By Leslie Tuomi | Development Director
Now in their third year as Artistic Directors, Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim are fulfilling their deep commitment to music education and serving the next generation of audiences, collaborating with other art forms and arts organizations, and enhancing equity and inclusion.
The knowledge, energy and excitement around our education and community programming is palpable, and programs are burgeoning after the long hiatus forced by pandemic conditions. Our fulltime, highly skilled Education and Community Programs Manager, Lauren Watt, is charged with implementing these programs, with the guidance of our Education/Community Engagement (ECE) Committee, chaired by board member Yoko Greeney. In the past year, CMNW organized 56 ECE events utilizing our artists and artistic directors, which included:
This year’s programs include:
Artists-in-Residence
The Catalyst Quartet, our 2023 Artists-in-Residence, will offer multiple residency activities during their April visit, and will continue those activities when they return in the summer and fall. They are known for their “Uncovered” project, performing and recording works by composers who have been overlooked by history. Their current program focuses on women composers, and they will undoubtedly bring material from that research into their residency activities.
Anderson Sasaki Duo Residency
2023 marks the second year of a 3-year residency by Portland native violinist Becky Anderson and pianist Mika Sasaki. In 2021-22 they worked with eight community organizations throughout the year: St. Mary’s Home for Boys, PHAME, Our House of Portland, p:ear, Blanchet House, Mary’s Woods, Mirabella, and Reynolds Middle School. Their engagement began with multiple virtual contacts, including pre-recorded “Musical Postcards”, which led up to their first in-person residency in May, 2022. They are building upon those relationships in 2023, and will return in May for in-person visits with each of their partners. They will also perform a free community concert in outer southeast Portland.
Young Artist Institute
The 2022 launch of our Young Artist Institute was an outstanding success from all aspects. We look forward to the second year of this pilot program, which will bring 16 talented string musicians, ages 14-17, for a three-week intensive chamber music training program that gives them a unique experience preparing them for a career in music. In addition to studying solo literature, the students are coached on ensemble performance, and given multiple opportunities to perform, both in Prelude performances prior to CMNW summer concerts, and for our community partners and in “pop-up” performances throughout the Portland metro region. Our Institute faculty includes four string instructors (who also serve as festival artists) and two collaborative pianists.
The Protégé Project, for artists in the early stages of their professional careers, offers mentor-ship from our festival artists and extensive performance opportunities. The Protégés, in turn, coach local students and participate in a wide variety of education and community activities.
Prelude Concerts
We will continue our Prelude concert series, which showcases talented youth instrumental ensembles in performances prior to the Summer Festival concerts. Last year’s Prelude performances were held in Kaul Auditorium at Reed College and in the lobby of the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton. These free performances were highly professional and deeply appreciated by both CMNW audience members and others who came just for the Prelude performance. Students from our Young Artist Institute gave Prelude performances during the first two weeks of the festival, followed by ensembles from local youth orchestras, colleges and high school ensembles.
Master Classes
Our festival musicians are not only consummate performing artists, but many are also distinguished faculty of our country’s most respected music conservatories and universities. They will conduct master classes in which they listen to a student musician and coach them on their technique, musical style, choice of repertoire and myriad other aspects of playing their instrument. Master Classes are offered free to both the participating students and observers. These classes are recorded and edited, then (with the agreement of the participants) posted on our website as part of our online Education Resource Library. Currently our library includes the following master classes:
Cello – Zlatomir Fung
Clarinet - David Shifrin
Flute – Tara Helen O’Connor
Guitar – Jason Vieaux
Viola – Ettore Causa
Violin – Benjamin Beilman
Violin – Soovin Kim
Voice – Christoph Prégardien
Poetry in Music
A theme woven throughout the Summer Festival is Poetry in Music. Activities will include the west coast premiere of David Ludwig’s The Anchoress for soprano Hyunah Yu, Kenari (saxophone) Quartet and Renaissance consort, panel discussions with Oregon poets and composers, and other programming that demonstrates the powerful connection between music and poetry. We are excited about the youth component: we will commission a student composer from Fear No Music’s Young Composers program to write a work based on a poem written by one of Literary Arts’ Young Poets, to be performed by students from Chamber Music Northwest’s Young Artist Institute!
We also offer Open Rehearsals, in which attendees can witness how musicians work together (usually without a conductor) to prepare and refine their performance. After the rehearsals, musicians stay for Q & A with attendees. Musical Conversations are offered either live or online as discussions of upcoming programs to give audiences insights into the programming. Many of our Musical Conversations are also recorded and available online as part of our Education Resource Library.
Community Concerts
We strive to meet audiences where they are –not just where we are. Throughout the summer, CMNW will present FREE concerts in every corner of our region, including parks, hospitals, community centers and even food carts, utilizing the new “SoundsTruck” portable stage.
We thank our GlobalGiving donors for helping us share music and education programs with our audiences both here in Oregon and through the internet.
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