Chamber Music Northwest Unveils 2025-26 Season Featuring Six Concerts
Notable musicians performing during the season include Brentano Quartet, bassist Edgar Meyer, mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, and more.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Aug. 28, 2025
For its 2025/26 Year-Round Season, Chamber Music Northwest will present six decidedly different concerts, plus their 10th music and dance collaboration with BodyVox.
Celebrating the extraordinary breadth of chamber music in one of their most diverse seasons yet, CMNW's year-round season will bring esteemed chamber musicians to Portland concert halls. Notable musicians performing during the season include Brentano Quartet, bassist Edgar Meyer, mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, clarinetists Anthony McGill and David Shifrin, pianist Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė, saxophonist Steven Banks, and CMNW's Artistic Directors Gloria Chien (piano) and Soovin Kim (violin).
From Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim: “We are looking forward to another season of musical discovery as we embark on a journey of unforgettable performances, innovative programming, and masterful artistry that define the Chamber Music Northwest experience.
Our season ahead celebrates the extraordinary breadth of chamber music from timeless masterpieces to world premieres. With the return of our most beloved artists, our brilliant CMNW Protégé Alumni, and exciting new collaborations, this promises to be a season to remember.
The distinguished Brentano Quartet returns for an evening of Schubert, Timo Andres, and Amy Beach. Grammy Award-winning bassist Edgar Meyer collaborates with like-minded violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Joshua Roman for a program that bridges Classical and bluegrass traditions. Trio Afiori—featuring mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron and clarinetist Anthony McGill, with Artistic Director and pianist Gloria Chien—makes its debut at CMNW. Our Artistic Director Emeritus David Shifrin, Lithuanian pianist Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė with Artistic Director and violinist Soovin Kim, CMNW Protégé Alumni saxophonist Steven Banks with pianist Xak Bjerken, violinists Isabelle Ai Durrenberger and Anna Lee, and the 10th collaboration with BodyVox featuring WindSync completes a season rich in artistry and inspiration.”
CMNW's October through April audiences will witness an array of ensemble configurations including duo, trio, quartet, quintet, and octet performances comprised of 14 different instruments, and an equally varied repertoire that stretches beyond 18th to 19th-century masterpieces and leans strongly into 20th-century works and brand-new music of today.
2025/26 Season Snapshot:
Season kickoff with the return of the world-renowned Brentano Quartet
—Saturday, October 18 • Kaul Auditorium, Reed College
Trio Afiori—a new powerhouse trio of clarinetist Anthony McGill, mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, and CMNW Artistic Director and pianist Gloria Chien
—Saturday, November 8 • Lincoln Performance Hall, Portland State University
Grammy Award-winning bassist Edgar Meyer with Classical/bluegrass crossover stars violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Joshua Roman
—Saturday, January 10 • Patricia Reser Center for the Arts
Baritone saxophonist Steven Banks of the Kenari Saxophone Quartet with pianist Xak Bjerken
—Thursday, January 29 • The Old Church Concert Hall
Lithuanian pianist Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė with CMNW Artistic Director and violinist Soovin Kim
—Saturday, March 7 • The Old Church Concert Hall
Loeffler's Lost Octet, with Artistic Director Emeritus and clarinetist David Shifrin and CMNW Protégé Project Alumni Graeme Steele Johnson, Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, and Anna Lee
—Saturday, March 28 • First Baptist Church of Portland
Walls Come Down: 1980s—10th music and dance collaboration with BodyVox, this time featuring the dynamic wind quintet, WindSync
—Friday, April 24-Sunday, April 26 • Performing Arts Center, Portland Community College (Sylvania campus)
2025/26 CONCERTS
STRING QUARTET + PIANO
Brentano Quartet & Gloria Chien: Schubert, Andres & Beach
RETURN OF THE WORLD-RENOWNED BRENTANO QUARTET
Saturday, October 18 • 7:30 pm
Kaul Auditorium, Reed College
Hailed for their “luxuriously warm sound and yearning lyricism” (The New York Times), few string quartets in the world compare to the internationally renowned Brentano Quartet. Returning to CMNW for the first time since 2022, the Brentanos will be joined by Artistic Director and pianist Gloria Chien for an evening of glorious quartet and quintet masterpieces: Schubert's deeply expressive String Quartet No. 13 (“Rosamunde”), Amy Beach's dramatic Piano Quintet, and a piece by one of the most exciting composers working today, Timo Andres's inventive Machine, Learning.
Concert Program
SCHUBERT String Quartet No. 13 in A Minor, D. 804, Op. 29 (“Rosamunde”)
Timo Andres Machine, Learning
AMY BEACH Piano Quintet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 67
CLARINET + VOICE + PIANO
Trio Afiori: Anthony McGill, Fleur Barron & Gloria Chien
NEW POWERHOUSE TRIO OF CMNW FAVORITES
Saturday, November 8 • 7:30 pm
Lincoln Performance Hall, Portland State University
Returning to CMNW this fall are three of classical music's most brilliant musicians: the exceptional clarinetist and Avery Fisher prize-winner Anthony McGill, Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, and our own Artistic Director, pianist Gloria Chien! Their new Trio Afiori will present one of our most unique programs yet, as these three illuminating musical minds join forces with repertoire specially arranged for the triple-threat of mezzo-soprano, clarinet, and piano. Join them for an evening of stunning music by Brahms, Kian Ravaei's mesmerizing Gulistan—a CMNW commission premiered in 2023—and two brand-new works by Alex Ho and Valerie Coleman commissioned by CMNW for this outstanding trio.
Concert Program
BRAHMS Zwei Gesänge, Op. 91 (Arr. Kian Ravaei)
ALEX HO New Commission TBD
BRAHMS Clarinet Sonata No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 120, No. 2
VALERIE COLEMAN New Commission TBD
KIAN RAVAEI Gulistan (2023)
BASS + VIOLIN + CELLO
Edgar Meyer, Tessa Lark & Joshua Roman
DAZZLING CLASSICAL/BLUEGRASS CROSSOVER STARS
Saturday, January 10 • 7:30 pm
Patricia Reser Center for the Arts
CMNW is proud to present one of the most tremendous chamber music tours of the season: the superstar trio of seven-time Grammy Award-winning bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer, genre-crossing Kentucky-born violinist Tessa Lark, and electrifying cellist Joshua Roman. The ensemble will perform everything from Bach to Meyer's own string trios, plus some new music written especially for their inaugural tour—and some fancy fiddling on violin, cello, and bass! Don't miss this collaboration of three singular figures in American concert music who are adept instrumentalists with fierce classical chops, deep connections to roots and fiddle music, and expansive artistic sensibilities.
“Friday's reading, with its astonishingly unified articulations and attacks, was a model of character and style. Also, heart: the slow movement's denouement offered a touching, beautifully balanced culmination of thematic ideas.”
— Boston Classical Review
Concert Program
J. S. BACH Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Major, BWV 1027
Edgar Meyer Selected Trios for Violin, Cello & Bass
Trio 1986
New Trio (2024)
Trio 1988
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSICIANS, MUSIC & CONCERT DETAILS
SAXOPHONE + PIANO
Steven Banks & Xak Bjerken: Beethoven, Barber & Blues
STELLAR SAXOPHONIST WITH PASSIONATE PIANIST
Thursday, January 29 • 7:30 pm
The Old Church
A charismatic ambassador for the classical saxophone, CMNW Protégé Project Alumnus Steven Banks (Kenari Saxophone Quartet) returns to Portland this season with the dynamic pianist Xak Bjerken for an intimate recital. Winner of the prestigious 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Banks captivates audiences with his balance of refined lyricism and virtuosic flair. Traversing classical, contemporary, and popular repertoire, Banks and Bjerken will perform baritone saxophone works by Beethoven, Barber, Saint-Saëns, and John Musto's Shadow of the Blues for an utterly unique evening of music.
“Banks considers himself a 100-percent classical saxophonist. Demonstrating complete command of his instruments, he found polished tone and executed complex roulades, runs and other classically based figures. Extensive cadenzas that link the first movement with the second and the second with the third soared into the highest elevations of the range and required the highest discipline to bring off smoothly, and he did it like the champ he is.”
— The Aspen Times
Concert Program
SAINT-SAËNS Bassoon Sonata in G Major, Op. 168/R. 148
John Musto Shadow of the Blues
BEETHOVEN 7 Variations on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen,” WoO 46
Samuel Barber Cello Sonata in C Minor, Op. 6
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSICIANS, MUSIC & CONCERT DETAILS
VIOLIN + PIANO
Soovin Kim & Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė: Beethoven Sonatas
ELECTRIFYING LITHUANIAN PIANIST BACK IN PORTLAND
Saturday, March 7 • 7:30 pm
The Old Church
After wowing us all at the beginning of the 2023 Summer Festival, the dynamic Lithuanian pianist Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė returns to Portland with Artistic Director and violinist Soovin Kim for a night of Beethoven's most intimate chamber works—his sonatas for violin & piano. Beethoven's sonatas established a new sonata form wherein the violin and piano are equal partners, with neither dominating the musical “conversation.” From his early Sonata No. 3 that embodies his revolutionary melodic and rhythmic inventiveness, to his elegantly refined Sonata No. 10 and his bold and heroic “Kreutzer” Sonata, you'll experience a full range of Beethoven's genius brought to life by just these two incredible artists.
"Jokubaviciute approaches the piano with attentive precision—every note, keyed or otherwise, placed within the instrument's resonance for maximum clarity—combined with a provocative, febrile intelligence."
— The Washington Post
Concert Program
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 12, No. 3
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 96
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 (“Kreutzer”)
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSICIANS, MUSIC & CONCERT DETAILS
FLUTE + CLARINET + VIOLIN + VIOLA + CELLO + BASS + HARP
Loeffler's Lost Octet, Debussy & Schumann
A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE THIS MASTERPIECE
Saturday, March 28 • 7:30 pm
First Baptist Church of Portland
Imagine a Romantic masterpiece lost to time, unpublished, unrecorded, and unheard since 1897. Incredibly, after two premiere performances that one reviewer said “took nearly everyone by storm,” Boston-based composer Charles Martin Loeffler's stunning Octet vanished into the archives of the Library of Congress until it was rediscovered in 2020 by CMNW Protégé Project Alumnus Graeme Steele Johnson. After a year reconstructing the score, an all-star ensemble including clarinetists Johnson and CMNW Artistic Director Emeritus David Shifrin, CMNW Protégé Project Alumni violinists Isabelle Ai Durrenberger and Anna Lee, Oregon Symphony bassist Braizahn Jones, and others will bring it back to life, alongside two masterpieces by Claude Debussy. You can be among one of the first audiences to experience Loeffler's gorgeous Octet in more than 125 years!
“Johnson spent a year reconstructing the octet's score from the 75-page manuscript, creating the first critical edition of the music. In 2022 he assembled an octet of musicians, including his former teacher, David Shifrin, and himself on clarinet, to read through the piece.”
— The Strad
Concert Program
R. SCHUMANN Fantasiestücke, Op. 73
Claude Debussy Prélude à laprès-midi d'un faune
Claude Debussy Première rhapsodie
LOEFFLER Octet for Two Clarinets, Harp, Two Violins, Viola, Cello & Double Bass
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSICIANS, MUSIC & CONCERT DETAILS
DANCE + WIND QUINTET
Walls Come Down 1980s
UNITING LIVE CHAMBER MUSIC & INNOVATIVE DANCE
Friday, April 24, 2026 @ 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 25, 2026 @ 2:00 pm
Saturday, April 25, 2026 @ 7:30 pm
Sunday, April 26, 2026 @ 4:00 pm
Performing Arts Center, Portland Community College (Sylvania)
Always surprising, delightfully entertaining, and utterly original, Chamber Music Northwest and BodyVox will unite live chamber music and innovative contemporary dance for their 15th anniversary and 10th collaboration together, Walls Come Down: 1980s. This World Premiere production is musically headlined by one of our favorite wind quintets, the dynamic and innovative WindSync. Following our most recent collaborations, Nineteen|Twenty (Akropolis Wind Quintet, 2022) and Beautiful Everything (Imani Winds, 2024), WindSync will join forces with BodyVox's choreographers and dancers for an evening that celebrates both the voice of the soul (music) and of the body (dance).
“An invigoratingly fresh blend of dance and music…”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
Music Program
TBD
Videos