(Photo courtesy of CMNW)
Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW) is proud to present Dover Quartet for a concert featuring string quartets by Mendelssohn and Dvořák, and a much-anticipated new work by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate at 7:30pm on Saturday, November 23 at The Old Church.
For this concert, violinist Jonathan Ong will join Dover Quartet members Bryan Lee (violin), Julianne Lee (viola), and Camden Shaw (cello). Ong is the first violinist of the renowned Verona Quartet (CMNW’s 2018 Protégé Project Ensemble) who will be stepping in for Dover violinist Joel Link, who cannot perform in this concert due to unforeseen circumstances. CMNW is thrilled to bring together two of their finest Protégé alumni ensembles for this special concert.
Concert Description
Since their summer at CMNW as our 2013 Protégé Ensemble, the dynamic precision and power of the two-time Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet has made them one of the world’s most lauded chamber ensembles. After being named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine, the Dovers return to Portland for the first time since 2021. We will take in their masterful performances of Mendelssohn and Dvořák string quartets, as well as the Pacific Northwest Premiere of a new CMNW co-commissioned work by Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, written especially for them. This is a not-to-be-missed, rare opportunity to experience the Dover Quartet!
Presented in collaboration with Oregon Bach Festival.
Dover Quartet is represented by Curtis Artist Management at Curtis Institute of Music.
From Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim: “The Dover Quartet made their stunning Portland debut as CMNW Protégés in 2013, and they went on to have the biggest career of any young string quartet in the world over the last decade. We are particularly proud of them because we taught some of the individual members when they were teenagers. We welcome them back for an exciting Portland homecoming with their program of strong American roots including a CMNW co-commission by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and Dvořák’s beloved ‘American’ Quartet.”
CONCERT PROGRAM
JEROD IMPICHCHAACHAAHA’ TATE Abokkoli’ Taloowa’ (Woodland Songs)*
FELIX MENDELSSOHN String Quartet No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 44, No. 2
ANTONIN DVOŘÁK String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 (“American”)
*CMNW Co-Commission • Pacific Northwest Premiere
Musicians
Joel Link, violin*
Bryan Lee, violin
Julianne Lee, viola
Camden Shaw, cello
*Jonathan Ong—first violinist of the renowned Verona Quartet—will join the Dover Quartet for this concert. Jonathan will be stepping in for Dover violinist Joel Link, who cannot perform in this concert due to unforeseen circumstances.
ABOUT CMNW’s Co-Commission & Pacific Northwest Premiere:
Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate wrote Abokkoli’ Taloowa’ (Woodland Songs) for Dover Quartet due to a commission by these 12 co-commissioners: Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, Carnegie Hall, Chamber Music Houston, Chamber Music Northwest, Chamber Music Pittsburgh, Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, Friends of Chamber Music (Denver), Kingston Chamber Music Festival,
Northwestern University, Bienen School of Music, and Shriver Hall Concert Series. Tate’s new work, performed by Dover Quartet, is on tour to these co-commissioners now.
Abokkoli’ Taloowa’ (Woodland Songs) (20’)
I. Fani’ (Squirrel)
II. Foshi’ (Bird)
III. Issi’ (Deer)
IV. Nanni’ (Fish)
V. Shawi’ (Raccoon)
Abokkoli’ Taloowa’ (Woodland Songs), commissioned for Dover Quartet, is a modern Chickasaw composition about woodland animals from the Southeastern homelands. Tate says, “Our traditional woodland animals are so revered that our family clans are named after them. My family is Shawi’ Iksa’, Raccoon Clan. Each woodland animal has a special ethos and there are many traditional stories about them. In this work, five woodland animals are represented: Squirrel, Bird, Deer, Fish, and Raccoon. Each movement is like an epitome—a deep, dramatic and rhapsodic expression of my feelings of being a Chickasaw man from a beautiful and robust culture. I love our animals and I love composing works about them.”
“The overall impression of Woodland Songs is one of restless excitement, rhythmic complexity, and unfamiliar sounds produced by unusual ways of playing the instruments. Repeated patterns (ostinati) abound, tremolos are used to build dynamics, unison playing appears, as does the hollow sound of open strings, and complex bitonal chords are created by double and triple stops.” — EarRelevant
Read full Abokkoli’ Taloowa’ (Woodland Songs) REVIEW
About Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate
Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate is a classical composer and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, dedicated to the development of American Indian classical composition. The Washington Post raved that “Tate is rare as an American Indian composer of classical music. Rarer still is his ability to effectively infuse classical music with American Indian nationalism.” He is a 2022 Chickasaw Hall of Fame inductee and a 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient from The Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2021, he was appointed a Cultural Ambassador for the U. S. Department of State.
Learn More about the Musicians & Concert Details on CMNW’s Website
Chamber Music Northwest 2024/25 SEASON
Subscription Packages
Subscription Packages: $105-$405
40 & Under: $60-$120
18 & Under: $30-$60
Flex Pass (5 tickets): $175-$337.50
40 & Under: $100
18 & Under: $50
SINGLE TICKETS
Range: $35-$67.50
40 & Under: $20
18 & Under: $10
DISCOUNT PRICED TICKETS
Senior Rush: $30 (at the door)
Arts Industry Rush: $20 (at the door)
Arts for All: $5 (advance/at the door)
KEY LINKS
MEDIA PHOTOS
HERE — Additional artist/ensemble photos available upon request.
2024/25 Season Highlights
- Preeminent leaders of American chamber music David Finckel & Wu Han
- —The Old Church, Thursday, February 6 @ 7:30 pm
- Europe’s most acclaimed and prestigious ensemble, the superb Hagen Quartet
- —The Old Church, Thursday, February 27 @ 7:30 pm
- Electrifying violinist Soovin Kim scaling a violinist’s Everest with Bach’s Complete Solo Violin sonatas and partitas over two separate concerts
- —The Old Church, Thursday, April 3 & Saturday, April 5 @ 7:30 pm
- Special Event: A celebration of Japanese-American heritage featuring actor, author, and activist George Takei’s My Lost Freedom, with music by Kenji Bunch & Andy Akiho. This event is neither a part of CMNW’s regular season, nor currently on sale.
- —Portland Japanese Garden, Saturday, May 31 @ 7:00 pm
UPCOMING 2024/25 CONCERTS
CELLO + PIANO
David Finckel & Wu Han: Russian Revelry
A DUO OF THE MOST ESTEEMED CLASSICAL MUSICIANS IN THE WORLD
Thursday, February 6 • 7:30 pm
The Old Church Concert Hall
When it comes to the greatest chamber musician pairings, few can hold a candle to the incomparable powerhouse duo of the esteemed cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han! Indefatigable titans of American chamber music as the artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2004, and Music@Menlo founders and artistic directors since 2002, this irrepressible husband and wife team (like our own artistic directors) are rock stars of the chamber music world. Their exquisite lyricism, superb virtuosity, theatrical flair, and musical insight will make for an evening of simply unforgettable mid-century Russian music.
“There was a sense of absolute certainty in the way cellist and pianist completed each other’s sentences, yet their long familiarity with each other’s musical responses did not rob their performances of freshness, spontaneity or directness…this was deep, life-giving music. The playing of both was polished, even breathtakingly virtuosic.”
— Chicago Tribune
Concert Program
NIKOLAI MYASKOVSKY Cello Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 81
SERGEI PROKOFIEV Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSICIANS & CONCERT DETAILS
STRING QUARTET
Hagen Quartet: Pinnacle of Musicality
VENERATED AUSTRIAN STRING QUARTET COMES TO PORTLAND
Thursday, February 27 • 7:30 pm
The Old Church Concert Hall
Like American 21st century superstars, the Emerson Quartet, Europe’s Hagen Quartet has attained an unparalleled position among the finest chamber ensembles in the world. Declared “the pinnacle of musicality” (Die Presse) their European preeminence is resolute. Comprised of siblings Lukas, Veronika, and Clemens Hagen, with violinist Rainer Schmidt, this four-decades-strong Austrian sensation has performed throughout the world and amassed a storied discography of nearly 50 acclaimed recordings. For those who love the best-of-the-best, you’ll not want to miss one of the greatest string quartets of our time in this rare U.S. appearance, right here in Portland!
“One of the finest quartets of our time…”
— The Washington Post
“After more than four decades of collaboration between its members, the Hagen Quartet truly sounded like a single musician with eight arms and four bows.”
— Seen and Heard International
Concert Program
HAYDN String Quartet in A Major, Hob. III:60, Op. 55, No. 1
HAYDN String Quartet in B-flat Major, Hob. III:62, Op. 55, No. 3
R. SCHUMANN String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41, No. 3
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSICIANS & CONCERT DETAILS
SOLO VIOLIN
Soovin Kim: Bach’s Complete Solo Sonatas & Partitas
TWO CONCERT EVENINGS OF INCREDIBLE SOLO VIOLIN WORKS
Part 1: Thursday, April 3 • 7:30 pm
Part 2: Saturday, April 5 • 7:30 pm
The Old Church Concert Hall
CMNW Artistic Director Soovin Kim will perform the Mount Everest for a violinist: Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, over two concert evenings.
When the world shut down in 2020, one of the first musicians in the nation to step onto a stage to share desperately needed music with the world was our own artistic director, acclaimed violinist Soovin Kim. CMNW streamed his monumental performance of Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin from Massachusetts’s majestic Jordan Hall for thousands of home-bound viewers. Now, it is finally our honor and privilege to have him perform them LIVE! This will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a marathon performance over two concert evenings, of some of Bach’s most moving works…and by CMNW’s own violinist extraordinaire.
“Whenever Kim plays, the music climbs another level.”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
Bach’s Tremendous Technique & Style | Part 1
This first concert includes Bach’s spirited Partita No. 3 in E Major and his technically challenging Sonata No. 2 in A Minor in the first half, then his spiritually and emotionally powerful Partita No. 2 in D Minor, with its beloved Chaconne, that closes the evening’s program.
Part 1 Concert Program
J. S. BACH Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006
J. S. BACH Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003
J. S. BACH Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSICIAN & PART 1 CONCERT DETAILS
Bach’s Melodic & Harmonic Brilliance | Part 2
This second evening’s concert begins with Bach’s deeply resonant Sonata No. 1 in G Minor and his dance-inspired Partita No. 1 in B Minor, followed by the magnificent and inventive Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major for the concert’s finale.
Part 2 Concert Program
J. S. BACH Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001
J. S. BACH Violin Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002
J. S. BACH Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSICIAN & PART 2 CONCERT DETAILS
SPECIAL EVENT
Lost Freedom: A Memory with George Takei
A CMNW & PORTLAND JAPANESE GARDEN COLLABORATION
Saturday, May 31 • 7:00 pm
Portland Japanese Garden
Inspired by autobiographical accounts of the incarceration of Japanese-American citizens in World War II, Lost Freedom: A Memory weaves together music and spoken word in a profound exploration of a chilling time in American history. Actor, author, and activist, George Takei (Star Trek), narrates his own story as one of the citizens forced from their homes and made to live in desolate camps thousands of miles away. Set to music by Oregon composer Kenji Bunch, this poignant program will also include music by Oregon’s Japanese-American composer/percussionist Andy Akiho.
Lost Freedom: A Memory is a co-presentation with Portland Japanese Garden, and is part of a weekend-long festival remembering and celebrating the rich legacies of Portland’s Japanese and Vanport communities through visual art, music, theater, and dance, in collaboration with the Japanese American Museum of Oregon, Resonance Ensemble, and The Vanport Mosaic.
NOTE: Lost Freedom: A Memory is not currently on sale. CMNW subscribers and Portland Japanese Garden members will receive a special invitation to purchase tickets at a later date.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSICIANS & CONCERT DETAILS
ABOUT CHAMBER MUSIC NORTHWEST
Now entering its 55th season, Chamber Music Northwest serves more than 50,000 people annually in Oregon and SW Washington with exceptional chamber music through over 100 events annually, including our flagship Summer Festival, year-round concerts, community activities, educational programs, broadcasts, and innovative collaborations with other arts groups. CMNW is the only chamber music festival of its kind in the Northwest and one of the most diverse classical music experiences in the nation, virtually unparalleled in comparable communities.
Chamber Music Northwest’s mission is to inspire our community through concerts and events celebrating the richness and diversity of chamber music, performed by artists of the highest caliber, presenting our community with exceptional opportunities for enjoyment, education, and reflection. Chamber Music Northwest is led by Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim, and Executive Director Peter Bilotta.
Over the past five decades, Chamber Music Northwest has engaged an incredible range of musicians, composers, board members, staff, volunteers, and audiences from diverse backgrounds, heritages and lived experiences whose contributions have been a vital part of who we are today. CMNW exists to offer listeners and musicians musical encounters that inspire collective appreciation and joy. We will endeavor to use the power of our musical programming and educational programs to include myriad of cultures and perspectives, to embrace every generation, and magnify a broad variety of artistic voices. In actively doing this work to enrich our entire community, we make our stand against hate and discrimination, create opportunities that make meaningful and lasting change, and ensure a multitude of musical voices are elevated, heard, and celebrated.
Chamber Music Northwest embraces the artistry of each individual, and believes that unique cultural heritages and myriad of backgrounds are profound strengths to be celebrated, both in our musical family and in our community at large. We stand firmly against, will not tolerate, and condemn discrimination, bigotry, and violence directed at any persons, or groups of people, based on their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identification, country or nation of origin, physical or intellectual ability.
We value all members of our community and will actively work to dismantle systems of exclusion and discrimination. While we will stumble and fail, we will continually strive to embrace, promote, present, commission, engage, and perform the music of an infinite variety of voices of artists, cultures, heritages, traditions, histories, and imaginations to express the universal power to move the human heart and inspire connection through music. Though we will fall short, and will never do enough to right the wrongs of systemic racism and other forms institutionalized discrimination in our culture and art form, we commit ourselves to elevating the work of musicians and composers who are Asian, Black, Latinx, Indigenous, women, LGBTQIA, or of intersectional or other underrepresented identities, to match the emphasis placed on classical music’s historically traditional artists.
Chamber Music Northwest is an international leader in celebrating chamber music’s enduring relevance and diversity, with more than 100 commissions and premieres of new works as well as its Protégé Project, which cultivates the next generation of dynamic chamber music performers by supporting exceptional, early-career chamber musicians and composers in their professional development. In June 2022, Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW) launched the Young Artist Institute (YAI), an intensive education program for 16 talented string players from around the world, ages 14-18. The three-week YAI program includes a faculty of esteemed musicians and teachers. This groundbreaking program also includes a Collaborative Piano Fellowship for two international pianists.