Present inspiring chamber music in Portland OR

Our second annual Winter Festival took place from January 27 through February 1, and it was incredible!  It was a week filled with amazing experiences and brilliant music: five concerts in different venues, three pre-concert performances by Portland Youth Philharmonic chamber ensembles, pre-concert talks, an open rehearsal, coaching sessions with young music students, and more – and you helped make it happen.

Here are just a few highlights from the action-packed week:

• 1,423 people attended the five concerts of the Winter Festival, held at various venues throughout Portland.
• The award-winning Dover Quartet visited a music history class at Reed College, where they discussed and demonstrated passages of the Beethoven String Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 407 for 22 students.
• Peter Wiley, cellist, joined the Dover Quartet for a performance of Schubert’s Cello Quintet at All Classical 89.9 FM live on the air and for a studio audience of 47 people.
• 34 people of all ages enjoyed an open rehearsal of the Bartok String Quartet No. 6, rehearsed by the Dover Quartet

And our biggest educational partnership of the Festival: Festival Artists violinist Ida Kavafian, violist Steve Tenenbom, and clarinetist David Shifrin coached chamber ensembles from the Portland Youth Philharmonic. These PYP ensembles then performed prior to each of CMNW’s main-stage concerts during the Winter Festival. The students had an incredible experience:

“Thank you so much for allowing us to learn from, and perform for you. There are few better ways to improve as a chamber player than from actual chamber players, and I feel like we learned a great deal from the coaching we were given.” – Brian Swihart (PYP student since 2012)

“… Working with Ms. Kavafian was unforgettable; the insights that she shared with us were invaluable and deeply memorable. She knew so much about the piece and everything she suggested took an immediate beneficial effect. I cannot thank you enough for allowing us to learn from such an esteemed individual.

I sincerely hope that this partnership between PYP and CMNW will continue to grow and flourish. Ms. Kavafian’s musical ideas made our performance on Sunday infinitely more powerful, and watching the audience give us a standing ovation was a moment of great joy. I hope many more musicians will also be able to experience something similar through future collaborations.” – Fumika Mizuno, violin (PYP student since 2008)

These kinds of programs will continue this spring when the Amphion String Quartet visits for a week-long residency in late May. They will be visiting schools, coaching ensembles from Portland Youth Philharmonic, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, and Portland State University, visting Bravo! Youth Orchestra, and more.

Thank you for all your support in making these programs possible, and for being a valuable partner in creating great chamber music experiences for our community!

Links:

• Amphion String Quartet - ensemble-in-residence late May 2015
• About Portland Youth Philharmonic and their Camerata program
• "CMNW review: Urban Energy" - Oregon Arts Watch, 22 Feb 2015

• Thank You Letter from PYP Ensembles (PDF)