Chamber Music Northwest’s (CMNW) five-week 2023 Summer Festival “Poetry in Music” kicked off at the end of June and continues through Saturday, July 29. More than 70 of the finest chamber musicians from our region and the world–from string and saxophone quartets to Pierrot and Renaissance ensembles, to renowned instrumental and vocal soloists–will perform at citywide venues. Some of the musical selections feature lyrical themes, others are thoroughly classical chamber music, while others focus on new music by some of today’s greatest living composers incorporating historical, cultural and textural story. Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim have created a festival celebrating the confluence of poetry and music, with artists and repertoire carefully curated with an eye toward the poetry in chamber music.
Experience some of CMNW for free with open rehearsals and prelude performances on the Reed College campus. Open rehearsals allow attendees to go behind the scenes and observe as CMNW’s world-class musicians put the finishing touches on music for upcoming performances and take place Wednesdays at 11 am with an informal Q&A following the rehearsal. Prelude performances take place Saturdays at 7 pm and are short performances performed by local students and CMNW’s Young Artist Institute musicians.
Concerts taking place at Reed College include “Celebrating the Emerson Quartet with David Shifrin” Thursday, July 6; “Emerson Quartet Farewell with Gloria Chien” Saturday, July 8; “umama women: Coleman, Lash & Ngwenyama” Monday, July 10; “UNCOVERED Voices” Saturday, July 15; David Ludwig’s “The Anchoress” Monday, July 17; “Viennese Revolutionaries” Saturday, July 22; “Voices of the Soul featuring Fred Child” Monday, July 24; and the Festival Finale, “American Masterworks” Saturday, July 29. All of these performances are at 8 pm and ticket prices range $10-62.50.
Their AT-HOME series continues this year with five of the live festival concerts professionally recorded and streamed online, premiering weekly starting July 8 and available for viewing through August 31. For additional details, including how to stream the AT-HOME concerts, and to purchase tickets to one or multiple performances, visit CMNW.org.