Portland Playhouse The sounds of Afrolitical Movement Portland Oregon
November 2019
Left to right: James Shields, Sean Fredenburg, Sarah Tiedemann. Photo courtesy of Third Angle New Music.

The Meanings of Music, Part Three: Community grooves

Several questions haunted this journalist’s mind during a series of fall concerts put on by three of Portland’s most excellent classical groups: Fear No Music, Resonance Ensemble, and Third Angle New Music. The music was all good, but was often upstaged by

Farewell, my sweet gibassier

After 23 years the Pearl Bakery’s ovens are shutting down, and a vital slice of Portland’s culture with them.

The Meanings of Music, Part Two: Minding the beauty

Several questions haunted this journalist’s mind during a series of fall concerts put on by three of Portland’s most excellent classical groups: Fear No Music, Resonance Ensemble, and Third Angle New Music. The music was all good, but was often upstaged by

The Meanings of Music, Part One: Metabolizing Trauma

Several questions haunted this journalist’s mind during a series of fall concerts put on by three of Portland’s most excellent classical groups: Fear No Music, Resonance Ensemble, and Third Angle New Music. The music was all good, but was often upstaged by

DramaWatch: Sarah Ruhl’s Almond Joy

“Melancholy Play” is a whimsical reminder that sometimes you feel like a nut. Plus: holiday treats and Portland theater Christmas stuffing.

Close up and burning bright

Asylum Theatre reignites Lanford Wilson’s “Burn This” with intimate staging and palpable emotion.

Fernando Rodriguez submitted nine photos of anger for the Universal Feeling show. Photo by: David Bates

The medium is the mask

The Chehalem Cultural Center fills its galleries with masks by Tony Fuemmeler and other artists.

Michael Patrick Connolly and Patricia Charms in Nitemare B4 Xmas. Photo courtesy of Jason Wells.

King of the undead

Those of you who just can’t get enough Brahms and Beethoven are lucky: you get to hear those guys all the time on myriad concerts and fresh boxed sets and so on ad apparently infinitum. But if your favorite composer happens to

A soldier’s journey

Charles Burt charts a course from the rigors of military life to the rigors of an art academy.

A Tempest in the Schnitz

With a storm of Shakespeare’s words and Sibelius’s music, The Oregon Symphony pairs two twilight artists for a last hurrah.

Mario Díaz, Sarah Tiedemann, Valdine Mishkin, and Chris Whyte backstage duringThird Angle's "Homecomings" concert at New Expressive Works, October 2017. Photo by Kenton Waltz.

Composing on this side of complexity

Contemporary classical music composers–whom we might define as “those who look to the classical canon as root”–are frequently self-conscious about the historical and perennial shortcomings of modern art music (“that which seeks to transcend the history of western music”–again, my definition). Hyper

Detail from “Some However,” presented to the city by Juergen Eckstein in 2005. It is located on the grounds of the Newport Performing Arts Center. Photo by: Karen Pate

Farewell to a free spirit

Newport’s Juergen Eckstein — painter, sculptor, and community presence — died Oct. 31.

Malek Jandali Trio opens Ashland’s The Heart of Humanity series. Photo by Chava Florendo, courtesy Anima Mundi Productions.

Finding hope through music

A new concert series dedicated to bringing world-class musicians and composers to southern Oregon with the purpose of musicially addressing challenging social issues was inaugurated this October when Anima Mundi Productions co-founders, composer Ethan Gans-Morse and poet Tiziana DellaRovere, launched The Heart

MusicWatch Weekly: The magic is in the middle

There are a handful of things that make a city’s musical culture feel complete. You need several symphony orchestras and large choirs, and they all have to be pretty damn good. You also need several smaller choral and instrumental ensembles overlapping with

Jennifer DeCarlo launches jdc Fine Art in San Diego in 2011. She recently moved her gallery, dedicated to content-driven contemporary art by photographers, to the Marketplace at Salishan. Photo courtesy: Jennifer DeCarlo

‘Their art is my work now’

Gallery owner Jennifer DeCarlo talks about moving from artist to art dealer, art fairs, and the place of visual art.

On Paper Wings

As Ilana Sol’s new film about war and reconciliation screens this week, a look back at the Portland filmmaker’s first documentary

From Hate to Healing

FearNoMusic commemorates the Portland murder of immigrant Mulugeta Seraw by white supremacists.

Dancers in Reggie Wilson's Fist and Heel Dance Troupe

Dance review: Reggie Wilson’s got the POWER

The world premiere of POWER in July of 2019 was an evening-length work, yet Reggie Wilson was generous enough with his energy to give a post-show interview after the second performance. When asked how he envisioned the world that the piece so

Oregon Music Players performed Reena Esmail and Kevin Puts, October 2019 in Eugene's Beall Hall. Photo by Torrin Riley.

Claiming culture, marketing emotion

A Mozart Players concert explores music by living composers—and raises questions of preparation and appropriated meaning.

Marilyn Keller with PJCE in 'From Maxville to Vanport.' Photo by Kimmie Fadem.

MusicWatch Weekly: Big and small

What’s up? Big bands, big choirs, chamber classical, and hybrid music from Indonesia and the British Isles.

Luis Chapa as B.F. Pinkerton and Hiromi Omura as Cio-Cio-San in Portland Opera's 2019 production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Photo by Cory Weaver/Portland Opera.

The warhorse dilemma

Portland Opera’s “Butterfly” has melody, familiarity, and style. But does it surprise?

Photo First: The Day of Dead

At the Portland Art Museum, a lively and well-adorned crowd celebrates Mexico’s Día de Muertos.

Cascadia Composers A Ligeti Odyssey The Old Madeleine Church Portland Oregon
Lincoln County Historical Society Pacific Maritime Heritage Center The Curious World of Seaweed Newport Oregon
Portland Center Stage William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Portland Oregon
Portland Playhouse The sounds of Afrolitical Movement Portland Oregon
Oregon Bach Festival Musical Wanderlust Eugene Oregon
High Desert Museum Creations of Spirit Bend Oregon
Triangle Productions The Inheritance Part 2 Portland Oregon
Profile Theatre How To Make An American Son Imago Theatre Portland Oregon
Portland Piano International Alexander Korsantia Portland Oregon
Portland Revels Rancho Trinidad Portland Oregon
Artists Repertory Theatre EM Lewis True Story The Armory Portland Oregon
Maryhill Museum of Art Columbia Gorge Washington
Oregon Bach Festival Musical Wanderlust Eugene Oregon
Northwest Dance Project Stravinsky Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon
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