Thursday, February 4, 2016

Chamber Music Northwest's 2016 Summer Festival lineup announced

From the press release:

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Nine-time Grammy winners EMERSON STRING QUARTET; Violinists JENNIFER FRAUTSCHI, IDA KAVAFIAN, and ANI KAVAFIAN; Pianists MELVIN CHEN, GILLES VONSATTEL, and ANDRE WATTS; Ensembles DOVER QUARTET, MIRO QUARTET, ORION STRING QUARTET, ZORA STRING QUARTET, and AKROPOLIS REED QUINTET;
Festival favorites PAUL NEUBAUER, FRED SHERRY, and PETER WILEY;
Collaborations with OREGON BACH FESTIVAL, BODYVOX, and TANGO FOR MUSICIANS AT REED COLLEGE; BEETHOVEN'S COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS, lJ NEW PREMIERES, and NEW@NOON contemporary concert series

Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW), one of America's top chamber music festivals, is pleased to announce its 2016 Summer Festival. June 25-July 31,2016. Under the direction of acclaimed clarinetist David Shifrin, the five-week festival will be one of the most ambitious, entertaining, and expansive chamber music festivals ever presented in the Northwest. Exploring Beethoven. his influence and inspiration in over fifty concerts over its five week run. It will bring to Portland some of the world's most renowned chamber music artists and ensembles, highly acclaimed local artists, and the rising stars of classical music's next generation.

CMNW's Summer Festival is unlike any other music experience available in our region, presenting over 100 acclaimed artists and ensembles in over 50 concerts at Reed College's Kaul Auditorium, Portland State University's Lincoln Hall, and other venues throughout the Portland area. In all, they will perform more than 100 chamber works, ranging from Beethoven's complete string quartets and beloved classics by Mozart and Brahms to new and contemporary works by composers of today. CMNW's unique, collaborative environment is prized by the visiting musicians, allowing international artists like the Emerson String Quartet, Melvin Chen, and Jennifer Frautschi to collaborate with other world-class and rising star musicians in the beauty of a Portland summer. The festival also allows Northwest audiences the opportunity to hear the world's leading musicians play the world's greatest music in a fun, dress-down atmosphere that includes casual summer picnics on the picturesque grounds of the colleges, informal open rehearsals, educational opportunities, and three free community concerts.

"At the core of the 2016 Summer Festival is the entire cycle of Beethoven string quartets performed by five great American quartets," says Artistic Director David Shifrin. "Beethoven's quartets represent not only the core essence of the chamber music repertory, but one of the crowning achievements of human civilization." The inspiration for this ambitious festival came from the Emerson String Quartet's three­ concert series pairing Haydn's late opus 76 quartets with Beethoven's early opus 18 quartets. While these incredible works form the heart of the festival, it includes much, much more.

This year's festival will feature several incredible collaborations. CMNW is again working with Tango for Musicians at Reed College, the Oregon Bach Festival, and BodyVox. Working with Tango for Musicians CMNW will present their opening night concert featuring world-renowned tango musicians performing with CMNW festival favorite Peter Wiley. The Oregon Bach Festival will present two concerts as part of CMNW's festival featuring pianist and scholar Robert Levin, once performing with the Berwick Academy Chamber Orchestra and once with the Festival's faculty. CMNW and BodyVox will present Death and Delight, a multi-performance event featuring chamber music and dance themed around Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

This summer is New@Noon,- now featuring five concerts- is back! The groundbreaking concert series explores the diversity and depth of contemporary classical music. These concerts, as well as informal composer lunches, a family concert, three community concerts, and the premieres of four new works commissioned by CMNW, will allow audiences to become more familiar with the chamber music of the present and future.

CMNW is thrilled to bring over a dozen Protege Artists- rising stars of classical music- to Portland this summer. These incredible young artists will be featured in eight concerts bringing a fresh sound to classic chamber pieces.

Executive Director Peter Bilotta notes, "We are thrilled that our 2016 Summer Festival will bring us back together again with the Oregon Bach Festival, Reed College's internationally renowned Tango for Musicians conference, and BodyVox. And, we're very excited be able to expand our New@Noon concerts and our Wednesday night concerts to five performances each. It's going to be an incredible five weeks of music."



Week One I June 25-July 3

Le Grand  Tango
Saturday, June 25 I 8 pm I Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Straight from  Buenos Aires, the faculty of Tango for Musicians at Reed College joins Peter Wiley and
CMNW  in a celebration of contemporary tango.


A Trio of Trios
Monday, June 271 8 pm I Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Tuesday, June 28 I 8 pm I Portland State University, Lincoln Performance Hall
Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, and  Peter Wiley  perform an all-trio  concert featuring Haydn, Beethoven, and  Mozart.


OBF All-Stars
Saturday, July 218 pm I Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Robert Levin  returns with the faculty of the Oregon Bach Festival to perform classic chamber works  by
Beethoven and  Mozart  on period instruments.


Week Two I July 4-July 10


Orion  String  Quartet plays  Beethoven & Mendelssohn
Tuesday, July 5 I 8 pm I Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
The Orion String Quartet performs string quartets by Beethoven and  Mendelssohn.


The Beethoven of Tomorrow
Wednesday, July 61 8 pm I Alberta Rose Theatre
Join Protege Project  artists as they  perform Op. 95, Op. g6, and Op. 97 from  the end of Beethoven's middle period.


Orion  String  Quartet plays  Beethoven & Schubert
Thursday, July 7 I 8 pm I Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Let yourself  be carried away by the Orion  String Quartet in this concert of works composed late in life featuring Schubert's "Death and  the Maiden."

Week Three I July 11-17


The Razumovsky Quartets with the Dover Quartet
Monday, July n I 8 pm I   Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Hear  Beethoven's complete Razumovsky Quartets performed by the exceptional young  musicians of the
Dover Quartet.
Emerson String  Quartet, Passing the Torch
Part I: Friday,  July 1518 pm I   Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Part  II: Saturday, July 16 I 8 pm I   Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Part  III: Sunday, July 1714  pm I Portland State University, Lincoln  Performance Hall
The Emerson String Quartet joins CMNW for three  concerts lauding Beethoven's innovation and inspiration.

Week Four I July 18-July 24


Keyboard Concertos through the Ages
Monday, July 18 I   8 pm I Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Tuesday, July 19 18 pm I Portland State University, Lincoln  Performance Hall
Keyboard concertos from  J. S. Bach, Stravinsky, and  Mozart  will light up the stage.


Northern Lights: Scandinavian Gems
Wednesday, July 20 18 pm I Nordia House
Thursday, July 21  I 8 pm I Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Celebrate the music of Scandinavia with works  by Nielsen  and  Portland composer David Schiff's  new arrangement of Grieg's Peer Gynt  Suite.

Week Five I July 25-31


Beethoven's Progression
Monday, July 25 I 8 pm I Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Tuesday, July 26 IS pm I Portland State University, Lincoln  Performance Hall
Experience Beethoven's music through the ages with  his Septet in E-flat  Major and String  Quartet in
flat Major.


An Unlikely Muse: Brahms and  Muhlfeld
Friday,  July 29 I 8 pm I Portland State University, Lincoln Performance Hall
Sunday, July 31 I 4 pm I Portland State  University, Lincoln  Performance Hall
Join us for this exciting  world  premiere theatrical experience chronicling the last years of Brahms's life and  the unlikely source  of his musical inspiration!


Cooke, Shifrin, Watts & the Mir6 Quartet
Saturday, July 30 I   8 pm I   Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
The Mir6 Quartet is joined by David Shifrin,  Andre Watts, and Sasha  Cooke in the final concert performance of the 2016 Summer Festival.
 
 


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