four people standing in front of a black background

John Pitman Review: “Babel” Speaks Clearly Through the Language of Music

Program Director John Pitman discusses the second release by the Calidore String Quartet, which contemplates the intersection of music and language. Violinist Estelle Choi, one of the four founding members of Calidore, shares how “the desire to explore the innate human drive for communication,” became the focus of their new recording. Choi describes the inspiration for Three Essays by Caroline Shaw, Robert Schumann’s String Quartet No. 3, and String Quartet No. 9 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

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A Classical Playlist for Oregon’s Beloved Landmarks

Over the centuries, composers have attempted to capture their natural surroundings in music, from the bucolic imagery of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony to the vast prairies evoked by Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land. Oregon is lucky to boast a fortune of natural grandeur as rich and wide-ranging as this tradition, with splendors from the temperate rainforests of the Coast Range to the barren lava beds of Southern Oregon. In celebration of these beautiful and varied landscapes, All Classical’s Suzanne Nance created a playlist that takes you on a sonic tour through seven of Oregon’s most beloved spots, with musical selections inspired by these incredible places.

Visit the playlist at: Wander with Wonder

Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim

A Playlist of Chamber Music by Women

This playlist will take you on a whirlwind tour of chamber music by women, with appearances from a few of the brilliant composers who have contributed to the genre. We’ll start with some of the earliest chamber music by women, then travel toward the present day! Along the way, we’ll meet composers from many cultures and diverse heritages, hailing from Italy, Venezuela, France, China, Germany, England, and the United States.

Check out our Spotify playlist to hear these pieces in their entirety.

PAINTING IIN BLUE

John Pitman Review: Osvaldo Golijov on “Falling Out of Time”

John interviews composer Osvaldo Golijov about the new album that features the Silkroad Ensemble. Falling Out of Time, which was written for the ensemble by longtime collaborator/composer Osvaldo Golijov, is an 80-minute tone poem based on David Grossman’s novel about parental grief and loss. In John’s interview with the composer, Mr. Golijov likened it to the dark, late works of Goya and Rembrandt. Falling Out of Time includes 13 tracks featuring 13 members of the Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble, and is a Silkroad Ensemble commissioned work.

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adam eccleston

Current.org highlights the Recording Inclusivity Initiative

All Classical Portland’s Recording Inclusivity Initiative was recently featured on Current.org, in interview with President & CEO Suzanne Nance. Read the full article, and learn more about Recording Inclusivity Initiative.

“I know that many are committed to diversifying America’s playlists, and we can do it. We don’t have to wait.” – Suzanne Nance, President & CEO, All Classical Portland

Celebrating Black Voices in Classical Music

All Classical Portland celebrates the music of Black composers and artists year-round, and this month, we invite you to join us as we take a closer look at the contributions that Black composers and musicians have made to classical music. Let’s meet a few of the artists whose music you’ll hear on the air this month, and year round on All Classical Portland.

Listen online or through our mobile app!

Christmas Painting

The Stories of Twelve Carols: 2020 Edition

As we look forward to this year’s Festival of Carols on All Classical Portland, it’s time to again share the stories of twelve famous carols! Our Program Director, John Pitman, has chosen a lovely selection of twelve carols for us to explore this year, and as All Classical’s Music Researcher, it’s been my mission to track down their origins, following the trails of Renaissance dance tunes, Valencian shepherds, plays by Molière, and sixteenth-century English tailors. Enjoy the journey! 

Check out last year’s edition of The Story of Twelve Carols! 

Be sure to tune in to our annual Festival of Carols: five full days of carols from December 21 – 25. Listen at 89.9 FM in Portland, or anywhere at allclassical.org 

Check out our Spotify playlist inspired by this list, with a similar lineup of music.

Doreen Ketchens playing her clarinet boldly

Six Black Clarinetists To Know

The clarinet is one of the most ubiquitous and versatile instruments, has a wide range of natural habitats, from singing out through the symphony to famous jazz tunes. Our modern family of clarinets can be traced as far back as 1690 to a man named Johann Christoph Denner. At that time, there was another instrument already in existence called the chalumeau, which produced a lovely sound in lower registers, but could not match the rich sound of the clarinet in the wide range of sound it produces. In this article we focus on Black clarinetists without whom our musical world would not be the same.

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