After Virtual Summer Festival success, Chamber Music Northwest proactively brings 2020-21 Season online

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

CONTACT:     Amy Mintonye, Marketing Director

                     503-546-0187, amym@cmnw.org

After Virtual Summer Festival success, Chamber Music Northwest proactively brings 2020-21 Season online

(Portland, OR) July 28, 2020 – More than 45,000 people nationwide joined Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW) over its free, five-week Virtual Summer Festival – more than three times the normal attendance of the entire annual in-person festival! In the festival’s finale concert, David Shifrin, Chamber Music Northwest’s Artistic Director of forty years, passed the baton to new Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim for the 2020-21 Season and beyond. But that is not the only historic change ahead at CMNW this season. With the future of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our lives is still uncertain, Chamber Music Northwest has made the proactive decision to present all of its 2020-21 Season concerts digitally – and determine on a concert-by-concert basis whether it can safely present live, in-person concerts to a socially-distanced audience in addition to the concert stream.

Chamber Music Northwest Executive Director Peter J. Bilotta says “Chamber Music Northwest’s mission is to share exceptional, inspiring chamber music with our community and we are not going to let the current global pandemic prevent us from doing so. While it’s not quite the same as live, we are thrilled to be able to adapt and bring these incredible artists to our audiences in whatever way is possible – online or in person, as conditions allow.”

Chamber Music Northwest’s exciting 2020-21 Season will bring internationally-renowned artists right to your living room, including Brentano String Quartet, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin, and clarinetist Anthony McGill, plus favorite former protégés the Kenari Saxophone Quartet, new Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim, and more! The season will also include live Musical Conversations and online social gatherings. The full 2020-21 Season schedule and details will be available September 1. Until then, Chamber Music Northwest is offering a $100 Early Bird All-Access Pass – a 25% savings.

The 2020-21 Season will be the first lead by new Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim A husband and wife team, both are internationally-renowned performers – Gloria a pianist, Soovin a violinist – and experienced music presenters. Gloria and Soovin are co-artistic directors of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, founded by Soovin in 2008. Gloria is also the artistic director of the String Theory chamber music series in Chattanooga, TN – which she founded in 2009 – and has been director of the Chamber Music Institute of the Music@Menlo Festival since 2010.

“Under David’s leadership, Chamber Music Northwest has become one of the most important American chamber music institutions” says Soovin Kim. “Chamber Music Northwest’s vibrancy is closely tied to the artistic values of the Portland community. Gloria and I relish the idea of accepting the baton of leadership from David and nurturing those values while injecting a new energy and fresh perspective.”

2020-21 Season All-Access Pass

Through September 1, save 25% with a $100 Early Bird All-Access Pass

Our exciting 2020-21 Season will bring internationally-renowned artists right to your living room, including Brentano String Quartet, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin, and clarinetist Anthony McGill, plus favorite former protégés the Kenari Saxophone Quartet, new Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim, and more!

https://cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/2020-21-season

ABOUT CHAMBER MUSIC NORTHWEST 

Now in its 51st season, Chamber Music Northwest shares the richness and diversity of chamber music with more than 50,000 people through 80 events annually, including our Summer Festival of outstanding concerts, illuminating outreach activities, educational programs supporting young musicians, and innovative collaborations across the Portland Metro region. 

As one of the nation’s leading chamber music presenters, Chamber Music Northwest brings to our community the world’s greatest musicians and composers, from rising-star members of our Protégé Project and exceptional local musicians to world-renowned artists that include Grammy Award winners, Avery Fisher Prize honorees, and MacArthur “Genius Award” recipients. Together they collaborate to perform the expansive 500-year chamber music repertoire, ranging from beloved classics and hidden masterpieces to contemporary works and less conventional projects. 

Chamber Music Northwest is an international leader in celebrating chamber music’s enduring relevance and diversity, with more than 100 commissions and premieres of new works as well as its Protégé Project, which cultivates the next generation of dynamic chamber music performers by supporting exceptional, early-career chamber musicians and composers in their professional development.

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