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Press Releases
CMNW Virtual Summer Festival Week 2: Chamber Stories, New Music, and Miró Quartet Plays Beethoven
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Amy Mintonye, Marketing Director
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VIRTUAL SUMMER FESTIVAL WEEK 2: CHAMBER STORIES, NEW MUSIC, AND MIRÓ QUARTET PLAYS BEETHOVEN
(Portland, OR) June 26, 2020 – Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW)’s free Virtual Summer Festival continues with three new digital concerts next week: Chamber Stories: The Carnival of the Animals and more premiering 7 pm PT Monday, June 29; New@Night Our Favorite New American Music premiering 7 pm PT Thursday, July 2; and a new “live” performance by Miró Quartet of Beethoven’s late string quartets premiering 7 pm PT Saturday, July 4 at CMNW.org and on Chamber Music Northwest’s YouTube channel. Concerts are available until 11:59 pm PT the day after the premiere.
Be transported by music that tells a story in Chamber Stories: The Carnival of the Animals and more premiering 7 pm PT Monday, June 29 available through 11:59 pm PT Tuesday, June 30. The concert begins with contemporary Portraits of Langston by Imani Winds-founder, flutist, and composer Valerie Coleman. In a conversation before the performance, Coleman explains how the piece was inspired by the life and work of poet Langston Hughes. The concert also includes a conversation with Bruce Adolphe and a performance of his urban fairy tale Marita and Her Heart’s Desire, and Saint-Saëns’ classic The Carnival of the Animals with narration by pianist Orion Weiss.
Discover some of our favorite new classical music in New@Night: Our Favorite New American Music premiering 7 pm PT Thursday, July 2 available through 11:59 pm PT Friday, July 3. Tune in for a new performance of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts Home by the Miró Quartet, plus work by Hannah Lash, Kristapor Najarian, Chris Rogerson, David Lang, and special collaborative composition by Lera Auerbach, Akira Nishimura, Christopher Theofanidis, and Joan Tower plus conversations with the composers and artists.
In a new exclusive performance from their hometown of Austin, TX premiering 7 pm PT Saturday, July 4 available through 11:59 pm PT Sunday July 5, the Miró Quartet will perform Beethoven’s late string quartets, concluding Op. 130 as originally intended with the controversial and thrilling Op. 133 Grosse Fugue. “Opus 132 and 130 represent the pinnacle of Beethoven’s Late Style dramatic language, and are perhaps two of the most enduringly popular of Beethoven’s Late Quartets” says John Largess of Miró Quartet. “This music sounds contemporary and is challenging to play even today.” The Miró Quartet will complete their complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets with Chamber Music Northwest in a second new “live” performance premiering Saturday, July 11.
Through July 26, new Virtual Summer Festival concerts will premiere each Monday, Thursday, and Saturday at 7 pm PT and will be available until 11:59 pm PT the next day at CMNW.org and on Chamber Music Northwest’s YouTube channel. A special presentation of The Silver River and two family-friendly concerts will be available for a whole week. Upcoming concerts include Jazz, Tango, Bluegrass, and more boundary-breaking chamber music July 6 and 7; family-friendly performances of Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals and Bruce Adolphe’s Marita and Her Heart’s Desire premiering July 13 and 20; new “live” performance by Grammy Award-winning Edgar Meyer July 23 and 24, and David Shifrin’s final performance as Chamber Music Northwest Artistic Director July 25 and 26. Full schedule available at CMNW.org.
Though Chamber Music Northwest has canceled its traditional ticketed Summer Festival and is offering free digital programming instead, the organization is committed to its musicians and staff. Chamber Music Northwest has paid all 88 Summer Festival musicians half of their compensation to assist them at this challenging time and has committed to continued employment for its year-round staff.
Virtual Summer Festival
Free! June 22- July 26 | tune in at CMNW.org or Chamber Music Northwest’s YouTube channel
Full schedule at https://cmnw.org/concerts-
Chamber Stories: The Carnival of the Animals & More
Premieres Monday, June 29 at 7 pm PT, available through Tuesday, June 30 at 11:59 pm PT
Be transported by music that tells a story, from the classic Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals with narration by pianist Orion Weiss to contemporary works Portraits of Langston by Valerie Coleman and Bruce Adolphe’s urban fairy tale Marita and Her Heart’s Desire.
New@Night: Our Favorite New American Music
Premieres Thursday, July 2 at 7 pm PT, available through Friday, July 3 at 11:59 pm PT
Discover some of our favorite new American classical music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Kevin Puts, David Lang, Christopher Theofanidis – including two new exclusive premieres of work commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest!
CMNW LIVE from Austin: Miró Plays Beethoven’s Late Quartets
Premieres Saturday, July 4 at 7 pm PT, available through Sunday, July 5 at 11:59 pm PT
In this new exclusive performance from their hometown of Austin, TX, the Miró Quartet will perform Beethoven’s monumental late string quartets, concluding Op. 130 as originally intended with the controversial and thrilling Op. 133 Grosse Fugue!
https://cmnw.org/concerts-
Special Presentation: The Silver River
Premieres Monday, July 6 at 10 am PT, available through Sunday, July 12 at 11:59 pm PT
The Silver River weaves Chinese and Western cultures into a magical operatic masterpiece of exquisite beauty. This CMNW co-commisioned contemporary production is conceived by two renowned Asian artists: composer Bright Sheng and librettist and Tony Award-winner David Henry Hwang. The Silver River updates a legendary 5,000-year-old Chinese myth of ill-fated love between a celestial being and a mortal, ultimately interpreting the creation of night and day.
https://cmnw.org/concerts-
Breaking Boundaries: Tango, Jazz, Bluegrass & More
Premieres Monday, July 6 at 7 pm PT, available through Tuesday, July 7 at 11:59 pm PT
Chamber Music Northwest is nationally renowned for expanding the boundaries of chamber music by presenting many musical styles. In this diverse program, you’ll hear Tango, Jazz, Bluegrass, and one of our unique collaborations with Portland contemporary dance company BodyVox performed by the Dover Quartet, Edgar Meyer, and more.
Impressions of France
Premieres Thursday, July 9 at 7 pm PT, available through Friday, July 10 at 11:59 pm PT
Chamber Music’s biggest stars – André Watts, Ida Kavafian, Paul Neubauer, Tara Helen O’Connor, Emerson String Quartet, and more – perform colorful works by great French composers Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Poulenc, and Ravel.
https://cmnw.org/concerts-
CMNW LIVE from Austin: Miró Quartet Beethoven’s Finale
Premieres Saturday, July 11 at 7 pm PT, available through Sunday, July 12 at 11:59 pm PT
In this new exclusive performance from Austin, TX, the Miró Quartet will conclude their year-long cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets with Opus 131 – considered by Beethoven his greatest achievement in the quartet form – and Opus 135 and 130 Finale, his last compositions before his death.
https://cmnw.org/concerts-
Family Concert: Carnival of the Animals
Premieres Monday, July 13 at 10 am PT, available through Sunday, July 19 at 11:59 pm PT
Chamber Music Northwest takes you to the zoo with Saint-Saëns famous The Carnival of the Animals! Enjoy an auditory parade of lions, elephants, kangaroos, and more in this fun, family-friendly performance with entertaining narration by pianist Orion Weiss.
20th Century Masters: Stravinsky, Bartók & Shostakovich
Premieres Monday, July 13 at 7 pm PT, available through Tuesday, July 14 at 11:59 pm PT
Our future Artistic Directors pianist Gloria Chien and violinist Soovin Kim and friends perform masterpieces by Bartók and Shostakovich, followed by Stravinsky’s powerhouse The Rite of Spring for piano four hands performed by pianists Anne-Marie McDermott and Gilles Vonsattel.
Peter Schickele Celebration
Premieres Thursday, July 16 at 7 pm PT, available through Friday, July 17 at 11:59 pm PT
Celebrate the great American composer and humorist Peter Schickele (aka P.D.Q. Bach) on his 85th birthday! Our program will include his acclaimed Spring Ahead clarinet quintet, commissioned and premiered by CMNW in 2014, plus selections of his serious (and silly) music.
https://cmnw.org/concerts-
CMNW LIVE from Boston: Beethoven’s Archduke Trio & More
Premieres Saturday, July 18 at 7 pm PT, available through Sunday, July 19 at 11:59 pm PT
In this new exclusive performance from their hometown of Boston, future Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim, plus cellist Paul Watkins from the Emerson String Quartet, will play Beethoven piano trio masterpieces from his first to his masterful “Archduke Trio.”
https://cmnw.org/concerts-
Family Concert: Marita and Her Heart’s Desire
Premieres Monday, July 20 at 10 am PT, available through Sunday, July 26 at 11:59 pm PT
Written specifically for young audiences new to chamber music, Bruce Adolphe’s Marita and Her Heart’s Desire tells the magical, mysterious, and funny story of a girl who believes the moon can grant her heart’s desire. She sets off to talk to the moon and on her way, she is joined by a clarinet cat, a trombone rat, bassoon dog, and piccolo mouse.
Protégés at the Alberta Rose
Premieres Monday, July 20 at 7 pm PT, available through Tuesday, July 21 at 11:59 pm PT
Discover the next generation of classical music stars in this program of Ravel, Mozart, and Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time performed by Chamber Music Northwest Protégé Project artists and mentors. Chamber Music Northwest’s Protégé Project is a world-class professional residency for emerging professional musicians. Since its founding in 2010, Chamber Music Northwest’s Protégé Project has played a key role in launching the professional careers of dozens of America’s finest young chamber musicians.
https://cmnw.org/concerts-
CMNW LIVE from Nashville: Edgar Meyer & Friends
Premieres Thursday, July 23 at 7 pm PT, available through Friday, July 24 at 11:59 pm PT
In a new exclusive performance from his home in Nashville, Grammy Award-winning bassist and composer Edgar Meyer and his family and friends will treat us to an evening of classical and crossover music, including a world premiere composed by his son and CMNW Protégé George Meyer.
https://cmnw.org/concerts-
Summer Festival Grand Finale!
Premieres Saturday, July 25 at 7 pm PT, available through Sunday, July 26 at 11:59 pm PT
In his final performance as Chamber Music Northwest Artistic Director, David Shifrin will treat us to the world premiere of a new clarinet solo written for him by David Ludwig and revisit great performances of Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C Minor with solos by oboist Allan Vogel and violinist Soovin Kim and more.
https://cmnw.org/concerts-
ABOUT CHAMBER MUSIC NORTHWEST
Now in its 50th 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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