World premiere of Trackings by Kenji Bunch!
Oregon premiere of Bounce by Adam Schoenberg!
Thursday, June 29, 2023, 5pm-10pm
Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA)
15 NE Hancock Street, Portland, OR 97212
Music by John Luther Adams, Toru Takemitsu, Meredith Monk, Adam Schoenberg, Karen Tanaka, Ian Gottlieb, Tomas Svoboda, Kirsten Volness, George Crumb, Michael Johanson, Bonnie Miksch, and Kenji Bunch
Performed by Portland Percussion Group, Stephen Kehner, Susan Smith, DUO Stephanie & Saar, Jeff Payne, Amelia Lukas, Niel DePonte, Maria Garcia, Yoko Greeney, and Pyxis Quartet
5pm: Dawn of Time
John Luther Adams: Drums of Winter
Portland Percussion Group
George Crumb: Processional
Stephanie Ho, piano
6pm: Not all who wander are lost
Meredith Monk: Trekking
DUO Stephanie and Saar
Kirsten Volness: Ghosts of Cascadia (MP 2022 Commission; Oregon Premiere)
DUO Stephanie and Saar
Kirsten Volness: Not all who wander are lost
Saar Ahuvia, piano
Adam Schoenberg: Olive Orchard
Stephanie Ho, piano
Adam Schoenberg: Bounce (Oregon Premiere)
DUO Stephanie and Saar
7pm: An Idyll for the Misbegotten
Toru Takemitsu: Towards the Sea
Amelia Lukas, flute
Stephen Kehner, percussion
Ian Gottlieb: Forever, My Grace
Chris Whyte, percussion
Garrett Arney, percussion
George Crumb: An Idyll for the Misbegotten
Amelia Lukas, flute
Portland Percussion Group
8pm: Manifest Destiny
Tomáš Svoboda: Suite for Piano Four-Hands, Op. 124
Jeff Payne, piano
Susan Smith, piano
Karen Tanaka: Three Water Dances
Yoko Greeney, piano
Tomáš Svoboda: Sonata No. 3, Op. 184
Susan Smith, piano
Michael Johanson: Catalyst
Yoko Greeney, piano
Susan Smith, piano
9:15pm: Alpenglow
Bonnie Miksch: I found this flower
Pyxis Quartet
Kenji Bunch: Trackings (commissioned by Niel DePonte; World Premiere)
Niel DePonte, percussion
Maria Garcia, piano
Pyxis Quartet
Migrant Voyage by Manuel Valera!
Abanico and Momentum by Tania León!
Sunday, June 26, 2022, 5pm-10pm
Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA)
15 NE Hancock Street, Portland, OR 97212
5:15pm Tres Mundos
Nathalie Joachim: Aware
José Pablo Moncayo: 3 pieces for piano Carlos Gaustavino: Popular Songs for piano
Martin Bejerano: Fantasia de Tres Mundos
Amelia Lukas, flute – Jeff Payne, piano – DUO Stephanie & Saar, pianos
6pm Migrant Voyage
Marcos Balter: Dreamcatcher
Tania León: Alma
Tania León: Abanico
Tania León: Momentum
Manuel Valera: Migrant Voyage
Amelia Lukas, flute – Yoko Greeney, piano – Ron Blessinger, violin – Jeff Payne, piano
DUO Stephanie & Saar, piano
7pm Musica Serrana
Angélica Negrón: Gone
Adina Izarra: El Amolador
Jessie Montgomery: Rhapsody #1
Gabriela Lena Frank: Sonata Serrana No. 1
Amelia Lukas, flute – Portland Percussion Group – Ron Blessinger, violin – Yoko Greeney and Susan Smith, piano
8:15pm Thank you, George
George Crumb: Two pieces from Makrokosmos I
George Crumb: Processional
Unsuk Chin: Two Etudes
Alexander Schwarzkopf: Synergy *World premiere
Stephanie Ho, piano – Susan Smith, piano – Alexander Schwarzkopf, piano
9pm Stress and Flow
Inti Figgis-Vizueta: Imago
Alejandro Viñao: Stress and Flow
Pyxis Quartet – Portland Percussion Group
“Sex, like race, is a visible, immutable characteristic bearing no necessary relationship to ability”. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Frontiero v Richardson
Makrokosmos Project 7: Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman celebrates the imagination and artistry of women composers from across the globe. This year we honor and celebrate the legacy of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who fought for women’s rights and equality throughout her extraordinary life.
A soft spoken Brooklynite of humble origins, RBG’s life was devoted to bringing equality and justice to women and men. At the Portland Japanese Garden on Tuesday, July 20th, the Justice’s own words will be spoken alongside the complete two-piano music of fellow New Yorker Meredith Monk in an extraordinary production titled “Obsolete Objects.”
Makrokosmos Project will present two events this summer with music by nineteen women composers.
On Thursday, June 24th you can experience “The Seasons” at the loading dock and parking lot of Portland Piano Company. This program will feature Black, White and Brown composers. Highlights include music by Pulitzer-prize winning composer Caroline Shaw, Galina Ustvolskaya, Jessie Montgomery, Carolyn Quick, among others.
On Tuesday, July 20th we will present “The Elements” at the stunning Portland Japanese Garden with music from composers of Asian descent. Highlights include compositions by the marimba master Keiko Abe, the intrepid Jazz phenom Hiromi, and the distinctive voices of Chen Yi and Karen Tanaka.
Limited seating and other restrictions will be in place for safety due to Covid-19.
Looking forward to seeing you at these concerts this summer!
Saar Ahuvia & Stephanie Ho, Artistic Directors
Hiromi
Meredith Monk
Jessie Montgomery
Juri Seo
Caroline Shaw
THE SEASONS
Thursday, June 24, 2021, 5pm
@ Portland Piano Company
PART I: 5pm-6:30pm
SUMMER SOLSTICE
Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman by Joan Tower (USA)
Saar Ahuvia, piano
Barcarola Latinoamericana by Gabriela Lena Frank (Peru-USA)
Saar Ahuvia, piano
Two Etudes by Courtney Bryan (USA)
Jeff Payne, piano
Voodoo Dolls by Jessie Montgomery (USA)
Pyxis Quartet
FALL FOLIAGE
Taxidermy by Caroline Shaw (USA)
Portland Percussion Group
Gustave Le Gray by Caroline Shaw (USA)
Stephanie Ho, piano
Entr’acte by Caroline Shaw (USA)
Pyxis Quartet
PART II: 7pm-8:30pm
WINTER ZEPHYRS
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot arranged by Florence Price (USA)
Julia Lee, piano
Troubled Water by Margaret Bonds (USA)
Julia Lee, piano
Piano Sonata No. 5 by Galina Ustvolskaya (Russia)
Jeff Payne, piano
So She Dreamed by Carolyn Quick (USA-Portland, OR)
Portland Percussion Group
SPRING JOURNEY
Complete Two Piano Works by Meredith Monk (USA) with words of men who knew and admired Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Robert McBride, speaker
Ellis Island – Obsolete Objects – Trekking – Phantom Strings – Totentanz – Tower – Urban March – Folk Dance – Parlour Games – Phantom Waltz
DUO Stephanie & Saar, pianos
THE ELEMENTS
Tuesday, July 20, 3pm
@ Portland Japanese Garden
WATER
Memories of the Seashore by Keiko Abe (Japan)
Mari Yoshinaga, marimba
Etude #4 Scalen by Unsuk Chin (Korea-Germany)
Susan Smith, piano
Bird Shadows by Haruna Miyake (Japan)
Stephanie Ho, piano
Green Tea Farm by Hiromi (Japan)
Monica Ohuchi, piano
Shui by Juri Seo (Korea-USA)
Portland Percussion Group
FIRE
BQE by Hiromi (Japan)
Monica Ohuchi, piano
Michi by Keiko Abe (Japan)
Brett Paschal, marimba
Techno Etudes by Karen Tanaka (Japan-USA)
Susan Smith, piano
China West Suite by Chen Yi (China-USA)
DUO Stephanie and Saar, pianos
AIR
I Leap Through the Sky With Stars by Alexina Louie (Canada-China)
Deborah Cleaver, piano
Wind in the Bamboo Grove by Keiko Abe (Japan)
Garrett Arney, marimba
Variations by Hyo-shin Na (Korea)
Alexander Schwarzkopf, piano
vv by Juri Seo (Korea-USA)
Portland Percussion Group
EARTH
Complete Two Piano Works by Meredith Monk (USA) with live story narration and
quotes by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ellis Island – Obsolete Objects – Trekking – Phantom Strings – Totentanz – Tower – Urban
March – Folk Dance – Parlour Games – Phantom Waltz
Stephanie Cordell, narrator
DUO Stephanie & Saar, pianos
*The Japanese Garden event is not open to the general public. It will be filmed in its entirety and broadcast at later dates. Stay tuned!*
Deborah Cleaver
Pyxis Quartet
Jeff Payne
Susan Smith
Portland Percussion Group
Julia Lee
Alexander Schwarzkopf
Monica Ohuchi
DUO Stephanie and Saar
Robert McBride
On Tuesday, February 4th at 7pm the hip New York City piano duo Stephanie & Saar will join the dynamic Portland Percussion Group for an unforgettable evening of musical performances paired with World of Speed cars!
Which Honda will be paired with Steve Reich’s Nagoya Marimbas? Want to hear music inspired by Hallelujah Junction, a truck stop on California Route 395? What does a vintage Ford and Meredith Monk’s Ellis Island have in common?
Featuring a brand new work by Miami Jazz pianist and composer Martin Bejerano inspired by car sounds & Prince’s Little Red Corvette.
Tickets: $15 advance, $20 day of the show, $10 students/seniors
Complimentary reception at 6pm; Concert at 7pm
FREE for World of Speed museum members
See you on 2/4. Buckle your seat belts!
Thursday, June 27th, 2019 from 5-10PM
Makrokosmos Project presents the complete piano music of Toru Takemitsu.
Experience the beauty and mystery of his evocative compositions in a rare opportunity to hear Japan’s greatest composer’s complete piano works. Takemitsu’s unique sound world, rich with colors, images and transcendence, is the perfect balance of Eastern and Western philosophies. In Takemitsu’s own words: “My music is like a garden, and I am the gardener.”
George Crumb’s Black Angels: Thirteen Images from the Dark Land defies all conventions of traditional string quartet writing. Composed in protest of the Vietnam War, Black Angels is an explosive ritual of wartime fears, strife and destruction. Prepare to be blown away by Ron Blessinger and the Pyxis Quartet!
Come experience the otherworldly sound of John Luther Adams’ Dark Waves for two pianos and electronics – a cautionary tale of rising sea levels and the endless beauty (and destruction) of the ocean.
Toru Takemitsu
George Crumb
John Luther Adams
5PM Vestas Happy Hour: Jeux d’eau
John Luther Adams: Dark Waves
Jacob Druckman: Reflections on the Nature of Water
DUO Stephanie & Saar, piano Paul Owen, marimba
6PM Les Yeux Clos: Toru Takemitsu complete solo piano music, Part I
Rain Tree Sketch
Uninterrupted Rests
Romance
Two Pieces for Children
Les Yeux Clos I
Les Yeux Clos II
Rain Tree Sketch II
Alexander Schwarzkopf, Lydia Chung, Julia Lee, Saar Ahuvia, piano
7PM Stars and Mountains
Gabriela Lena Frank: Seis Cantos de los Campos
Julia Wolfe: Compassion
Olivier Messiaen: Amen du désir
DUO Stephanie & Saar, piano
8PM Litany: Toru Takemitsu complete solo piano music, Part II
For Away
Litany I
Litany II
Piano Distance
Corona
Susan Smith, Jeff Payne, Deborah Cleaver, piano
9:15PM Black Angels
George Crumb: Black Angels: Thirteen Images from the Dark Land for Electric String Quartet
Pyxis Quartet – Ron Blessinger, violin Greg Ewer, violin Charles Noble, viola Marilyn de Oliveira, cello
DUO Stephanie and Saar
Paul Owen
Pyxis Quartet
Jeff Payne
Deborah Cleaver
Lydia Chung
Alexander Schwarzkopf
Susan Smith
Julia Lee
INFO:
Date: Thursday, June 27, 2019, 5PM-10PM
Venue: Vestas, 1417 NW Everett St, Portland, OR 97209
Pianos: Generously provided by the PHENOMENAL Portland Piano Company. The BEST in the business.
Food + Wine: The best Oregon has to offer!
Tickets: $15 advance, $20 day of show, $10 students and seniors. Ticket price includes complimentary food and wine!