Press

At a time when legions of musicians struggle to be heard, it may be hard to imagine – while it is crucial to remember – that extremists of various stripes have found music sufficiently threatening to silence it. This was the foundation of Saturday night's “Forbidden Music” at the Old Church by Portland chamber ensemble 45^th Parallel.

45^th Parallel offers chamber music with liberal doses of the unexpected. The Portland group has no problem attracting audiences for stately Baroque music, tart contemporary sounds, raucous drumming and music using body percussion. Not all on one concert, but spread over an entire season.

The chamber ensemble 45^th Parallel outdid themselves last Tuesday night at the Old Church in Portland, bringing together a crack team of local solo and ensemble string players – including Oregon Symphony concertmaster Sarah Kwak and principal cellist Nancy Ives, violist and renowned composer Kenji Bunch, and celebrated touring cellist and Portland State University professor Hamilton Cheifetz.

The players of the Oregon Symphony are unquestionably the hardest working musicians in town, and any moron who says otherwise can blow it out their skinny-jeaned ass. Case in point: Greg Ewer.

Polish-born Ida Haendel showed early brilliance as a violinist, winning competitions and earning a reputation for being as accomplished as Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern.

The Wednesday night pairing of the contemporary classical ensemble 45^th Parallel and the wry humor, musically and otherwise, of 3 Leg Torso was auspicious for lots of reasons, but mostly, I like the idea of merging the fragmented art music audience whenever possible.

Sometimes it’s called a violin, sometimes it’s called a fiddle. Violinists, one is taught, are serious people who go to conservatories to learn music in disciplined fashion; fiddlers are carefree folk who play the tunes of the people without pedigreed instruction.

Art and madness are staples of opera, so the life of sculptor Camille Claudel lends itself as an ideal subject. “Promise,” an operatic drama by actor, singer and composer Theresa Koon, makes a fair stab at her story.