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. These beloved performances offer audiences a rare chance to experience world-class musicians just feet away, surrounded by conversation, community, and the warmth of a Portland late summer evening.

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 performers James Shields, Kai Rocke, and Joseph Berger will present a program celebrating their shared love of Mozart’s operas.

A playful and accessible evening of audience favorites, this show blends familiar melodies, lighthearted repertoire, and the joyful spirit of live performance. With mixed ensembles you don’t see as frequently, this concert was curated by the brilliant Karen Wagner.

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.

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, and Nicole Buetti, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”