PCMF connects, inspires, and celebrates community through the uniquely intimate power of chamber music.

Schedule of Events:

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

5:00 PM: PCMF Insights: Charles Overton Artist Talk

Join us for this free event to hear how PCMF Resident Artist Charles Overton approaches improvising on the harp, and how his classical and jazz backgrounds have helped inform his musical voice. This moderated talk will include live demonstrations, with time at the end for an audience Q&A.

Location: Portland Conservatory of Music, 28 Neal St

Thursday, August 10, 2023

7:30 PM: Program I: First Impressions

At the age of 17 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor became fascinated by the music of Dvo?ák, with its American and African-American influences. At 19 he heard Brahms’s landmark Clarinet Quintet, and immediately set to work on his own, which is filled with lush, youthful extravagance, and—like much of his music—incorporates traditions from both his African and English heritage. Ravel’s highly original Piano Trio is an exquisite work of consummate lightness and stunning power, featuring gorgeous melodic lines, rhythmic complexity, and truly otherworldly beauty.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Clarinet Quintet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 10 (1895)

I. Allegro energico
II. Larghetto affetuoso
III. Scherzo. Allegro leggiero
IV. Finale. Allegro agitato

?Todd Palmer clarinet; Susie Park and Jennifer Elowitch, violins; Melissa Reardon, viola; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello

Maurice Ravel Piano Trio in A Minor (1914)
I. Modéré
II. Pantoum. Assez vif
III. Passacaille. Très large
IV. Final. Animé

Gabriela Diaz, violin; Brant Taylor, cello; Henry Kramer, piano

Location: Hannaford Hall, USM

Friday, August 11, 2023

8:00 PM: Charles Overton Quartet

PCMF’s 30th anniversary summer season expands with the Portland debut of the Charles Overton Quartet, a fascinating ensemble with the unusual instrumentation of concert grand harp, tenor saxophone, bass, and drums. The quartet will perform an evening of original tunes and jazz standards co-presented by the multi-disciplinary arts center SPACE.

Location: SPACE, 538 Congress St

Saturday, August 12, 2023

7:30 PM: Program II: Summer Dreams

Step right up for an utterly delightful mini musical summer vacation! First stop, a charming piece for piano four-hands evoking nature-related sounds and scenes of the English countryside, paired with a poetic, atmospheric quintet by a self-described “brazen Romantic.” Enjoy a taste of the jazzy flavors of Gershwin before jet-setting off to Bohemia for Dvo?ák’s masterful piano quartet, lending a folksy flair and rollicking vitality to this truly glorious adventure.

Amy Beach Summer Dreams, Op. 47 for Piano Four-Hands (1901)

?Benjamin Hochman and Henry Kramer, piano

?Arnold Bax Quintet for Harp and Strings (1919)

?Gabriela Diaz and Jennifer Elowitch, violins; Melissa Reardon, viola; Brant Taylor, cello; Charles Overton, harp

?George Gershwin (arr. Asti) Three Preludes for Clarinet and Piano (1926)

?Todd Palmer, clarinet; Henry Kramer, piano

Antonín Dvo?ák Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 87 (1889)
I. Allegro con fuoco
II. Lento
III. Allegro moderato, grazioso
IV. Allegro ma non troppo

?Susie Park, violin; Melissa Reardon, viola; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello; Benjamin Hochman, piano

Location: Hannaford Hall, USM

Thursday, August 17, 2023

7:30 PM: Program III: The Kreutzer Connection

Beethoven's "Kreutzer" Sonata, one of his most brilliant and popular works, has an extraordinarily intimate emotional intensity, which serves as a primary plot point of Tolstoy's controversial novella of the same name, by which the narrator is driven to murderous obsession. Janá?ek's string quartet, premiered 100 years ago, reflects on the psychological drama and obsessive qualities in Tolstoy's story. By intertwining these two landmark works with selected readings, this fascinating program dramatically illustrates the sources of artistic inspiration.

?Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47, "Kreutzer" (1802-1804)

?Anthony Marwood, violin; Andrew Armstrong, piano

Leo Tolstoy The Kreutzer Sonata (1889), selected readings

Walter van Dyk, narrator

?Leoš Janá?ek String Quartet No. 1, "Kreutzer Sonata" (1923)

?Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu and Kristin Lee, violins; Melissa Reardon, viola; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello

Location: Hannaford Hall, USM

Saturday, August 19, 2023

7:30 PM: Program IV: Grand Finale

This poetically lyrical program, infused with unforced virtuosity and memorable melodies, is the perfect way to spend a summer evening. The witty sophistication of Germaine Tailleferre, the only woman in the early 20th century group of French composers known as Les Six, sets up a fascinating contrast with a passionately dramatic trio rooted in Armenian folk music. PCMF’s 30th summer season concludes with Schubert’s sunny Octet, with its bountiful array of strings and winds, hummable tunes, and genial Viennese charm.

Germaine Tailleferre Image for Piano Four-Hands (1918)

?Diane Walsh and Andrew Armstrong, piano

?Arno Babadjanian Piano Trio in F-sharp Minor (1952)
I. Largo - Allegro espressivo
II. Andante
III. Allegro vivace

?Kristin Lee, violin; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello; Andrew Armstrong, piano

?~Pause~

?Franz Schubert Octet in F Major, D. 803 (1824)
I. Adagio – Allegro – Più allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegro vivace – Trio – Allegro vivace
IV. Andante – variations. Un poco più mosso – Più lento
V. Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio – Menuetto – Coda
VI. Andante molto – Allegro – Andante molto – Allegro molto

Anthony Marwood and Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, violins; Melissa Reardon, viola; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello; Anthony Manzo, bass; Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet; Gina Cuffari, bassoon; Zohar Schondorf, horn

Location: Hannaford Hall, USM

Fest Date: August 9 - 19, 2023

Locations:
Portland Conservatory of Music, 28 Neal Street, Portland, ME 04102
Space Gallery, 538 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
Hannaford Hall, Abromson Community Education Center, 88 Bedford St, Portland, ME 04101

Click here for more information.