Present inspiring chamber music in Portland OR

Early plans for our 4th Protege Project during the 2013 Summer Festival are coming together.  We will bring an emerging young string quartet, recent graduates of a top conservatory.  Look for the name of the ensemble to be revealed in a future update.  We'll also bring a pianist and several wind players.  The Protege Project will continue our popular club concerts with 3-4 shows in alternative venues around the city like the Doug Fir, Someday Lounge, and Alberta Rose Theater.  Proteges will also lead workshops for local music students and perform in a number of free community outreach concerts.  We look forward to sharing more with you as plans develop over the next few months!

Links:

• Overview of Protege musicians at 2012 Summer Festival

2012 Protégé Project

In our 42nd annual summer festival, we celebrated the third year of our exciting Protégé Project, presenting dynamic concerts to many sellout crowds. Designed as a training, performance and outreach program for outstanding young emerging artists, we invited 10 young musicians in their mid-20s to be in residence during the five-week festival. They were mentored and coached by CMNW festival artists, performed with their older colleagues on the CMNW stage, and presented their own “Club Concerts” in alternative venues. The Protégés also coached Portland-area music students at local summer music camps, performed at retirement communities, and presented other free CMNW summer outreach events.

 The 2012 Protégé Project featured the Amphion String Quartet and additional instrumentalists, from piano and percussion to bass and trombone.  This year for the first time, we incorporated a Protege composer, Oregon's own Katerina Kramarchuk.  We also offered the musicians opportunities to perform in new combinations throughout the festival.  The Protégés performed three Wednesday night “club concerts” in alternative venues such as the Doug Fir Lounge and Alberta Rose Theater, a series of intimate and informal events for audiences of around 200. At the Alberta Rose Theater, we had a near capacity crowd of over 300.  The Protégés also performed many free outreach concerts around Portland, including at retirement communities and a downtown noon concert at the Oregon Historical Society. A highlight of the season was our joint series with BodyVox, combining live music and dance to create a memorable show for three sellout crowds at PSU's Lincoln Hall. 

 We are grateful for the support through Global Giving which helped us continue and expand this exciting new program. 

Links:

• Review of 2012 Protege concerts