andy akiho
Philips Pavilion by Le Corbusier, Brussels, 'Expo 58.

2023 in Review: What we heard this year

A longitudinal study of everything we loved (and a few things we didn’t) in Oregon music this year, and last year, world without end, amen.

Luz Elena Mendoza and Y La Bamba in the video for "Collapse," first single of upcoming album "Lucha." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh-QYPq6Oys

Bandcamp Friday: The fight of the light against darkness

In which we present a selection of Fee Free Friday albums–and timely concerts–featuring Y La Bamba, Caroline Shaw, Shara Nova, Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Sarah Kirkland Snider, and Andy Akiho.

Sondheim farewell; Grammy parade

Stephen Sondheim, who changed the face of Broadway, has died at 91; Esperanza Spalding and five other Oregon-linked artists score Grammy nominations.

Third Angle New Music Fresh Air Fest at Topaz Farm. Photo by Sara Wright.

Third Angle on the farm: If else, go out

Third Angle is coming out swinging for the return to live music, kicking off on July 11 at Topaz Farm with the three mini concerts of Fresh Air Fest. It was a much-needed retreat up to Sauvie Island for a midsummer Sunday

45th Parallel: expanding universe

by MATTHEW ANDREWS This year, 45th Parallel goes through a double shift, as the Portland-based classical music organization enters its 10th season and adds “Universe” to its appellation, reflecting a broadening of its roster and repertoire. This happens just as founder and

Andy Akiho: systems within systems

In the midst of a five-week music festival, a weird mid-week show starring composer-performer Andy Akiho felt like a village gathering. Akiho’s music, after all, is geared towards pretty specific tastes: challengingly colorful modern classical music, complex rhythmic grooviness and modern sonorities, rooted

Chamber Music Northwest: music of defiance and transcendence

Chamber Music Northwest celebrated Bastille Day 2018 with music by two of France’s greatest composers and two of the myriad composers they inspired. The first program featured mostly music by Stravinsky, who spent many of his most creative years in Paris, with a

Chamber Music Northwest: risk-taking redeemed

One day about four years ago, recently installed Chamber Music Northwest executive director Peter Bilotta was chatting with a major donor to Portland’s annual summer classical music festival. The funder “called us ‘musty,’” Bilotta recalls. “I decided this art form is alive,

MusicWatch Weekly: pan man returns

Andy Akiho’s previous Chamber Music Northwest appearances with percussionist pal Ian Rosenbaum revealed both performance virtuosity — on the 39-year-old New Yorker’s unlikely instrument, the steel pan — and also a distinctive and appealing compositional imagination. In one of the summer festival’s

Spontaneous Combustion reviews 1: from hub to sandbox

Editor’s note: ArtsWatch deployed a small squadron of reviewers to most of the Spontaneous Combustion Festival’s seven programs spread over 17 concerts in three cities. Here are some of the highlights of the first edition of this valuable new addition to Oregon’s

Triangle Productions Perfect Arrangement Portland Oregon
Oregon Repertory Singers Finding Light 50th Season Portland Oregon
Portland Playhouse Passing Strange Portland Oregon
Literary Arts Oregon Book Awards Portland Center Stage at the Armory Portland Oregon
Imago Theatre Carol Triffle Mission Gibbons Portland Oregon
Bonnie Bronson 2024 Fellow Wendy Red Star Reed College Reception Kaul Auditorium Foyer Portland Oregon
City of Hillsboro Walters Cultural Arts Center Tony Furtado Hillsboro Oregon
Kalakendra Indian Classical Instrumental Music First Congregational Church Portland Oregon
Portland Center Stage at the Armory Nassim Portland Oregon
Maryhill Museum of Art Goldendale Washington
Portland State University College of the Arts
Golden Road Arts Grey Raven Gallery Near the Reser Beaverton Oregon
Pacific Maritime Heritage Center Prosperity of the Sea Lincoln County Historical Society Newport Oregon Coast
PassinArt Theatre and Portland Playhouse present Yohen Brunish Theatre Portland Oregon
Northwest Dance Project Sarah Slipper Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon
Newport Performance and Visual Arts Centers Newport Oregon Coast
Portland Art Museum Virtual Sneakers to Cutting Edge Kicks Portland Oregon
High Desert Museum Sasquatch Central Oregon
Oregon Cultural Trust donate
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