Oregon ArtsWatch

ArtsWatch Archive


Weekend MusicWatch

By Brett Campbell
July 8, 2015
Music

The music festivals continue fast and furious this weekend, though the pace recedes a bit, along with the heat. As always, be sure to use the comments space below to tell our readers about any worthwhile Oregon musical events not listed here.

Pastorale
July 9
Leander Star and Elise Blatchford, Headwaters Theater, 55 NE Farragut St. #9, Portland.
The excellent French hornist and flutist, who’ve played in Portland Opera and the Oregon Ballet Theater orchestras as well as the nationally acclaimed City of Tomorrow wind ensemble, collaborate with lighting designer Alex Deahl for a concert of music for horn, flute, and pre-recorded electronics written by Northwest composers Tomas Svoboda, Sarah Bassingthwaighte, Nat Evans, Hildegarde Westerkamp, and more.

Elise Blatchford and Leander Star perform Thursday at Portland's Headwaters.

Elise Blatchford and Leander Star perform Thursday at Portland’s Headwaters.

Owen Daily
July 9
Collier House, 13th and University, Eugene.
European early music festivals often have so-called “fringe festivals” occurring in the immediate vicinity. Typically not sponsored by the main festival itself, they usually feature younger or local performers playing music of interest to fans of the main event, in this case the Oregon Bach Festival. In this morning concert, the harpsichordist plays his own hand built replica of a 1749 instrument in music of the great French Baroque composers Rameau and Couperin.

Laura Wayte and David Rogers
July 10
Collier House, 13th and University, Eugene.
Another morning fringe event offers the early music guitarist (who’ll also play our and lute) and singer in Spanish music from the 16th to 21st centuries, including traditional Sephardic music and works by Sor.

Chamber Music Northwest
Various Venues
July 8-26
The venerable summer festival really sold out this week, with Wednesday’s Club Concert at Jimmy Mak’s jazz club by 20th century kings of complexity Elliott Carter and Charles Wuorinen, and both performances by the renowned Emerson Quartet’s July 11-12 already fully committed. But some excellent shows remain available, as you can read in my Willamette Week preview, including Friday’s new@noon show at Portland State University’s Lincoln Hall that includes a quintet of world premieres showcasing the voice of Protege Project soprano Evanna Chiew, the second installment he festival’s three concert series of Beethoven violin sonatas on July 9 , and the July 13-14 viola showcase.

Helmuth Rilling returns to the Oregon Bach Festival to lead Bach's St. John Passion.

Helmuth Rilling returns to the Oregon Bach Festival to lead Bach’s St. John Passion.

Oregon Bach Festival
July 8-July 12
Various venues, Eugene.
To begin the festival’s closing week, the Stangeland Youth Family Academy, led by Anton Armstrong, Matthew Halls and Helmuth Rilling, get their own showcase July 8 at Eugene’s First Methodist Church, in a program that includes classics and contemporary works, including a West Coast premiere. At Eugene’s Hult Center on July 9, venerable OBF founder Helmuth Rilling returns to lead the first sacred work he conducted at the festival 45 years ago, J.S. Bach’s mighty St. John Passion. Harmonica virtuoso Joe Powers returns July 11 at the Hult Center’s Soreng Theatre with his characteristic mix of jazz, pop and classical music. The festival closes July 12 with Matthew Halls leading orchestra, soloists and chorus in Mahler’s choral-orchestral epic Resurrection Symphony.

Pebble Trio
July 11
TaborSpace, 5441 SE Belmont St, Portland.
Three top flight West Coast jazzers — bassist André St. James, Bay Area based pianist Thollem McDonas, and drummer/percussionist Tim DuRoche— frequently reach Tabor-esque heights of improvisatory excellence.

Yachats Music Festival
July 10-12
Yachats Community Presbyterian Church, 360 West 7th Street, Yachats.
Friday’s chamber music concert includes a wide-ranging program of music for soprano, flute, and/baritone and piano by Charles Ives, Faure, Beethoven, Debussy, Dvorak, and more, with pianist Leon Bates, singers Thomas Buckner and Kimberley Jones, and many others. Saturday evening’s show is similarly diverse, with music for flute, the Chinese zither guzheng, flute, singers, and more by Chopin, Gershwin, contemporary American composer Richard Danielpour, Verdi, Purcell, Liszt, Haydn and more. Sunday afternoon’s matinee features more Ives, Cole Porter, Katchaturian, and more. Sunday night’s closing concert features still more Ives (you can never have enough Ives), Prokofiev, Ravel, Verdi and much more. The festival also features talks and other events.

“The Chopin Concertos”
July 12
The Old Church, 1422 S.W. 11th Ave., Portland.
Pianist David Rothman, abetted by organist Michael Barnes, performs both of Chopin’s piano concertos, as part of the complete Chopin piano music cycle Rothman has been presenting at the Old Church.

Pianist Paul Roberts leads master classes and performs at Western Oregon University. Photo: Peter Schutte

Pianist Paul Roberts leads master classes and performs at Western Oregon University. Photo: Peter Schutte

Paul Roberts
July 14
Western Oregon University
The frequent Oregon visitor returns for master classes, workshops and a concert.

Want to read more about Oregon music? Support Oregon ArtsWatch! 

Oregon ArtsWatch Archives