Saturday, April 18, 2009

Neah-Kah-Nie Project String Quartet performs free concert this Sunday

The Neah-Kah-Nie Project String Quartet plays the music of Ferdinand Sorenson and Sorenson's grandson Dana Carlile this Sunday at 2 pm at the Multnomah County Central Library (801 SW 10th Ave) in a free concert. Sorenson's music was featured in the documentary "Susie Fennell Pipes and the The Neah-Kah-Nie String Quartet."

The composer Ferdinand Sorenson was born in Denmark in 1882. After studying music in Utah and New York City he eventual settled in Portland, Oregon in 1924 after working in Boise, Idaho and Spokane, Washington. Sorenson played both string and brass instruments, conducted theater, community and student orchestras and taught dance as well as music over the years. He composed over 16 works for string quartets. Sorenson also wrote the inaugural march for Idaho Governor Frank Gooding in 1905 and the American Desert for string orchestra performed by the Spokane Symphony in 1922.

The current members of the quartet are four Oregon Symphony Orchestra string players: violinists Julie Coleman and Erin Furbee, violist Brian Quincey and cellist Justin Kagan. The original 1930 The Neah-Kah-Nie String Quartet included the founder Susie Fennell Pipes, Russian violist Alexander Vdovin, Dutch cellist Michel Penha and Ferdinand Sorenson's son Hubert Sorenson.

After the concert NW Documentary presents a short documentary about the composer Ferdinand Sorenson and the documentary "Susie Fennell Pipes and the The Neah-Kah-Nie String Quartet" at 3:30pm in the U.S. Bank Room.

For more information, click here.

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