When one thinks of Miami’s music, club beats and electronica come to mind. Los Angeles’ music scene is overflowing with gangsta rap and teen pop. Chicago hardcore and jazz are still great reasons to visit the Windy City.
For Portland, there is no solid answer regarding its defining genre. Ask 10 people which sound dominates our music scene, and you’ll hear 10 different answers. The City of Roses cuts a wide swath with its acoustic-guitar indie folksters, dance-pop synth masters, witty lyric-spitting MCs and same-four-chords rockers with gutter-punk fashion senses.
Portland has other musical offerings, however. Several outfits in town play concert series and provide audiences with classical performances that stir the soul and captivate the imagination—without relying on modern trickery to do so.
Here are a few examples of Portland’s refined music scene. If you’ve yet to attend a performance by one of these groups, it’s worth getting tickets to their next event to see for yourself just how inspiring and beautiful their work is.
Portland Symphonic Choir
www.pschoir.org
Next event: Portland Symphonic Choir goes Hollywood!
Sat., May 22, 7:30 p.m.,
Sun. May 23, 2:30 p.m.
Scottish Rite Hall, 709 SW 15th Ave.
The Portland Symphonic Choir was established in 1945 and includes more than 130 vocalists conducted by Steven Zopfi, hailed as one of the leading conductors in the Pacific Northwest. The nonprofit organization works with various choir programs throughout the city, and they formed the Portland Symphonic GirlChoir and BoyChoir—groups dedicated to recruiting young vocalists—in 1989 and 1994, respectively.
Their next concert will feature pieces from popular Broadway shows and include the entire choir, with multiple ensembles during the performance. Tickets start at $25 and the Scottish Rite Hall is a short walk from campus, so be sure to check them out next weekend.
Gay Men’s Chorus
www.pdxgmc.org
Next event: Music from the Heartland
Sat., June 19, 7:30 p.m.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway
Mark Richards formed the Gay Men’s Chorus in the spring of 1980, and about 120 members currently participate in performances around Oregon. They strive to provide an environment that is supportive of diversity, and to address homophobia and HIV-related issues.
The group’s next performance is scheduled during Portland Pride Week, on the weekend before summer classes begin, and will conclude their 30th season in tandem with the Heartland Men’s Chorus. More than 250 vocalists will perform, and tickets start at $16.
Oregon Symphony
www.orsymphony.org
Next Event: Beethoven’s Piano Concertos
May 15–17, 7:30 p.m.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway
This group is the sixth-oldest major orchestra in the nation and features 76 full-time musicians. The Oregon Symphony was officially formed in 1967 though its predecessor, the Portland Symphony Society, formed in 1896. They now operate with a $15 million budget and their annual attendance is 225,000 per season.
Music Director Carlos Kalmar will conduct three nights of Beethoven concertos this weekend, starting with No. 2 on Saturday, followed by Nos. 1 and 4 on Sunday and ending with Nos. 3 and 5 Monday. Tickets start at $42 and range up to $282, but if you have the bucks, it’s a worthwhile investment to catch at least one night of perhaps the finest piano music ever composed.
Portland Baroque Orchestra
www.pbo.org
Next event: Four Orchestral Suites by J.S. Bach
May 14–15, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., May 16, 4 p.m.
First Baptist Church, 909 SW 11th Ave.
The Portland Baroque Orchestra emerged during the 1980s and this season is Artistic Director Monica Huggett’s 14th with the group. Nearly 40 performers are currently associated with PBO and they have performed more than a dozen concert series this season.
The next PBO performance is tonight and runs through the weekend, and students can buy tickets for $18. PBO’s own principal oboist Gonzalo Ruiz will perform a Bach selection traditionally performed on the flute, without the brass sections usually included with the piece.
Portland Opera
www.portlandopera.org
Next event: The Barber of Seville
Sat., May 15, 7:30 p.m.
Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St.
The Portland Opera came together in 1964 and works with an in-house orchestra to bring operatic productions to the City of Roses. Christopher Mattaliano, who has directed productions for the New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera and L’Opera de Montreal, has been the general director since 2003 after directing five Portland Opera productions.
Their final performance of the season takes place tomorrow, and tickets start at $20. It’s a humorous-yet-lovely opera exploring the conceits of love as sung in Italian, though there will be English subtitles to help those not fluent in the native tongue.