Events at this location

Inspired by Bach’s 1723 move to Leipzig, the “imaginative and spontaneous” (The New York Times) Jos van Veldhoven leads the Oregon Bach Festival Period Orchestra and Chamber Chorus through a Baroque-era musical journey. Beginning with movements from Telemann’s celebratory nautical oratorio “Hamburg Admiralty Music,” the program includes cantatas from Graupner and Bach, and concludes with the joyous and transformative Bach Magnificat.

On this program of four master composers of song, Metropolitan Opera star soprano Susanna Phillips performs works by Franz Schubert and William Bolcom that feature instrumental virtuosity as well. Bolcom’s moving song cycle, Let Evening Come, is set to poems by Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson, and Jane Kenyon. Schubert’s The Shepherd on the Rock and Johannes Brahms’s dramatic trio, two of the greatest clarinet chamber masterpieces, are given voice by legendary CMNW Artistic Director Emeritus David Shifrin.

Hailed by Time Magazine as “America’s Greatest Quartet,” the nine-time Grammy Award-winning Emerson Quartet graces CMNW’s stage one last time in their farewell season. This not-to-be-missed evening features the full span of the Emerson’s signature musical mastery: a West Coast premiere by Sarah Kirkland Snider, a thrilling Bartók quartet from their first Grammy recording, and a momentous final collaboration with the equally lauded clarinetist David Shifrin, in Brahms’s last and perhaps greatest chamber ensemble work.

The Emerson Quartet’s powerful tone, extraordinary exploration of repertoire, and longevity have made it the most acclaimed chamber ensemble in the world. After 17 appearances over a span of 30 years, this is their final unforgettable performance at Chamber Music Northwest. There is no better grand finale than Beethoven’s cathartic Opus 131 quartet, one of the most transcendent pieces in music history. CMNW Artistic Director Gloria Chien salutes and celebrates the Emersons, joining them in Robert Schumann’s irrepressibly joyous piano quintet.

Three years in the making, be among the first to hear the exciting West Coast debut of this powerhouse composer collective and stunning ensemble of performers. CMNW favorites, flutist Valerie Coleman, violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama, and harpist Han Lash came together to create umama womama, a unique three-composer trio, to help us celebrate our 50th anniversary season. Postponed by the pandemic, this incredible trio of beloved musicians and their music will finally be unleashed!

Our festival finale is an exciting celebration of the vitality of American music from the turn of the 20th century until today: native and folk influences in Antonín Dvořák, New England church hymns and popular tunes in Charles Ives, traditional Romanticism in Amy Beach, and modern-day lyricism in Chris Rogerson. The sensational Fleur Barron, who opened the festival, returns to close the summer in a beautiful world premiere work by Rogerson, and the dynamic South African pianist Anton Nel makes his CMNW debut in Beach’s ravishing Piano Quintet.

Our festival finale is an exciting celebration of the vitality of American music from the turn of the 20th century until today: native and folk influences in Antonín Dvořák, New England church hymns and popular tunes in Charles Ives, traditional Romanticism in Amy Beach, and modern-day lyricism in Chris Rogerson. The sensational Fleur Barron, who opened the festival, returns to close the summer in a beautiful world premiere work by Rogerson, and the dynamic South African pianist Anton Nel makes his CMNW debut in Beach’s ravishing Piano Quintet.