Kick off our 2026–27 season, Better Together, with one of our most beloved garden traditions: the Musical Tasting Menu. Violinist Ron Blessinger and cellist Marilyn de Oliveira put together the menu — and the audience chooses what we play, making every performance a one-of-a-kind collaboration between the musicians and the room. Intimate chamber music, community, and Portland’s late-summer beauty — the perfect way to launch a season built on artistic partnership.

Curated by Greg Ewer, this Garden Concert series continues with an intimate evening of chamber music in one of Portland’s most inviting backyard settings in the Irvington neighborhood. This concert series features the entirety of Wood Works, a collection of Nordic folk tunes arranged for string quartet by the Danish String Quartet, one of the great ensembles of our time. Published and released in May 2014, this collection quickly captured the hearts of quartets and audiences worldwide, and has already taken its place among the most influential repertoire of the 21st century.

Join us high above the city for a sunset concert featuring wind ensemble repertoire in the breathtaking setting of Lux Perennials. With sweeping views and lush surroundings, this program celebrates the nearly forgotten but thoroughly delightful tradition known as Harmoniemusik. This once-popular concert format featured popular works in arrangements for pairs of reeds and horns, and was often performed outdoors. 45^th Parallel performer James Shields presents a program celebrating his love of Mozart’s operas.

From the mind of Karen Wagner: Britten, Mozart, and American standards announced from the stage.

We close out our garden season with one final outdoor gathering before we head indoors for fall. This intimate concert celebrates the connection and community that have made our garden series a Portland favorite, pairing exceptional musicianship with the simple pleasures of a September evening and one of our favorite restaurants in the city. Join us in the Nostrana Garden, adjacent to Nostrana proper, for showstopping music, unparalleled wines, and the last gasp of outdoor wonder before the fall.

Step into a slippery world where the line between truth and fiction is all in the packaging. It’s 1936, and a pair of passionate filmmakers have landed their next big project: a sweeping Spanish Civil War film with the potential to change American hearts and minds. It just happens to be bankrolled by the KGB. Spain by Jen Silverman is a seductive and tense thriller about the power of art to change the world – for better and for worse.

As part of the Literary Arts Book Fest, 45^th Parallel Universe joins local musicians who are also writers to embark on a unique concert experience. Music is more than just an aural language - it is a multitude of communication modes and literacies. Sight Reading features world-renowned songwriters translating between dialects in real time: the written language of music (usually expressed on staff), oral / aural traditions and “playing by ear” come together to work with 45^th Parallel Universe musicians as they perform newly-created arrangements of songs by musicians who write their music in a variety of ways.

The Pyxis Quartet’s Portland School III continues an ongoing conversation about what it means to compose from this place. Featuring works by Tomas Svoboda, Charles Rose, Nicole Buetti, and Jennifer Wright, the program also marks the premiere of Habitat, a new short film by animator Zak Margolis and composer Nancy Ives – the first chapter of House of Scordatura’s Animated Oregon anthology. An evening about Portland’s creative inheritance, and where it’s headed.

Trevor Fitzpatrick leads a swinging holiday follow-up featuring Duke Ellington’s jazz-infused reimagining of The Nutcracker, performed by six cellos and drums. This inventive take on a seasonal classic blends Tchaikovsky’s beloved melodies with Ellington’s unmistakable rhythmic brilliance.

One of our most eclectic evenings of the season, the Variety Show brings together an irresistible mix of artists and styles in one unforgettable night. Featuring cello sextet, klezmer clarinets, vocalists Abbe Drake and Zach Galatis, solo instrumentalists, and special guest Jim Brunberg, this concert celebrates musical curiosity, collaboration, and joyful unpredictability.

Celebrate the season with a warm and nostalgic evening of holiday favorites featuring our renowned cello ensemble. From selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker to French Christmas music and beloved traditional carols, this festive concert invites audiences to gather in the glow of familiar sounds and seasonal cheer.

Arcturus presents Janáček’s Mládí and Hindemith’s Septet. This program, featuring the winds and brass of 45^th Parallel, pairs two masterpieces of musical maturity, written by composers at the height of their creative powers.

mousai REMIX returns with a bold and imaginative chamber program: string quartets by Eleanor Alberga and Beethoven. Known for inventive programming and dynamic performance, this ensemble continues to champion collaboration, curiosity, and musical discovery.

In partnership with All Classical Radio, this genre-defying program explores experimental sound, performance, and collective listening. Featuring Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together, Tom Johnson’s Failing, a Very Difficult Piece for Bass, and Bora Yoon’s Casual Miracles — music that is provocative, playful, and deeply communal.

For centuries, musicians have been known to develop an occasional wayward eye toward music written for other instruments. Violists play the Bach Cello Suites. Orchestras can’t get enough of Ravel’s orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition, originally written for solo piano. Greg Ewer and Zach Galatis host a program centered around Sergei Prokofiev’s famous Sonata for Flute (wait, don’t you mean violin?) and Piano. Join them for a unique, lighthearted take on the tradition of “musical jealousy.”