Montgomery’s “Banner” will Stream from CMNW

Jupiter String Quartet players Nelson Lee, Liz Freivogel, Meg Freivogel, and Daniel McDonough (photograph by Sarah Gardner, courtesy of Jensen Artists)

Next month Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW) will present a “double-barreled” festival. A “live” series of concerts will be held in Kaul Auditorium on the campus of Reed College between Thursday, July 1, and Sunday, July 25. All performances will be professionally recorded for the “at-home” version of the festival, which will take place with a two-week delay. In other words the “virtual festival” will be available for viewing between Thursday, July 15, and Saturday, August 7. (With one exception, all programs will be performed on two consecutive days.)

One of the concerts in this series may be of interest to local readers, because it will provide a second opportunity to listen to music that was performed by the San Francisco Symphony last week. That composition was Jessie Montgomery’s “Banner,” composed in 2014 for a string ensemble with solo parts for all section leaders. In other words the solos will be taken by a string quartet augmented with a bass. The ensemble for the CMNW festival will be the East Coast Chamber Orchestra; and, with the exception of the bass, the solo parts will be taken by the members of the Jupiter String Quartet. Readers may recall that this is somewhat of a “family” quartet. The violinists are Nelson Lee and Meg Freivogel, and the violist is Meg’s older sister Liz. In addition, the cellist is Meg’s husband, Daniel McDonough.

The program will begin with Edward Elgar’s Opus 20 serenade for string ensemble in E minor. The Montgomery selection will be followed by “Where Springs Not Fail,” composed in 2015 by Hanna Benn. The concluding selection will be Béla Bartók’s divertimento for string orchestra.

Streaming will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 17; and the performance will remain available for streaming until Tuesday, August 31. Currently, admission is only available through purchase of the AT-HOME Summer Festival Pass. The price is $150 for the household. Streaming will be provided through both Vimeo and the CMNW Web site. All videos will be password-protected, and the password will be provided through electronic mail. Tickets for streaming single concerts will be available through the same Web site beginning on Friday, July 9.