Things are still in the thick of the holiday onslaught, but with a couple of free days to get my breath back, it also gave me some time to look ahead at what I’ve got coming up. This is just a quick glance at what I’m looking forward to – I’m sure to add more things as they occur to me in the future.
45th Parallel – C2 concerts
On February 15th at the Old Church Concert Hall, the two string quartets of the 45th Parallel Universe (Mousai REMIX and Pyxis Quartet) will play two very different, but likely equally powerful programs. Mousai’s program “Sons of the Soil” presents works written by African-American composers, including Florence Price. Mousai always performs with such integrity and intensity, I’m really looking forward to hearing them present these unjustly neglected works.
More info: https://www.45thparallelpdx.org/concerts/sons-of-the-soil
Pyxis’ program “I Spat in the Eye of Fate and Lived” will feature pieces by four local composers specially commissioned to accompany poetry written and read by Micah Fletcher, who was the person who bravely intervened (almost losing his life) on behalf of two Muslim women who were being threatened by an attacker on a Portland MAX train in 2017. It is a concert experience – the prospect of which both frightens and inspires me – that you won’t want to miss.
More info: https://www.45thparallelpdx.org/concerts/survivor
Cello Festival with Lynn Harrell
I’m so excited about this one! A couple years ago I was supposed to rejoin my colleagues from my graduate school string quartet to play the Schubert Quintet with renowned cellist Lynn Harrell at the University of Wyoming. Unfortunately, a family emergency meant I had to cancel. The good news is that Harrell is returning to Laramie for their Cello Festival, and I get go go out there and play Brahms’ wonderful G major String Sextet. If you’re in the area, please come by!
More info: http://www.uwyo.edu/faoutreach/cello-fest/
Stay tuned! There will be more to come!