoys playing with her quartet, the Calandra Quartet, which earned distinction as an NEC Honors Ensemble this year. Maureen’s summers have involved performances at Manchester Music Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, and Festival Napa Valley, among others.

In addition to her work at CMNW, Maureen has enjoyed mentoring younger musicians at Harpa International Music Academy in Lakeside Chautauqua, Ohio and Madison Conservatory near her hometown in Wisconsin. Maureen holds Bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Viola Performance from Oberlin College and Conservatory, where she was a student of Peter Slowik. When not playing viola, Maureen can be found with a fiddle in her hand at an Irish session around Boston.

2025 Collaborative Piano Fellows

Elgin Lee Piano

Elgin Lee is an active solo and collaborative pianist from Minnesota. He has participated in multiple music festivals around the world, such as the Beijing International Music Festival, the Collaborative Piano Institute in Louisiana, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine. He has had the privilege of working with renowned faculty such as Jonathan Feldman, Anne Epperson, Martin Katz, and Rita Sloan, and played for the studios of eminent artists such as Miriam Fried, Paul Katz, Laurence Lesser, and Donald Weilerstein.

Elgin holds a Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate in Collaborative Piano from the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied with Jonathan Feldman and Pei-Shan Lee, and serves as a staff pianist for the NEC Preparatory School while pursuing a doctoral degree under the guidance of Pei-Shan Lee and Tanya Blaich.

Cynthia Tseng Piano

Cynthia Tseng is a collaborative pianist based in Boston. She has participated in the Summer Academy at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, in Louisiana's Collaborative Piano Institute, and served as a staff pianist at Maine's Bowdoin International Music Festival. She has had the privilege of working with renowned faculty including Jonathan Feldman, Martin Katz, Rita Sloan, Warren Jones, Kayo Iwama, and played for the studios of renowned artists such as Paul Katz, Laurence Lesser, Donald Weilerstein, and Ayano Ninomiya.

Cynthia earned her Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. She has worked under the guidance of Jonathan Feldman, Cameron Stowe, and Pei-Shan Lee.

Young Artists

Kai Isoke Ali-Landing (16)

Violin

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois & Melbourne, Florida

Favorite piece of music: Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

What I do when not playing music: Gaming, programming, running, learning new languages, and sailing.

Christie Cheung (15)

Violin

Hometown: Toronto, Canada

Favorite piece of music: Manuel Ponce’s Estrellita (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Jascha Heifetz)

What I do when I’m not playing music: Baking and reading.

Peyton Crony (17)

Viola

Hometown: Rochester, New York

Favorite piece of music: Vieuxtemps’s Capriccio in C Minor

What I do when I’m not playing music: Run, read, bake, sign language, thrift, and hang out with friends and family.

Luke D’Silva (18)

Viola

Hometown: Portland, Oregon

Favorite piece of music: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4

What I do when I’m not playing music: Running or playing basketball.

Caitlin Enright (17)*

Cello

Hometown: Chatham, New Jersey

Favorite piece of music: Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1

What I do when I’m not playing music: I love reading and studying.

Griffin Frost (17)

Cello

Hometown: New York City, New York

Favorite piece of music: Schumann’s Five Pieces in Folk Style

What I do when I’m not playing music: I play soccer.

Daphna Raveh Glassman (16)

Viola

Hometown: Sunnyvale, California

Favorite piece of music: Schubert’s String Quartet Death and the Maiden

What I do when I’m not playing music: Spend time with my friends and read.

Aiden Kim (16)

Cello

Hometown: San Jose, California

Favorite piece of music: Franck’s Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano

What I do when I’m not playing music: I like to listen to jazz and try out new restaurants.

Minji Kim (18)

Violin

Hometown: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Favorite piece of music: Henryk Wienawski’s Polonaise de Concert, Op. 4

What I do when I’m not playing music: Spend time with my family, especially my younger brother.

Sarah J. Lee (18)

Cello

Hometown: Portland, Oregon

Favorite piece of music: Dvořák's Silent Woods

What I do when I’m not playing music: Try out new food, traveling, and hanging out with friends.

Katie Liu (17)*

Violin

Hometown: Portland, Oregon

Favorite piece of music: Manuel Ponce’s Estrellita

What I do when I’m not playing music: I enjoy photography and traveling!

Aaron Ma (16)

Violin

Hometown: Palo Alto, California

Favorite piece of music: Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2

What I do when I’m not playing music: Finding songs on Spotify, track and field.

Isabel Jing Metz (16)

Violin

Hometown: Alfred Station, New York

Favorite piece of music: (So hard to choose!) Ravel’s Piano Trio in A Minor

I like to journal and listen to music.

Tokuji Miyasaka (18)*

Violin kickboxing, and Muay Thai).

Leo Trajano (17)

Violin music in my school choir. I also study a lot, and I enjoy taking walks.

Andie Zhu (17)

Viola

Hometown: Lexington, Massachusetts

Favorite piece of music: Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin

What I do when I’m not playing music: I like to crochet and read.

*returning YAI Student

ABOUT CMNW

Now in its 55th season, Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW) serves more than 50,000 people in Oregon and SW Washington with exceptional chamber music through over 100 events annually, including our flagship Summer Festival, year-round concerts, community activities, educational programs, radio and masterclass broadcasts, and innovative collaborations with other arts groups. CMNW is the only chamber music festival of its kind in the Northwest and one of the most diverse classical music experiences in the nation, virtually unparalleled in comparable communities.

As one of the leading chamber music producers in the country, CMNW enriches our community by showcasing the world’s greatest musicians and composers. From world-renowned artists and exceptional local musicians to the established Artistsin-Residence ensembles who do music engagement in our schools and community, to nurturing the rising young stars of our Protégé Project, our musicians perform beloved masterpieces and contemporary works, and collaborations. Committed to sharing music in fun and accessible ways, our artists participate in extensive community outreach, including free concerts, conversations, and in-school, inperson, and online education programs.

CMNW also invests in the future of chamber music. Our Protégé Project Artists perform and learn from veteran festival artists and work with young musicians in our community. Since 2022, the students of CMNW’s Young Artist Institute (YAI)— an intensive education program for 16 talented string players from around the world, ages 14–18—have enhanced and enlivened the summer festival while growing exponentially as musicians. CMNW commissions and co-commissions present 4–6 new works annually, primarily by American composers. CMNW is proud to have balanced its budget in each of the past 44 years.

Mission

Chamber Music Northwest creates and shares the beauty, inspiration, intimacy, and transformative power of small ensemble music through…

• Unforgettable concerts with the world’s greatest musicians in a welcoming environment

• Education and engagement programs that enrich the lives of our diverse and growing community

• Innovation that honors our past while fostering the artists, audiences, and musical experiences of the future

Board of Directors

Ravi Vedanayagam President

David Greger Vice President

Lori Irish Bauman Secretary

Dan Boyce Treasurer

Staff

Gloria Chien & Soovin Kim

Artistic Directors

Peter J. Bilotta

Executive Director

Sarah Taylor

Development Director

Lauren Watt

Operations & Community Programs Director

Karen Deveney Member at Large

Richard Rogers

Member at Large

Carl Abbott

Caroline Harris Crowne

Ronnie-Gail Emden

Barbara Bailey

Beth Fry

Howard Greisler

Marian GutierrezCuriel

Linda Jenkins

James Kahan

Amelia Lukas

Finance & Administration Director

Nicole Lane

Marketing & Communictions Director

Rebecca Gurney

Development Associate & Event Coordinator

Jillian Fischer

Artistic & Community Programs Coordinator

Young Artist Institute Staff

Alyssa Tong Young Artist Institute Manager

Festival Staff

Megan Thorpe

Production Manager

Kimberly Osberg

Assistant Production Manager

Gillian Lelchuk

Stage Manager

Jody Read

Stage Manager

Branic Howard

Audio Engineer

Michael Johnson

Lead AV Technician

Eric Leatha

Piano Technician

Maureen Sheehan Young Artist Institute Operations Associate

Micki Selvitella

House Manager

Grace Weaver

House Manager

Sawyer VanVactor-Lee

Audience Relations Assistant

Katherine Curry

Audience Relations Assistant

Finnian Dills

Artist Services Intern

Sam Klotz

Development Intern

Judah Juárez

Artistic Operations Intern

Jordan Smith

Merchandise & Marketing Intern

This program book was produced by Chamber Music Northwest.

Graphic Design: Jeff Hayes | Editor-in-Chief: Nicole Lane

Printing: Riddle Press

Mary Louise McClintock

Hugh Porter

Jeff Rubin

Marc Therrien

Peter van Bever

Jessie Bodell

Marketing & Communications Coordinator

Kimberly Osberg

Interim Marketing & Communications Coordinator

Benjamin Rosenthal

Ticketing & Data Manager

Genevieve Larson

Lead House Manager & Volunteer Coordinator

David Paligora

Hannah Wendorf

Young Artist Institute

Resident Mentors & Production Assistants

Jeff Hayes

Festival Brand & Graphic Designer

Elizabeth Schwartz

Chief Program Annotator

Ethan Allred Program Annotator

Photographers

Tom Emerson Shawnte Sims

Liana Kramer

Gary Norman

Jon Thomson

REED COLLEGE is a hub for renowned performers and artists from around the world. Visit EVENTS.REED.EDU to learn more about upcoming performances open to the public—many of which are free of charge.

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