EPSG:4326

2025 Winter Warmer II

University of Southern Maine

2025 Winter Warmer I

Portland Chamber Music Festival - Virtuosity

Following a heartfelt violin sonata by Schumann (who adored Bach), the East Coast Chamber Orchestra’s extraordinary ensemble offers a contemporary work inspired by Bach's stunning Chaconne, “one epic movement ... that would define string playing forever after.” Finally, with a rollicking set of variations on a Baroque dance theme, you’ll see why the New York Times declared, "ECCO delivers performances that are nothing short of electrifying." 

Program IV: Virtuosity

Podcast link: https://youtu.be/4hagYvrYbuM

The Artelize Podcast and Kasper Holten - Pedefining Opera for the modern world

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36M5Hi6O80

The Artelize Podcast - A legacy of innovation in Opera: Celebrating Marc A. Scorca

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59E40S_EQSY

The Artelize Podcast: A love letter that was never sent

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THv6htilWtI

The Artelize Podcast and Adolfo Corrado: Mediterranean flavors, opera and social media

Portland Chamber Music Festival - Universal Resonance

The East Coast Chamber Orchestra’s PCMF debut in 2022 drew raves from audiences: “The energy and artistry was astounding!” “Such virtuosic performances, and such wit and joy!” Well, they’re back, bringing with them Handmade Universe, a brand new work by Grammy-nominated composer Vijay Iyer that blends jazz harmonies with intricate orchestrations. A playful flourish of a string trio and a breathtaking arrangement of Bach's stunning Chaconne open the program, and the youthful vigor of Mendelssohn’s delightful Octet, written when he was just 16, brings the evening to a ravishing close.

Program III: Universal Resonance

Join us for a wide-ranging conversation with PCMF Resident Composer Vijay Iyer, who the New York Times has called a "social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, historical thinker and multicultural gateway." Winner of a MacArthur Award for "forging a new conception of jazz and American creative music," Iyer is unique for being an acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, and cognitive scientist. His recent work Handmade Universe, written for the East Coast Chamber Orchestra and pianist Shai Wosner, receives its Maine premiere on the Portland Chamber Music Festival's "Universal Resonance" concert. Moderated by composer (and PCMF Operations/Production Manager) Sam Kyzivat.

Composer Conversation with Vijay Iyer

Mechanics' Hall

Chamber music, show tunes, opera, and more! “Nate’s World: Songs of Love” sets famous arias side by side with classic popular songs and virtuosic instrumental interludes, all touching on aspects of love. From La bohème to Leonard Bernstein, Carmen to a country ballad, these are all filled with timeless, universal sentiments, and chamber music’s exquisite intimacy is the perfect setting. Conceived, curated, and performed by Nate Farrington, principal bassist of the Los Angeles Opera, joined by special guest soprano Kathleen O'Mara and PCMF Resident Artists Susie Park and Henry Kramer.

Nate's World: Songs of Love

This sumptuous program celebrates the French musical voice, with its distinctively dazzling variety of tonal effects. First up, a sextet for winds, strings, and piano by Guillaume Connesson—one of today’s most widely performed French composers—whose music has been called “a celebration of life, filled with joyous melodies, rhythmic vitality, and a sense of wonder" (American Record Guide). An elegiac oboe sonata by Poulenc, dedicated to the memory of his close friend (and bridge partner) Prokofiev, is followed by an original arrangement of Debussy's dreamy sunset in song. Finally, the gorgeous opulence and exuberance of Fauré’s first Piano Quartet. C’est magnifique!

Program II: Musique Fantastique

This enchanting evening opens PCMF’s 2024 summer season with pure joy in musical form. The Boccherini Cello Quintet is a Classical-era delight: fun and fresh, balancing gentle tunes (including a famous minuet) with the luxurious heft of lower string sounds. Dvořák’s Romantic quintet for piano and strings radiates grace and warmth, before blossoming into bursts of spontaneous celebration.

Program I: Perfect Fifths

Float through time as Caroline Shaw’s modern works frame the emotional depths and ingenuity of early Classical music by Maddalena Laura Sirmen, Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini, and Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

Cramer Quartet: Still Waters Run Deep

The Federal Hotel

Portland Art Gallery

Ethereal beauty, profound majesty, and flashes of warmth… this delightful matinée is like hot cocoa by the fire after a wintry woods walk. Sibelius transports us to a world of Nordic landscapes, where a shimmering atmosphere intertwines with moments of quiet conversation. Best known for his monumental symphonies, Bruckner brings his mastery to the intimate realm of chamber music with a quintet filled with rich textures and expansive flourishes. Internationally renowned for her extraordinary lyricism, violist Kim Kashkashian joins the Borromeo String Quartet to bring PCMF’s inaugural Winter Warmer Festival to a heartwarming, radiant conclusion.

Winter Warmer II: Intimate Voices

PCMF’s inaugural Winter Warmer Festival opens with two landmark masterworks of the chamber music canon, both brimming with kaleidoscopic colors, rollicking rhythms, and harmonic daring.

Winter Warmer I: Bartók and Beethoven

This poetically lyrical program, infused with unforced virtuosity and memorable melodies, is the perfect way to spend a summer evening. The witty sophistication of Germaine Tailleferre, the only woman in the early 20th century group of French composers known as Les Six, sets up a fascinating contrast with a passionately dramatic trio rooted in Armenian folk music. PCMF’s 30th summer season concludes with Schubert’s sunny Octet, with its bountiful array of strings and winds, hummable tunes, and genial Viennese charm.

Program IV: Grand Finale

Beethoven's "Kreutzer" Sonata, one of his most brilliant and popular works, has an extraordinarily intimate emotional intensity, which serves as a primary plot point of Tolstoy's controversial novella of the same name, by which the narrator is driven to murderous obsession. Janáček's string quartet, premiered 100 years ago, reflects on the psychological drama and obsessive qualities in Tolstoy's story. By intertwining these two landmark works with selected readings, this fascinating program dramatically illustrates the sources of artistic inspiration.

Program III: The Kreutzer Connection

Step right up for an utterly delightful mini musical summer vacation! First stop, a charming piece for piano four-hands evoking nature-related sounds and scenes of the English countryside, paired with a poetic, atmospheric quintet by a self-described “brazen Romantic.” Enjoy a taste of the jazzy flavors of Gershwin before jet-setting off to Bohemia for Dvořák’s masterful piano quartet, lending a folksy flair and rollicking vitality to this truly glorious adventure.

Program II: Summer Dreams

PCMF’s 30th anniversary summer season expands with the Portland debut of the Charles Overton Quartet, a fascinating ensemble with the unusual instrumentation of concert grand harp, tenor saxophone, bass, and drums. The quartet will perform an evening of original tunes and jazz standards co-presented by the multi-disciplinary arts center SPACE.

Charles Overton Quartet

SPACE

At the age of 17 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor became fascinated by the music of Dvořák, with its American and African-American influences. At 19 he heard Brahms’s landmark Clarinet Quintet, and immediately set to work on his own, which is filled with lush, youthful extravagance, and—like much of his music—incorporates traditions from both his African and English heritage. Ravel’s highly original Piano Trio is an exquisite work of consummate lightness and stunning power, featuring gorgeous melodic lines, rhythmic complexity, and truly otherworldly beauty.

Program I: First Impressions

Please join Artistic Director Melissa Reardon and Founder and Artistic Director Emerita Jennifer Elowitch for an exclusive preview and celebration of PCMF's 30th anniversary summer season. Melissa and Jenny will be joined by 2023 Resident Artist Charles Overton, the first harpist ever accepted into Berklee's prestigious Global Jazz Initiative. Enjoy informal performances and conversation with extraordinary musicians, elegant refreshments from Bread & Butter Catering Company, and the company of fellow chamber music enthusiasts in a delightfully intimate setting. Attendance is limited, and all proceeds will benefit PCMF's artistic and youth access programs.

Summer Salon & Social

Cape Elizabeth

Celebrated around the world for their “edge-of-the-seat performances” (Boston Globe), PCMF Artistic Director Melissa Reardon is the newest member of the award-winning Borromeo String Quartet. This dazzling ensemble makes its PCMF debut with a program that runs the gamut of glorious string quartet sounds: from playful, gracious Haydn to a folk-infused fantasia by Bartók, to Debussy’s inventive, shimmering sensuality.

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Portland Chamber Music Festival

Cramer Quartet: Still Wat...

Classical Uprising

Winter Warmer II: Intimat...

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Portland Chamber Music Festival

Program IV: Grand Finale

Portland Chamber Music Festival

Program III: The Kreutzer...

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Portland Chamber Music Festival

Charles Overton Quartet

Portland Chamber Music Festival

Program I: First Impressi...

Portland Chamber Music Festival

Summer Salon & Social

Portland Chamber Music Festival

Borromeo String Quartet

Portland Chamber Music Festival