Community Engagement Residencies
Chamber Music Northwest is thrilled to host Community Engagement Residencies!
2026/27 EDUCATIONAL ARTIST RESIDENCIES
CMNW: UnChambered
ENSEMBLE-IN-RESIDENCE
November 16-18, 2026CMNW is excited to announce the return of our ECE Ensemble-in-Residence, CMNW: UnChambered, for the 2026/27 Year-Round Season! This trio welcomes back violinist Sunmi Chang, cellist Marilyn de Oliveira, and pianist Brian Hsu, who performed for a number of Portland-area communities last year. This year, they are returning for more concerts and educational opportunities, working with Milwaukie High School, Terwilliger Plaza, Portland Youth Philharmonic, St. Mary’s Home for Boys, and more!
Poiesis Quartet
VISITING ENSEMBLE RESIDENCY
February 8-12, 2027CMNW is thrilled to host an ECE residency with the Poiesis Quartet! The Poiesis Quartet is an accomplished chamber ensemble, having recently won the 2026 Cleveland Quartet Award and won the First Prize and Commission Prize at the 2025 prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition. Celebrated by The New York Times for their “multifaceted artistry” and “brilliantly idiomatic” programming, they will be visiting a number of communities around the Portland area on February 8 & 9 to perform and work with young musicians. Check in on this page for chances to see them perform yourself!
MEET THE MUSICIANS | 2006/27 ENSEMBLE-IN-RESIDENCE
CMNW: UnChambered
Sunmi Chang is an internationally acclaimed violinist and teacher who has performed in esteemed venues such as Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and the Royal Albert Hall. Sunmi is especially known as a chamber musician, winning first prize at the Plowman Chamber Music Competition and collaborating with artists such as Edward Arron, David Finckel, and Wu Han. Additionally, she has performed with high level organizations like Music@Menlo and the Caramoor Chamber Festival and was appointed a position in the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra from 2009-2015, the only full-time chamber orchestra in the US. As a teacher, Sunmi currently teaches as an assistant professor of violin at the University of Oregon, and has previously been on the teaching faculty at West Virginia University and at the Chamber Music Institute Program at Music@Menlo.
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Originally from Brazil, cellist Marilyn de Oliveira, has worked as the assistant principal cellist for the Oregon symphony since 2009. Studying at Indiana University and Rice University, Marilyn has performed with a number of groups and festivals, including the San Antonio Symphony, the Tanglewood Music Center, and a number of Chamber Music Northwest’s Summer Festivals! She also received the Bronze Award in the Sphinx Competition’s senior division in 2006 and plays in the chamber ensembles Mousai Remix (of which she is a founding member) and the Pyxis String Quartet. She currently teaches at Reed College as a cello instructor and has a private studio for high-level cello students. LEARN MORE
Noted by critics for his “breadth of expression and technical ability,” pianist Brian Hsu rounds out our ECE ensemble in residence! Brian has performed globally from North America to Asia to Europe to South Africa and has frequently appeared as a concerto soloist for groups including the Julliard Orchestra, the Taiwan National Symphony, the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, amongst others. As a chamber musician, he is a member of the piano trio Ensemble Peri and a founding member of Key 2 Inclusion, which seeks to promote and teach piano music written by under-represented composers. Brian is also deeply committed to educating the next generation of musicians. He currently works as an associate professor of piano for the University of Oregon and has worked as a teaching faculty member for the Eastern Music Festival, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and the Amalfi Coast Music Festival. LEARN MORE
MEET THE MUSICIANS | 2027 RESIDENCY
Poiesis Quartet
Derived from ancient Greek, the word Poiesis means “to make”; specifically, to create something that has never existed before. With a focus on expanding the string quartet repertoire with vibrant new works by emerging composers, the Poiesis Quartet infuses each performance with unique moments of synchronicity and verve. Their 2024 debut album ‘as we are’ on the “Bright Shiny Things” label, which features world premiere recordings with mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby, was lauded for the quartet’s “bottomless depth” (Cleveland Classical). Having had presented several world premieres of works by composers including Brian Raphael Nabors, Kitty Brazelton, and Cara Haxo, their commission of STring Quartet No. 7 ‘Surfacing’ by Chinese-Canadian composer Kevin Lau received its world premiere at the Chautauqua Institution in 2025. Furthermore, the Oberlin Commission Project (TOCP), an exciting new endeavor spearheaded by Poiesis, presents the world premieres of five newly commissioned works by LGBTQ+ composers of color from Oberlin Conservatory in March 2026. Most recently, Poiesis and the Caramoor Center commissioned and gave the world premiere of Jeff Scott’s Tapestry of the Beloved Beatified, honoring four queer revolutionaries.
The Poiesis Quartet is currently the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) studying under the Ariel Quartet. As graduates of Oberlin College & Conservatory, they were previously mentored by Sibbi Bernhardsson of the Pacifica Quartet and members of the Versona Quartet. As a multi-faceted ensemble, in addition to their performance degrees from Oberlin, members of the quartet also individually received formal education in disciplines such as chemistry, comparative American studies, feminist studies, baroque, and jazz. When not playing chamber music, Poiesis loves to learn new languages, share ice cream cakes, and take long walks on the beach. LEARN MORE
PAST ARTIST RESIDENCIES
Chamber Music Northwest has been fortunate to have worked with many artists from around the world for our educational and community programs. Many of these programs include musicians that are also performing for our mainstage concerts, but we also bring musicians to Portland for the sole purpose of working with our educational and community partners.
See below for information on some of the residences we’ve had in the past!
WindSync | March 13-15, 2025
CMNW welcomed WindSync back for another educational residency in March 2025. Including former CMNW Protégé clarinetist, Graeme Steele Johnson, WindSync has been embraced by critics for the versatility of their playing. Last year, WindSync captivated young audiences with performances of Peter and the Wolf—complete with costumes!—and interactive musical storytelling that encouraged kids to let their imagination run wild. Performing this act for audiences at the Tualatin Public Library and Powell’s City of Books, WindSync also performed a sensory friendly concert downtown at The Judy. This year, they will be returning to Portland March 13-15, 2025 to perform all over town, including a number of family-friendly options!
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Aeolus Quartet | April 1 & 2, 2025
The second 2025 residency featured the outstanding Aeolus Quartet! The quartet, which has been highly regarded for what The New York Times called their “dusky lyricism,” includes CMNW Summer Festival alumna Nicholas Tavani on violin and Oregon-native violist Caitlin Lynch. The quartet excels in innovative performances that include interactive and multi-disciplinary elements as well as new musical commissions. In addition to their impressive performance resume, Aeolus has also taught extensively through seminars, masterclasses, and coaching that has reached over 25,000 students. Their teaching will be on display this April, as they work with Portland-area university students!
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Catalyst Quartet | April 22-24, 2025
CMNW brought back the Catalyst Quartet to Portland in April! Serving as our Artists-in-Residence during the 2023 season, this Grammy Award-winning quartet has been described by the Lincoln Journal Star as having “perfect ensemble unity” with an “unequaled class of execution.” During their past Artist-in-Residency, Catalyst not only treated Portland audiences to exciting and virtuosic performances, they also worked with several members of our community. In addition to performances at bilingual schools like Mooberry Elementary and Free Orchards Elementary in Hillsboro, Catalyst held a mini-performance at Legacy Emanuel Hospital and for BRAVO Youth Orchestra’s after-school program at George Middle School. They also had the chance to work with some of our most talented young string players during a chamber music coaching with students from the Portland Youth Philharmonic. In their return to Portland, Catalyst will once again be working with some of our local young musicians as well as performing for CMNW’s benefit event.
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Anderson-Sasaki Duo – 2022 & 2023
The Anderson-Sasaki Duo is comprised of Portland-native, and former CMNW Protégé, violinist Rebecca Anderson and pianist Mika Sasaki. The 2021/22 season marked the beginning of the Anderson-Sasaki Duo’s three year residency with CMNW. Beginning in May 2022, Becky and Mika provided performances and presentations in collaboration with eight community partners, culminating in a free public recital at the end of the week. 2022 Community Partners, included: p:ear, Blanchet House, Reynolds Middle School orchestra, St. Mary’s Home for Boys, Our House of Portland, Mary’s Woods, Mirabella and PHAME.
Becky and Mika returned to Portland in May 2023 to engage once again with our community through music. We were very excited that many of our community partners were returning from the previous year—including Blanchet House (in collaboration with SoundsTruck NW), PHAME, St. Mary’s Home for Boys, Reynolds Middle School, Our House of Portland and p:ear! We also brought the duo to Milwaukie Community Center for a community concert and they performed on Thursdays@Three with All Classical. This residency also concluded with a free recital in East Portland.
Over the months prior to their arrival in Portland each year, the duo created digital musical postcards used to begin building relationships with the partners with whom they will be working. They also met with each partner virtually to discuss what would be most beneficial for their organization, and to adjust their program to fit each partner’s unique needs. The goal for this multi-year residency is to build long-term relationships with community partners and to engage a diverse cohort of organizations throughout the Portland area and beyond.
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Lyon-Sasaki Duo - 2024
In May 2024, pianist Mika Sasaki came back for her final community residency with Chamber Music Northwest, and she was joined by cellist Mitch Lyon. The Lyon-Sasaki Duo spent a week working with community partners, and their residency included two free community recitals! We were thrilled to work with many organizations over the course of this three year residency, including Blanchet House, p:ear and PHAME. The final year also included visits to Westmoreland Union Manor, Raphael House, BRAVO Youth Orchestras, and Junior Orchestra of Yamhill County
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Anna Lee, violin - 2023
In 2023, former CMNW Protégé violinist Anna Lee returned to Portland to work with some of the area’s youth music groups and give free concerts to community members! This visit was also in partnership with George Fox University in Newberg. Her residency opened with a visit to the Junior Orchestra of Yamhill County—an off-shoot of the El Sistema program—in Newberg and was accompanied by student musicians from George Fox University. After a few days working with students down in Newberg, she came up to Portland to for the wonderful residents of Rose Villa in a free concert with Portland pianist Yoko Greeney. She performed and presented during a rehearsal for Metropolitan Youth Symphony (MYS), and also taught a masterclass to several MYS students that was free and open to the public!
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Have questions or interested in more details about CMNW’s Education & Community Engagement programs?
Please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), Operations & Community Programs Director.