Featuring world-class musicians, pillars of every repertoire alongside new music and an incredible breadth of instruments.
For its 2021/22 Season, Chamber Music Northwest will present a strikingly diverse line-up of eight live concerts at four venues throughout the Portland metro area, with the first five recorded and available online. Chamber Music Northwest's season ahead is one of the most dynamic and diverse year-round seasons yet.
The 2021/22 year-round season includes West Coast and North American engagements exclusive to CMNW, world premieres, and a wide range of chamber music favorites, undiscovered masterpieces, bold new works, and even a dance collaboration with Portland's BodyVox. The concerts will feature far-ranging musical repertoire, 25 internationally acclaimed musicians from around the world, Portland's own BodyVox Contemporary Dance, and showcase a breadth of chamber music instrumentation from strings and piano to horn, voice, reeds, and winds.
Virtuoso musicians include:
- Tchaikovsky Competition winning cellist Zlatomir Fung
- Internationally celebrated czar-of-the-horn Radovan Vlatković
- Renowned German lyric tenor Christoph Prégardien
- CMNW's Artistic Directors - distinguished pianist Gloria Chien and Paganini International Competition winning violinist Soovin Kim
- CMNW Artists-in Residence, the Brentano String Quartet
- Clarinetist David Schifrin with the exceptional Miró Quartet
- Akropolis Reed Quintet and BodyVox presenting the world premiere of NINETEEN • TWENTY at Beaverton's new Patricia Reser Center for the Arts
- The dynamic Imani Winds premiering 3 new works by Pacific Northwest composers
From Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim: "Chamber Music Northwest's joyous return to live music this past summer provided the chance to reflect on what is most meaningful to each of us. Our 2021/22 concert season will bring you that same deep emotional experience by some of the most iconic performers in the world. Audiences will enjoy a wide range of ensembles, from wind quintets and string quartets to vocal and instrumental recitals. This season brings great Classical masterpieces along with world premieres by composers of diverse backgrounds and performed by young stars on the cusp of brilliant careers, as well as legendary American and European artists. In all, Chamber Music Northwest's season offers dynamic and powerful concert experiences in the months ahead!"
8-concert subscription package range: $234-$450
Under 30: $144
4-concert subscription package range: $117-$225
Under 30: $72
5-concert pass: $99
Zlatomir Fung & Mishka Rushdie Momen: Protégé Premiere
Radovan Vlatković: Transcendent Horn Trios
Brentano String Quartet: Tribute to Stravinsky
Jeremy Denk: Bach's Journey of Wonder
Christoph Prégardien & Gloria Chien: Poetry in Performance
Range: $67-$35
Under 30: $20
Senior Rush: $30 (at the door)
Arts 4 All: $5 (advance/at the door)
Chamber Music Northwest will offer the first five concerts as a part of their 2021/22 AT-HOME Season Series. These concerts include: Zlatomir Fung & Mishka Rushdie Momen: Protégé Premiere, Radovan Vlatković: Transcendent Horn Trios, Brentano String Quartet: Tribute to Stravinsky, Jeremy Denk: Bach's Journey of Wonder, and Christoph Prégardien & Gloria Chien: Poetry in Performance. Like the 2021 Summer Festival AT-HOME series, concerts will be professionally recorded by Portland video producer Invisible Harness, and streamed online beginning two weeks after their live concert date, with access on cmnw.org for seven days.
HEALTH & SAFETY
With carefully planned health and safety protocols, CMNW will offer live, limited seating, concerts during the 2021/22 Season. Until circumstances change, CMNW will require proof of full COVID-19 vaccination for concert entry. Face masks are required. Seating is socially distanced. Current venue capacity cap is 50%. No children under age 12 are allowed. CMNW is a member of the Portland Performing Arts Vaccine Coalition.
CMNW's COVID-19 Policy Details
Zlatomir Fung & Mishka Rushdie Momen: Protégé Premiere
Sunday, October 10 @ 4 pm
The Old Church
In his Portland premiere, Oregon-raised 22-year-old cellist Zlatomir Fung - the first American in four decades and youngest musician ever to win First Prize at the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition - launches our 2021/22 season. Fung, the stellar 2021 CMNW Protégé, is praised for his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity and is destined to become one the greatest cellists of this century. The 2021 The Times Breakthrough Award nominee, pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen, joins him for an exciting program of works by Mendelssohn, Perkinson, Bartók, and beyond. Be among the first in the nation to hear this astounding young duo immediately before they make their Carnegie Hall debut!
2021 CMNW Protégé Project Artist
Learn about the musicians:
Concert ProgramMENDELSSOHN Variations Concertantes, Op. 17
SCHUMANN Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70
PERKINSON Lamentations: Black/Folk Song Suite for Solo Cello
BARTÓK Rhapsody for Cello and Piano
FRANCK Sonata for Cello and Piano in A Major
Radovan Vlatković: Transcendent Horn Trios
with Soovin Kim, violin & Gloria Chien, piano
Thursday, November 18 @ 7:30 pm
The Old Church
As one of the most celebrated musicians of the 21st century who seems to speak through his instrument, Radovan Vlatković's performances are enjoyed across the globe as deeply moving and utterly memorable. German newspapers call him "the Croatian messenger of the gods of the valve horn," and say that "under his breath, it unfolds in all subjects." Playing with Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim, the horn with piano and violin will soar and storytell an exquisite evening away into a miraculously beautiful, and very special encounter.
Concert Program
BEETHOVEN Horn Sonata in F major, Op. 17
RAVEL Violin Sonata, No. 2
BRAHMS Horn Trio in E-flat, Op. 40
Brentano String Quartet: Tribute to Stravinsky
Saturday, December 4 @ 7:30 pm
Lincoln Recital Hall, Portland State University
The "fiercely intelligent and expressively pristine" (The New Yorker) Brentano String Quartet, CMNW's 2021-22 Artists-in-Residence, unleash an immersive program in celebration of Stravinsky. Interlacing the legendary 20th century composer's compositions with poetry and works from his contemporaries, acolytes, and influences, go on a journey deep into the world of Stravinsky including 16th century madrigals and Beethoven's epic final quartet with its wild, kaleidoscopic finale that could almost be mistaken for Stravinsky himself.
2021/22 Artists-in-Residence
Learn about the musicians:
Concert Program
John Cage from Quartet in Four Parts: Quietly Flowing Along
STRAVINSKY Concertino for String Quartet
John Cage from Quartet in Four Parts: Quodlibet
MACHAUT Quant en moy, MVT I
STRAVINSKY Three Pieces for String Quartet, MVT I
SHOSTAKOVICH Two pieces for String Quartet
STRAVINSKY Three Pieces for String Quartet, MVT II.
VERDI Ave Maria from Quattro pezzi sacri
STRAVINSKY Three Pieces for String Quartet, Movement III
STRAVINSKY Anthem: The Dove Descending Breaks the Air
GESUALDO Three Madrigals
BEETHOVEN String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135
With AMY LOWELL'S poetry from Stravinsky's Three Pieces Grotesques for String Quartet
Jeremy Denk: Bach's Journey of Wonder
Thursday, February 10 - 7:30 pm
The Old Church
MacArthur Foundation 'Genius Grant' fellow Jeremy Denk is "a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs, in whatever combination" (The New York Times). One of America's foremost pianists, who possesses a "profound affinity with Bach" (The New York Times), Denk takes on Bach's mesmerizing The Well-Tempered Clavier - one of his most beautiful and difficult works. This revered masterpiece, deemed the crowning jewel of the Baroque era, strolls and stretches its preludes and fugues across every key signature possible. A feat of passion, prowess and joy of expression, you will be swept away on a sonic journey of mood, interpretation and imagination.
Concert Program
BACH The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 BWV 846-869
Christoph Prégardien & Gloria Chien: Poetry in Performance
Thursday, February 24 @ 7:30 pm
The Old Church
Christoph Prégardien, one of the world's greatest lyric tenors, treats Portland to a rare United States performance! Prégardien's "plaintive beauty and piercing insight" (The New York Times) make him a preeminent interpreter of German Lieder, art songs for voice and piano inspired by poetry. Internationally renowned as a superb musical storyteller, Prégardien will evoke the love and loss that is at the heart of some of the greatest romantic songs by Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann. Joined by Artistic Director Gloria Chien on piano, Prégardien will unfurl a magnificent aural poetry experience.
Concert Program
BEETHOVEN Adelaide
SCHUBERT selections from Schwanengesang
SCHUMANN Dichterliebe
Akropolis Reed Quintet & BodyVox: NINETEEN • TWENTY
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, March 17, 18, 19 @ 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 19 @ 2 pm
Patricia Reser Center for the Arts
The Akropolis Reed Quintet, hailed for their "imagination, infallible musicality, and huge vitality" (Fanfare Magazine), and Portland's own BodyVox contemporary dance company will team up again to with NINETEEN • TWENTY, originally set to premiere in March 2020. A celebration of the music and dance of the roaring '20s, NINETEEN • TWENTY will be the sixth collaboration between Chamber Music Northwest and BodyVox combining Chamber Music Northwest's world-class music and BodyVox's unique athleticism, humor, and rich imagery. Experience this long-awaited premiere as one of the very first performances in Beaverton's stunning new Reser Center for the Arts!
Co-presented with BodyVox
David Shifrin & Miró Quartet: Rendezvous with Benny
Sunday, April 3 @ 4 pm
The Old Church
Join CMNW Artistic Director Emeritus and clarinetist-supreme David Shifrin with the dynamic Miró Quartet for a celebration of classical and jazz clarinet legend that pay tribute to the chamber music contributions of the "King of Swing." Featuring the world premiere of David Schiff's Homage to Benny, Alan Shulman's Rendezvous, Peter Schickle's captivating Spring Forward (commissioned and premiered by CMNW in 2016), Mozart's sublime masterpiece, the clarinet magic of David Shifrin, and the delightful Miró Quartet, expect gorgeous grooves and irresistible interplay as this fivesome makes joyful noise at The Old Church.
Concert Program
Alan Shulman Rendezvous for Clarinet and Strings
DAVID SCHIFF Homage to Benny* (2021) World Premiere
Peter Schickele Spring Forward* (2015)
MOZART Clarinet Quintet
*CMNW commissions
A "Rendezvous with Benny" is an extension of the Miró's Archive Project and will celebrate the artistry of Benny Goodman centered particularly on the relationship between Benny and the Budapest Quartet. The Mozart Quintet is a nod to Benny and the Budapest Quartet who recorded that work in the '50s.
Imani Winds: We Cannot Walk Alone
Thursday, April 28 @ 7:30 pm
Alberta Rose Theatre
This unforgettable evening will include the world premieres of three works that offer new perspectives into our region's history and new hope for our region's future. Hailed as "dazzling" and "exhilarating" by The Washington Post, the CMNW favorites and Grammy-nominated Imani Winds return to Chamber Music Northwest after their 2017/18 residency. Known for their dynamic playing, adventurous programming, and imaginative collaborations, the Imani Winds will premiere We Cannot Walk Alone - a groundbreaking collaboration between Chamber Music Northwest, Ashland's Anima Mundi, and Eugene's Oregon Bach Festival exploring the lived experiences of diverse composers of the Pacific Northwest.
Co-Commissioned and premiered in collaboration with Ashland's Anima Mundi and the Oregon Bach Festival
Concert Program includes world premieres by:
DAMIEN GETER (Oregon)
MIGUEL DEL AGUILA (Washington)
YUAN-CHEN LI (Oregon)
with additional works selected by the Imani Winds
Learn more at the CHAMBER MUSIC NORTHWEST WEBSITE.
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