Events at this location

MAPLE & SPRUCE, BIRCH & PINE: Described as displaying “brilliance of sound, technical mastery, and stunning expressivity” by I CARE IF YOU LISTEN, NYC-based violin duo Miolina (Mioi Takeda & Lynn Bechtold) comes to Portland to perform a concert of new and recent works by living Nordic composers. The concert presents new works written for Miolina by Finnish composer Tomi Räisänen, Swedish composers Mansoor Hosseini and Mauro Godoy Villalobos, and Ms. Bechtold. Other featured works, all receiving their Portland premieres, are by Norwegian composer Ketil Hvoslef, and Swedish composers Cecilia Franke, Katarina Leyman, Catharina Palmer, and Paula af Malmborg Ward. Join us for Miolina’s Portland debut!

General Admission: $30; Nordic Northwest Members: $20; Youth: $10; Arts for All: $5

Join Bridge City 4 for an intimate evening of exquisite Nordic folk music. The program will feature haunting melodies and exciting rhythms from Norway, Denmark and Sweden as well as reimagining of ancient traditional and ceremonial songs.

Bridge City 4 is a Portland-based multi-stylistic string quartet founded in 2017, The quartet is composed of violinists Greg Ewer and Ling Ling Huang, violist Kim Mai Nguyen, and cellist Avery Waite. Excited by musical possibilities beyond the standard string quartet repertoire, Bridge City Four hopes to reinvigorate the string quartet medium through cross-genre explorations and inventive programming.

About the Musicians:

Greg Ewer, hailed by The New York Times for his “refinement and spirit,” has been a member of the Oregon Symphony since 2001. Greg is also well known to Portland audiences for his regular appearances with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Third Angle New Music Ensemble, and Pink Martini. He is also the founder and artistic director of 45thParallel, a highly acclaimed chamber music series founded in 2009, featuring musicians of the Pacific Northwest. In addition to his performing activities, Greg is on the music faculty of Reed College in Portland.

Ling Ling Huang started violin at the age of 4 with her mother, Lilan Z. Huang. She continued studying violin with Fredell Lack until her admission to the Cleveland Institute of Music at the age of 15. Ms. Huang performed the Britten Violin Concerto with the Shepherd School Symphony after winning the Competition at Rice University. Her Artist Diploma projects included recitals of all ten Beethoven Sonatas for Violin and Piano and the Beethoven Violin Concerto and partnerships with shelters in Houston to bring music to people experiencing homelessness. Ling Ling is also a writer and her debut novel, Natural Beauty, will be published in Spring 2023.

Born in France, Kim Mai Nguyen is a Juilliard-trained violist, music educator, and arts advocate. She is a dynamic and charismatic musician who plays everything from Baroque to contemporary; she also explores music from cultures around the world, and has performed and taught in Afghanistan, Belize, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, Iraq, Jamaica, Lebanon, Prague,Vietnam, and the United States. Kim Mai brings her love of education, community activism, and cultural diplomacy to numerous projects worldwide. She has co-directed orchestra workshops in Lebanon and Iraq with American Music Abroad, a U.S. State Department-sponsored organization providing cultural exchanges through the arts. She also joined the staff of MusAid, a non-profit that provides musical institutions in under-resourced parts of the world with volunteer music teachers, donated instruments, and materials. Kim Mai plays with the Portland Baroque Orchestra and the Oregon Symphony.

A graduate of The Juilliard School and Oberlin Conservatory, American cellist Avery Waite is an accomplished cellist and performer. Avery has appeared in venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and Alice Tully Hall, and has performed alongside many renowned artists including Itzhak Perlman. Recent appearances include a guest performance for President Barack Obama in Nairobi, and a solo performance of the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra. Fascinated by the possibilities of using music as a tool for social impact and cultural exchange, he has performed and taught music all over the world.

Accessibility:
Nordia House has two accessible parking spots in our main lot facing SW Oleson Rd. Both the main entrance facing SW Oleson Rd. and our side entrance facing SW Taylors Ferry Rd. are wheelchair accessible. All restrooms have accessible stalls but no power doors. We will do our best to accommodate your needs upon arrival. Please call 503-977-0275 or email info@nordicnorthwest.org to arrange further assistance.