The Oregon Symphony presents Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 'Italian' and Beethoven's Triple Concerto, performed by the Chien-Kim-Watkins Trio, as part of the Sounds Like Portland festival.
The Oregon Symphony brings Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on March 11, 13, and 14, 2027. Music Director Jean Vollum is on the podium for all three, and the program is a double bill of Mendelssohn and Beethoven, with a local fanfare to open the night.
Mendelssohn wrote the Italian Symphony while touring Italy, and it's easy to hear that trip in the music—it's known for its vaulting lyricism, brilliant orchestration, and a sizzling tarantella of a finale. It's paired here with Beethoven's Triple Concerto, Op. 56, which is handled by the Chien-Kim-Watkins Trio: Gloria Chien on piano, Soovin Kim on violin, and Paul Watkins on cello. The three of them also serve as the Artistic Directors of Chamber Music Northwest, so they're a regular fixture in the city's chamber scene.
Opening the evening is she flies with her own wings, a 2022 fanfare by Portland composer Kenji Bunch. He took the title from Oregon's state motto and wrote it as a celebration of independence and individual strength, so it's a local piece to start the night before the symphony moves into the classics. The whole thing is part of the Oregon Symphony's Sounds Like Portland festival, a series that brings voices from an expanded roster of local legends to the symphony stage.
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The venue is the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall at 1037 SW Broadway, which started as a grand movie palace and is now one of the city's most elegant stages. You've got three chances to catch it: Thursday, March 12, and Saturday, March 14, both at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, March 15, at 2:00 PM.
