Chamber Music Northwest’s Spring Education Benefit Hits a High Note

Portland, April 5th, 2016. Over 100 guests were on hand to “Take a Stand for Chamber Music” at Chamber Music Northwest’s spring education benefit. A full house enjoyed a concert by two CMNW Protégé Project alumni. The evening took place at Portland’s new Nordia House, known for its Scandinavian architecture. It netted over $30,000 for CMNW Education & Outreach programs. Festivities included a Wall of Wine, Take a Chance Raffle, and photo booth.

The Benefit Concert featured Protégé Project alumni Daniel Schlosberg, piano, and Sam Suggs, double bass, who brought the enthusiastic crowd to their feet with passionate and playful performances. The extraordinary musicianship of these two artists is testimony to the value of CMNW’s Education & Outreach Initiatives. Through the Protégé Project, the nonprofit invests in the future of chamber music. The program provides musicians the opportunity to perform with and learn from veteran festival artists, and present free community and education activities.

Dan shared with the crowd just how valuable this opportunity has been to him. “To be put in a situation where you’re in a rehearsal room with Ida Kavafian is…absolutely unbelievable. It was incredible to be treated as a professional and play next to professionals.”

The success of the Spring Benefit will help CMNW continue to share the music we love throughout this community. 

(Photo credit, Kimmie Fadem, Just Dandy Photography)

From Chamber Music Northwest:

Now in its 46th season, Chamber Music Northwest serves thousands of people in Oregon and SW Washington with exceptional chamber music through over 100 events annually, including Summer and Winter festivals, concerts in alternative venues, outreach 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.

CMNW is thrilled to share this unique, rich, and diverse chamber music experience in a community that is also unique in the value it places on beauty, proportion, quality of life, and sustainability. We strive to give our region the chance to experience this pinnacle of human creation in a form that is accessible, approachable, and affordable.

World-renowned clarinetist David Shifrin is in his 36th season as our Artistic Director, and he continues to program for our community some of the nation’s most expansive, innovative, and dynamic classical music programming. He represents Portland throughout the world as a leading orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber music artist, including as a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where he was Artistic Director from 1992 to 2004.

As one of the nation’s leading chamber music producers, Chamber Music Northwest brings to our community the world’s greatest musicians and composers, from rising star members of our Protégé Project and exceptional local musicians to world-renowned artists that include Grammy Award winners, Avery Fisher Prize honorees, and MacArthur “Genius Award” recipients. Together they collaborate to perform the expansive 500-year chamber music repertoire, ranging from beloved classics and hidden masterpieces, to contemporary works and less conventional projects. They also share their love of this diverse, intimate art form through community and educational partnerships that engage audiences and hundreds of students through free concerts, previews, conversations, coachings, andmasterclasses.

CMNW also invests in the future of chamber music. Our Protégé Project features exceptional young artists who perform with and learn from veteran festival artists, and present free community and education activities. Through our New Music Initiative launched in 2014, CMNW is also a leader in the creation of new music, with more than 100 world, West coast, and Northwest premieres in recent years. We commission and present 4-6 new works annually by some of the world’s best established and emerging composers.

A recipient of the Governor’s Arts Award, Chamber Music Northwest is among our region’s most acclaimed and well-run arts organizations, with an exceptional record of more than three decades of balanced budgets. Performances from CMNW are broadcast nationally on “Performance Today” and “America’s Music Festivals,” and locally on Portland’s own All-Classical FM.