PORTLAND, Ore. — Pub crawls are a time-honored tradition for those interested in checking out various watering holes into the wee hours of the morning, but they aren’t usually associated with the classical music scene. One of Portland’s intrepid ensembles, 45th Parallel Universe, expanded the pub-crawl experience into the classical-music realm on Nov. 9, taking concertgoers to three different venues for hour-long concerts devoted to all of the string quartets of Caroline Shaw.
The concert-crawl events were part of the Sounds Like Portland Festival, a three-week celebration of the city’s diverse musical talents. Shaw, the Pulitzer Prize– and Grammy Award-winning composer, moved to Portland a couple of years ago, adding to the bevy of local composers, including Kenji Bunch, Andy Akiho, Gabriel Kahane, Esperanza Spalding, Giancarlo Castro D’Addona, and David Schiff.
Founded in 2009, 45th Parallel Universe consists primarily of Oregon Symphony musicians. Two ensembles under the 45th Parallel umbrella, Mousai REMIX and the Pyxis Quartet, were featured in the crawl extravaganza.
The event began at Polaris Hall at noon with Mousai REMIX performing Punctum, Limestone & Felt, Evergreen, and Valencia. Soprano Madeline Ross joined the ensemble for “And So” and “Cant voi L’aube.” The next set of performances took place at a few miles away at the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation with Pyxis Quartet taking center stage. The program included Schisma, Microfictions, Ritornello 2.sq.2.j.a, and Blueprint.
I caught the final concert at Show Bar, a pub with a performance space that occupies part of the former Washington High School. Host Gabriel Kahane mentioned that the effort by 45th Parallel is the first time all of Shaw’s string quartets have been played in one day. Executive director Lisa Lipton asked how many in the audience went to all three concerts, and it seemed that at least two-thirds had imbibed in the complete Shaw-a-thon.
The Pyxis Quartet (violinists Greg Ewer and Ron Blessinger, violist Maia Hoffman, and cellist Trevor Fitzpatrick) began the concert with Entr’acte. The opening ostinato had a soothing quality, but the whispery and pizzicato sections were marred by voices of diners in the bar. Fortunately, no one talked during the series of sighing sounds, which gave the piece a bit of levity.
Shaw’s Plan and Elevation, written in honor of the 75th anniversary of Dumbarton Oaks, evoked the beauty of the gardens that surround the estate in Washington, D.C. The first movement, “Ellipse,” suggested calm and contemplation. The second, “The Cutting Garden,” offered a variety of colors, and the third, “The Herbaceous Border,” moved between a serenity and wildness. “The Orangery” fluttered with up-and-down arpeggios, and “The Beech Tree” wrapped up the piece with a stately reflection. Again, sounds from the bar interfered at times, but that didn’t stop concertgoers from enjoying the music.
Mousai REMIX (violinists Shin-young Kwon and Ruby Chen, violist Hoffman, and cellist Marilyn de Oliveira) followed with Three Essays. “Nimrod” took listeners on a sonic adventure with lots of twists and turns, from introspective moments to elongated slurring sounds. “Echo” groaned with creaking and gnawing sounds that slid into chords and later to a series of glassy tones suggesting a tree growing from the roots to the sky. “Ruby” had a delightfully wild side that was intoxicating.
Shaw came to center stage to thunderous applause and spoke of her appreciation for the audience. Her effervescent personality conveyed a cheerfulness and warmth, and she said that she wanted to meet everyone.
She invited the Pyxis Quartet back to the stage, and with Mousai REMIX launch into one of her pieces, “Other Song.” Shaw’s clear and bright voice delivered a sense of hope.
There is an intimacy to Shaw’s music that is better suited for purpose-built concert halls than for pub spaces. The amplification at the Show Bar helped to put the music across, but the extraneous noise that occasionally infiltrated the space reduced the emotional depth. Yet all three of the pub-crawl concerts were sold out. So that might encourage more performances in unorthodox venues. Cheers!
