CMNW 2020-21 Season details: Bach to Bartók, pianos to saxophones, and more!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

 

CONTACT:     Amy Mintonye, Marketing Director

                     503-546-0187, amym@cmnw.org

 

 

2020-21 Season details:

Everything from Bach to Bartók, pianos to saxophones, and so much more!

 

(Portland, OR) September 2, 2020 – Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW) has announced the nine new, exclusive, Chamber Music Northwest-produced virtual concerts in their 2020-21 Season. From Bach to Bartók, pianos to saxophones, and so much more, their 2020-21 Season will feature performances by internationally-renowned artists including Brentano Quartet, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, pianist Marc-André Hamelin, and clarinetist Anthony McGill, favorite Protégé Project alumni the Kenari Quartet, new Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim, and more! If conditions allow, CMNW will present live, in-person concerts to a socially-distanced audience in addition to the concert stream. All-Access Passes are on sale now, concert dates and details available below or at CMNW.org.

All 2020-21 Season concerts will be new, exclusive virtual performances produced by Chamber Music Northwest. CMNW Executive Director Peter J. Bilotta explains “since we can’t come together for live concerts right now, we have decided that we will bring great chamber music to our community in the comfort and safety of their homes this season.”

“We are pioneering a new model of producing digital performances for our audiences where their purchase of virtual tickets helps support our musicians, while also allowing the artists to license the programs to other music organizations nationally,” Bilotta continues. “This dual revenue stream will allow us to support our musicians, retain our staff, and bring inspiring music to our community and a national audience at a time when it is desperately needed.”

The first concert, Soovin Kim: Complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin on October 10 at 7 pm, is free. All-Access Passes ($125 – a nearly 40% discount compared to purchasing single tickets) are on sale now and are good for access to all 2020-21 Season concerts for 7 days after the concert date. Single concert tickets are $20 and will go on sale 30 days prior to each concert.

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.

 

2020-21 Season

 

All-Access Passes on sale now at https://cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/2020-21-season

 

Soovin Kim: Complete Bach Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin

Saturday, October 10, 2020, 7 pm; virtual; free!

Soovin Kim, Chamber Music Northwest’s new Co-Artistic Director, kicks off the season with a free performance of Bach’s majestic set of six sonatas and partitas for solo violin. Kim is internationally recognized for his solo and chamber music performances as well as his work as a teacher and an artistic director. Witness Kim bring each of Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas (including the powerful Chaconne) to life from the New England Conservatory’s treasured Jordan Hall in Boston. https://cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/all-concerts-events/soovin-kim-bach-sonatas-partitas/137

 

Marc-André Hamelin & Gloria Chien: Virtuoso Pianos

Saturday, October 24, 2020, 7 pm; virtual; $20 or free with All-Access Pass

“A performer of near-superhuman technical prowess” (The New York Times), pianist Marc-André Hamelin is known worldwide for his brilliant technique and intrepid exploration of the rarities of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries – earning him legendary status as a true icon of the piano. In this concert from the stunning Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA, Hamelin will perform a solo piece and thrilling two-piano works with new Chamber Music Northwest Co-Artistic Director Gloria Chien including Stravinsky’s manic The Rite of Spring. https://cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/all-concerts-events/hamelin-chien-virtuoso-pianos/1163

 

Anthony McGill & Gloria Chien: Clarinet Tours de Force

Saturday, November 14, 2020. 7 pm; virtual; $20 or free with All-Access Pass

Clarinetist Anthony McGill is one of classical music’s most recognizable and brilliantly multifaceted figures. He maintains a dynamic international solo and chamber music career in addition to being the principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic. McGill performed at President Obama’s inauguration in 2009 and is a champion of social justice in the classical music world. McGill and Chamber Music Northwest’s new Co-Artistic Director Gloria Chien will continue their longstanding collaboration with this performance from the stunning Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA. https://cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/all-concerts-events/mcgill-chien-clarinet-tours-de-force/1164

 

Brentano Quartet: The Intensity of F Minor

Saturday, December 5, 2020, 7 pm; virtual; $20 or free with All-Access Pass

The “passionate, uninhibited, and spellbinding” (London Independent) Brentano Quartet has been among the world’s finest string quartets for nearly 30 years since their first performances at Chamber Music Northwest in 1995. As CMNW’s 2020-21 Artists-in-Residence, the quartet will perform multiple concerts with varied and thoughtful programming over the season. In this concert, the Brentano Quartet will bring their “yearning lyricism” (New York Times) to masterpieces from Beethoven to Bruce Adolphe in the dark key of F Minor from Mechanic’s Hall in Worcester, MA. https://cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/all-concerts-events/brentano-quartet-the-intensity-of-f-minor/1165

 

Alisa Weilerstein: Solo Cello

Saturday, January 30, 2021, 7 pm; virtual; $20 or free with All-Access Pass

“Technically flawless and deeply expressive” (The New York Times), Alisa Weilerstein makes the cello sing as if it were her own voice. A 2011 MacArthur “genius grant” winner, Weilerstein is known for her commanding performances of the classics of the cello repertoire as well as new music. This intimate solo performance will feature the first of Bach’s celebrated Cello Suites as well as modern and contemporary works by Kodály, Britten, and living composer Osvaldo Golijov. https://cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/all-concerts-events/alisa-weilerstein-solo-cello/1059

 

Fleur Barron & Julius Drake: Winter Journey (Winterreise)

Saturday, February 27, 2021, 7 pm; virtual; $20 or free with All-Access Pass

Praised as a “charismatic star” by the Boston Globe, mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron is the winner of Tanglewood Festival's 2016 Jackson Prize, awarded to one outstanding young vocalist each year. "A collaborator gifted with sensitive phrasing and insight” (The New York Times), internationally-renowned pianist Julius Drake is the perfect accompaniment to Barron's "thrillingly dark and rich-veined mezzo" (Seen and Heard International). Experience this unique presentation of Schubert’s Winterreise – a lieder traditionally performed by a tenor – sung by the mesmerizing Barron. https://cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/all-concerts-events/barron-drake-winter-journey-winterreise/1166

 

Goldmund Quartet: Europe’s Rising Stars

Saturday, March 20, 2021, 7 pm; virtual; $20 or free with All-Access Pass

Hailed as one of the most exciting young string quartets in the world, the Goldmund Quartet’s exquisitely refined playing has been awarded prizes at major competitions such as the Wigmore, Melbourne, and ARD Munich. They are the Rising Stars of the European Concert Hall Organisation leading to debut recitals at the Philharmonie de Paris, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and the Vienna Konzerthaus. In this concert, hear the Goldmund perform dramatic chamber works written by Puccini, Strauss, and Schubert on their historic set of Stradivari instruments once owned by the great virtuoso Niccolò Paganini. https://cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/all-concerts-events/goldmund-quartet-europes-rising-stars/1057

 

Brentano Quartet: The World of Bartók’s Quartet No. 5

Saturday, April 24, 2021, 7 pm; virtual; $20 or free with All-Access Pass

The “fiercely intelligent and expressively pristine” (New Yorker) Brentano Quartet, CMNW’s 2020-21 Artists-in-Residence, will reveal new dimensions of Béla Bartók’s magnificent fifth quartet in this unusual program. The first half consists of miniatures by Bartók and five other master composers that explore elements of the fifth quartet. That immersive investigation will be followed by Bartók’s complete Quartet No. 5 – heard with new clarity and immediacy. https://cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/all-concerts-events/brentano-quartet-world-of-bartok/1063

 

Kenari Quartet: Transforming Perceptions of the Sax

Saturday, May 15, 2021, 7 pm; virtual; $20 or free with All-Access Pass

Applauded for their “flat-out amazing” performances and “stunning virtuosity” (Cleveland Classical), the Kenari Quartet's larger-than-life personalities pop off the stage. The unique style and flair of this Protégé Project alumni all-saxophone ensemble electrified Chamber Music Northwest audiences in 2018. Their triumphant return to the CMNW stage will feature modern and contemporary work plus improvisation. https://cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/all-concerts-events/kenari-quartet-transforming-perceptions-of-the-sax/1062

 

 

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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