Review: Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival creates an excellent buzz in season-ending concert

Leo Eguchi, Megumi Stohs Lewis, Greg Ewer, Sasha Callahan, and Charles Noble

For lovers of classical music and wine, it doesn’t get much better than the Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival where you can imbibe in both. That’s because the WVCMF takes place on the grounds of a few select Oregon wineries – sometimes in the barrel room. Each concert pairs musical selections with wine tastings – a winning combination for those in the know.

Founded in 2015 by violinist Sasha Callahan and her husband, cellist Leo Eguchi, the WVCMF engages top-notch chamber musicians in programs that vary widely. They often include world-premieres of works by a composer-in-residence, and the participating composers have been stellar – Gabriela Lena Frank, Joan Tower, Jessie Montgomery, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Osvaldo Golijov, Reena Esmail, and Kareem Roustom.

Composer Kevin Day joined the starry cast for this year’s edition of the WVCMF (August 3-18), which took place at in the bucolic confines of Sokol Blosser Winery, Appassionata Vineyards, and Archery Summit. Because I had other commitments (like the Sun Valley Music Festival), I missed the first two weekends of the WVCMF, but I did make it to the final concert at Archery Summit, which is located just a handful of miles west of Dundee.

Upon arrival at Archery Summit, I was greeted with a glass of 2023 Vireton Pinot Gris and bowled over by the winery’s brand-new, upscale, tasting room. The ringing of a hand-held bell signaled the concert goers to move down the hallway and settle in for the concert with a glass of 2022 Chardonnay.

The program began with Kevin Day’s “The Essence of Being” (String Quartet No. 5), which was commissioned and premiered by Callahan and Eguchi’s other group, the Sheffield Chamber Players, a couple years ago. The first movement of the piece, Tranquillo, had a lovely warm and reflective quality. In the second movement, Con Moto, the musicians (violinists Calahan and Megumi Stohs Lewis, violist Charles Noble, and cellist Eguchi) gradually picked up the pace – sometimes finishing each other’s phrases. A forceful rhythmic drive and brief ascending lines brought the piece to an optimistic and fun close that put a smile of everyone’s face.

Christine Southworth’s “Honey Fliers,” (2007) commissioned by the Carlsbad Music Festival for the Calder Quartet, benefited from the composer being in attendance. She told how her attempt to raise honey bees influenced the music, and she mentioned that happy bees create a buzz that is a Concert A, but unhappy bees emit a buzz with higher tones.

The quartet (with Callahan and Lewis trading first and second violin posts) really got into the hum of things, transitioning between the calmer, happier bees and the distressed, angrier bees. Sometimes it seemed that the bees were on the loose, zinging around the room. The third, and final, movement, slowed down a bit with stutter steps between the viola and cello before going into a propulsive section in which each player executed impromptu-like riffs – as if they were jazzy bees. The piece concluded with a low, rumbling cello at the end – perhaps the bees found some rest back in the hive.

A glass of 2021 Pinot Noir proved to be an excellently paired with Schubert’s “String Quartet No. 13” (aka “Rosamunde”). For this well-loved, albeit bittersweet gem, Greg Ewer took the first violin post with Callahan on second, and violist Noble and cellist Eguchi. The ensemble expertly conveyed the wistful yearning of the first movement. They also plumbed the subtlety of the two middle movements, going back and forth between warmth and anguish. The final movement expressed a bit of uplifting happiness but tinged with a poignant resignation – especially in the quick upward runs that Ewer deftly slowed down a tad.