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NEW@NIGHT: “Lost Freedom: A Memory”

NEW@NIGHT: “Lost Freedom: A Memory”

Following its sold-out performance at Portland Japanese Garden last season, CMNW is thrilled to share Oregon composer/violist Kenji Bunch’s and George Takei’s Lost Freedom: A Memory once again, for a larger audience.

Inspired by autobiographical accounts of the incarceration of Japanese American citizens in World War II, Lost Freedom: A Memory weaves together music and spoken word in a profound exploration of a chilling time in American history. Classical and Broadway star Christòpheren Nomura narrates Takei’s story, detailing the plight of American citizens forced from their homes and incarcerated in desolate prison camps thousands of miles away. This special evening of new music and conversation will also include recent works by Steven Banks, Paul Wiancko, and Giovanni Sollima.

Alberta Rose Theatre
Wednesday, 7/8 • 7:00 pm

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Program

Click on any piece of music below to learn more about it.

PAUL WIANCKO “American Haiku”

PAUL WIANCKO (b. 1983) American Haiku (9’)

GIOVANNI SOLLIMA “Lamentatio”

GIOVANNI SOLLIMA (b. 1962) Lamentatio (5’)

STEVEN BANKS “Surrender”

STEVEN BANKS (b. 1993) Surrender (4.5’)

KENJI BUNCH “Lost Freedom: A Memory”

KENJI BUNCH (b. 1973) Lost Freedom: A Memory

Following my performance of my solo viola work Minidoka at the Moab Festival in 2019, Michael Barrett, the festival’s artistic director, conceived the idea of a larger-scaled work for narrator and chamber ensemble, further telling the story of the illegal wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans—a story which had reached the outskirts of Moab itself, where a prison camp (Moab Isolation Center) had been hastily set up for “troublemaker” detainees. The result was Lost Freedom: A Memory, a collaborative work with original text by George Takei and my original music. I worked closely with George and Michael to arrive at this work, in which George tells his very personal account of his early childhood experiences behind the barbed wire fences of incarceration. Scored for string quartet, piano, and percussion, the work was premiered in September 2021 at the Moab Music Festival.

—© Kenji Bunch

Artists

Steven Banks Steven Banks Saxophone

As a performer and composer, saxophonist Steven Banks (b. 1993) is striving to bring his instrument to the heart of the classical music world. He is driven to program and write music that directly addresses aspects of the human experience and is an active and intentional supporter of diverse voices in the future of concert music. Rick Perdian of Seen and Heard International has said “one senses that Banks has the potential to be one of the transformational musicians of the twenty-first century.”

Banks is establishing himself as a compelling and charismatic soloist and in 2022, he was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and was a chosen artist for WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab. He was the first saxophonist to be awarded First Prize at the Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions. Critics have consistently recognized Banks for his warm yet glowing tone, well-crafted and communicative musical expression, and deft technical abilities.

Banks has appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Utah Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Aspen Festival Orchestra, and has enjoyed working with such conductors as Franz Welser-Most, Xian Zhang, Nicholas McGegan, Rafael Payare, John Adams, Peter Oundjian, Jahja Ling, Matthias Pintscher, Alain Altinoglu, and Roderick Cox.

In recital, he has appeared across the USA at the San Francisco Symphony’s Spotlight Series at Davies Hall, Merkin Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Kravis Center, and Festival Napa Valley with his collaborative partner, pianist Xak Bjerken. A keen chamber musician, Banks has appeared at Spoleto Festival USA, Chamber Music Chicago, and the Aspen Music Festival, and was the first Artist-in-Residence of the Skaneateles Festival from 2023-2024. He has collaborated with the Borromeo and St. Lawrence string quartets and will work with the Dover and Verona quartets in the coming seasons. He is a founding member of the Kenari Quartet, an all-saxophone ensemble that performs regularly together offering inspiring and uplifting compositions and arrangements. As baritone saxophonist of Kenari, Steven won First Prize at the inaugural M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition and has garnered two silver medals from the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Their album, French Saxophone Quartets, was released in 2016 on the Naxos label.

In 2023 and 2024, Banks premiered and toured with a commissioned concerto from Grammy-winning composer Billy Childs. The nine co-commissioning orchestras are the Kansas City Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, Chautauqua Institution, New World Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, and San Diego Symphony, with Young Concert Artists being the tenth partner in the consortium. The three-movement, 20-minute concerto explores aspects of the African American experience in America and takes inspiration from such poets as Nayyirah Waheed, Claude McKay, and Maya Angelou.

As a composer, Banks has been commissioned by such organizations as Young Concert Artists, WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab, Latitude 49, Yale University’s Project 14 Initiative, and Northwestern University’s Saxophone Ensemble. Jarrett Hoffman of Cleveland Classical has said that his music showcases “a unique and ambitious blend of feelings and sounds” and portrays “a deep intimacy” and “a sense of vulnerability.” His work for alto saxophone and string quartet, Cries, Sighs and Dreams, was premiered in May 2022 at Carnegie Hall with the Borromeo Quartet. His work for solo piano, Fantasy on Recurring Daydreams, was premiered by Zhu Wang in April 2023. Banks’s works are published by Murphy Music Press.

An advocate for diversity and inclusion in music education and performance, Banks was part of the TEDx NorthwesternU 2017 conference presenting his dynamic approach to overcoming institutionalized prejudices against women and people of color. In addition, he has written about and given lectures on the history of black classical composers. In collaboration with Anthony Trionfo and Randall Goosby, the Learning to Listen roundtable was created to discuss the nuances of the Black experience in classical music and beyond. In partnership with the Sphinx Organization, they also created the Illuminate! series, which opened three essential conversations on the subject of music education, artist activism, and the LGBTQIA+ community in classical music.

Banks serves as Saxophone and Chamber Music Faculty and Artist-in-Residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He was previously Assistant Professor of Saxophone at both Ithaca College and the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, and held the Jackie McLean Fellowship at the University of Hartford. His own primary saxophone teachers have been Taimur Sullivan, Otis Murphy Jr., and Galvin Crisp. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, as well as a Master of Music degree from the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music.

Banks is an endorsing artist for Conn-Selmer instruments, D’Addario Woodwinds, lefreQue Sound Solutions, and Key Leaves.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Kenji Bunch Kenji Bunch Composer & Viola

Kenji Bunch writes music that looks for commonalities between musical styles, for understandings that transcend cultural or generational barriers, and for empathic connections with his listeners. Drawing on vernacular musical traditions, an interest in highlighting historical injustices and inaccuracies, and techniques from his classical training, Bunch creates music with a unique, personal vocabulary that appeals to a diverse array of performers and audiences. With his work frequently performed worldwide and recorded numerous times, Bunch considers his current mission the search for and celebration of shared emotional truths about the human experience from the profound to the absurd, to help facilitate connection and healing through entertainment, vulnerability, humor, and joy.

As the first student to receive dual graduate degrees in viola and composition from The Juilliard School, Mr. Bunch has been widely recognized for his groundbreaking works for viola, and remains active as an innovative performer, comfortable in traditional, experimental, and improvisational musical contexts. He currently serves as artistic director of the new music group Fear No Music and is deeply committed to music education in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his wife, pianist Monica Ohuchi, their two children, and two dogs.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

  • NEW@NIGHT: “Lost Freedom: A Memory”  (currently selected)
Sergio Carreno Sergio Carreno Percussion

Sergio Carreno joined the Oregon Symphony as a member of the percussion section in 2012. Hailing from Miami, FL, Sergio developed an eclectic musical taste which has led to collaboration with symphony orchestras, theater productions, dance companies, chamber music ensembles, and Latin, rock, and jazz bands.

Sergio has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony, among others. He toured the U.S. several times with the Dallas Brass, and has appeared as a soloist with the Oregon Symphony and the New World Symphony. Sergio was a New World Symphony fellow for four seasons under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, with whom he performed in Europe, South America, New York’s Carnegie Hall, and on PBS Great Performances. He holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, a student of Timothy Adams Jr. 

Sergio is married to Oregon Symphony violinist Lisbeth Carreno, and together they enjoy trying to keep up with Portland’s ever-growing food scene.


Upcoming Concerts & Events

  • NEW@NIGHT: “Lost Freedom: A Memory”  (currently selected)
Gloria Chien Gloria Chien Piano & Artistic Director

Taiwanese-born pianist Gloria Chien has one of the most diverse musical lives as a noted performer, concert presenter, and educator. She made her orchestral debut at the age of sixteen with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard, and she performed again with the BSO with Keith Lockhart. She was subsequently selected by The Boston Globe as one of its Superior Pianists of the year, “who appears to excel in everything.” In recent seasons, she has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, the Dresden Chamber Music Festival, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2009, she launched String Theory, a chamber music series in Chattanooga, Tennessee that has become one of the region’s premier classical music presenters. The following year she was appointed director of the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo, a position she held for the next decade.

In 2017, she joined her husband, violinist Soovin Kim, as artistic director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont. The duo became artistic directors at Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon in 2020. They were named recipients of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Award for Extraordinary Service in 2021 for their efforts during the pandemic.

Most recently, Gloria was named Advisor of the newly launched Institute for Concert Artists at the New England Conservatory of Music. Gloria released two albums—her Gloria Chien LIVE from the Music@Menlo LIVE label and Here With You with acclaimed clarinetist Anthony McGill on Cedille Records.

Gloria received her bachelor, master’s, and doctoral degrees at the New England Conservatory of Music with Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman. She is Artist-in-Residence at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, and she is a Steinway Artist.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Jennifer Frautschi Jennifer Frautschi Violin

Two-time Grammy nominee and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient violinist Jennifer Frautschi has appeared as soloist with innumerable orchestras such as the Cincinnati Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and St Paul Chamber Orchestra. She is an artist-member of the Boston Chamber Music Society and has appeared as chamber musician at Chamber Music Northwest, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, La Jolla Summerfest, Music@Menlo, Tippet Rise Art Center, Toronto Summer Music, and the Bridgehampton, Cape Cod, Charlottesville, Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, Moab, Ojai, Salt Bay, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Spoleto Festivals. Her extensive discography for the Albany, Artek, and Naxos labels includes the Stravinsky Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerti with the Seattle Symphony. Born in Pasadena, California, Jennifer attended the Colburn School, Harvard, the New England Conservatory, and the Juilliard School. She performs on a 1722 Antonio Stradivarius violin known as the “ex-Cadiz,” on generous loan from a private American foundation with support from Rare Violins in Consortium. She teaches in the graduate program at Stony Brook University.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Alexander Hersh Alexander Hersh Cello

A top laureate of the 2024 Naumburg International Cello Competition, Alexander Hersh is widely recognized as one of the most creative and versatile cellists of his generation. Praised for his 2022 Carnegie Hall debut recital, he has appeared as soloist with major orchestras including the Houston Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Symphony, and Boston POPS, and received top prizes from the Pro Musicis International Award, Astral Artists National Auditions, and Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant.

An avid chamber musician, Hersh has toured with Musicians from Marlboro and performed at leading festivals, including Marlboro, Chamber Music Northwest, Ravinia, Caramoor, Music@Menlo, Lucerne, and IMS Prussia Cove. He is Co-Artistic Director of NEXUS Chamber Music, an artist-led collective dedicated to breaking down the barriers for how classical music is experienced through intimate performances, multimedia projects, and new commissions.

His debut album, ABSINTHE (2023) received critical acclaim, and he was recently featured on PBS’s Now Hear This series in an episode exploring the music of Boccherini.

A fourth-generation string player, Hersh’s parents are both active professional violinists; his grandfather, Paul Hersh, taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for 49 years and his great-grandfather, Ralph Hersh, was a member of the WQXR and Stuyvesant String Quartets and Principal Violist of the Dallas and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras.

Raised in Chicago, Hersh began playing the cello at the age of five. He received his B.M. and M.M. from New England Conservatory and continued his studies in Berlin at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik. His teachers have included Laurence Lesser, Hans Jørgen Jensen, Kim Kashkashian, Nicolas Altstaedt, and Paul Katz. He plays a G.B. Rogeri cello, courtesy of Guarneri Hall NFP and Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins. In his spare time he composes original music and creates short films that marry classical music with narrative, viewable on his YouTube channel: @AlexanderHersh.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Christòpheren Nomura Christòpheren Nomura Narrator

Christòpheren Nomura stands at the forefront of his generation of singers. Since making his New York City debut, he has performed throughout the world, hailed as one of classical music’s “rising stars” by the Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Nomura has earned a prominent place on the operatic, concert, and recital stages, appearing with many of the leading North American orchestras, in wide-ranging repertoire: the Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and the Boston Pops under internationally renowned conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, James Conlon, Sergiu Comissiona, Christof Perick, Roger Norrington, Christopher Hogwood, Ton Koopman, Bruno Weil, Paul Goodman, Jane Glover, Andrew Parrott, and Nicholas McGegan.

He has become a regular guest artist with a number of orchestras including the Pacific Symphony Orchestra under Carl St. Clair, the North Carolina Symphony with Grant Llewellyn, and the National Philharmonic. In 2006, he sang the title role in the premiere of Philip Glass’s The Passion of Ramakrishna for the Pacific Symphony’s inaugural concerts in Segerstrom Concert Hall, reprised and recorded there in 2011. He also gave the premiere of Alva Henderson’s From Greater Light with the Pacific Symphony in 2009. That season brought the first of several appearances with the Oregon Bach Festival in Haydn’s Creation under Helmuth Rilling. His debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah brought a return engagement in the 2012-13 season. 2015-16 brought his first musical theater performances in the role of Tatsuo Kimura in Allegiance, which ran on Broadway with George Takei, Lea Salonga, and Telly Leung. Other recent performances include Bach’s B Minor Mass with Dawn Upshaw at the Cartagena International Festival, his debut with Boston’s Discovery Ensemble in Martin’s Jedermann Monologues, and the premiere of Songs of War & Loss by Anthony Plog, a commission for Nomura and the American Brass Quintet which was reprised for his Aspen Festival debut. Highlights of 2018 include a reprise of Philip Glass’s The Passion of Ramakrishna with the Pacific Symphony and Handel’s Esther with Music of the Baroque.

A noted Bach and early music specialist, Christòpheren Nomura has been a frequent performer with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Oregon Bach Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, Music of the Baroque, Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival, Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Early Music Festival, Boston Baroque, and the Berkshire Choral Festival. He has performed with Apollo’s Fire, Tafelmusik, and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. His collaborations with such ensembles as the S’Kampa, Boromeo, Brentano, and St. Lawrence String Quartets and pianists Martin Katz, Dalton Baldwin, Charles Wadsworth, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and William Bolcom have brought him to the leading American Chamber Music Festivals in Santa Fe, Marlboro, Tanglewood, La Jolla, Spoleto, Music@Menlo, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

In the realm of opera, Mr. Nomura is a noted Mozartean, known for his portrayals of Don Giovanni, Papageno in The Magic Flute, the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro and Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte. He sang Papageno for his debut with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Cosi fan tutte for his Hawaii Opera debut, and the Count in Figaro for his Opera Carolina debut. He has likewise had a strong association with Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. He was Prince Yamadori in the SONY film codirected by Martin Scorsese and Frédéric Mitterand, conducted by James Conlon, and appeared in Butterfly for his debuts with the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, Dallas Opera, and Cincinnati Opera.

Known for his deep commitment to the art of the recital, he has given more than 250 recitals throughout North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. He has appeared at Lincoln Center, the “Making Music” series at Carnegie Hall, the Celebrity Series in Boston, Ravinia, the John F. Kennedy Center, and the Vancouver Recital Society. He was Artist-in-Residence with San Francisco Performances for four seasons.

Among many other notable performances, Mr. Nomura made his Broadway debut in 2015 in Allegiance, the musical with George Takei and Lea Salonga. He was invited to sing Bernstein’s Mass at the Vatican for the “Jubilee Year” in 2000, performing before an audience of 15,000 in the Salla Nervi and simulcast to some 200,000 people in Vatican Square.

Christòpheren Nomura’s discography includes recordings on the Sony, Dorian, Teldec, London, Denon, TDK, and L’oiseau Lyre labels. His recording of the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 on Telarc was nominated for a Grammy (Best Classical Ensemble Recording). He recorded Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin for Well-Tempered Productions and Never Broken, a solo recording of contemporary compositions, for Center Stage Records. All Is Bright with Grant Llewellyn and the Handel and Haydn Society made the Billboard classical charts and was named Musicweb International’s “Recording of the Month.” Stefania de Kenessey: Gotham Siren was released by North/South Recordings in 2015. He appears on the original Broadway cast album of Allegiance released in January 2016 and in the hi-definition video broadcasts in movie theaters throughout the world in 2016-2017.

Under the recommendation of longtime teacher and mentor, Phyllis Curtin, Mr. Nomura held a teaching position at Boston University for two years (1993-1995) but had to step away to pursue his demanding singing schedule. Since then, however, he has served as Artist-in-Residence for such performance organizations as Young Concert Artists (1990-1995) and San Francisco Performances (1995-2000), giving masterclasses throughout the United States for various high schools, universities (Duke University, University of San Francisco, University of Maryland, University of Southern California, among others), and music festivals (Berkshire Choral Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Cartagena (Colombia) Music Festival, Takefu (Japan) Music Festival, Tucson Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival, among others). One of Mr. Nomura’s many highlights was working with the organization Poetry in the Schools to bring classical music to inner-city high school students throughout San Francisco for a five-year Reader’s Digest grant through San Francisco Performances. This program gave him the opportunity to return to the same students four times a year for four years to build a program of music combining the poetry of the students with his improvisational vocal contributions. Mr. Nomura has also had a private studio of vocalists who have gone on to sing in such programs as Westminster Choir College, New England Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory, Boston University, and even productions on Broadway.

Mr. Nomura has been the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions including a four-year Fulbright Grant to study with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hermann Prey, and Gérard Souzay. He was winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions as well as the Naumburg, United States Information Agency Music Ambassadors, and the Marilyn Horne Foundation competitions. He holds a Master’s degree and Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

  • NEW@NIGHT: “Lost Freedom: A Memory”  (currently selected)
Monica Ohuchi Monica Ohuchi Piano

Monica Ohuchi’s “commanding pianism” (The New York Times, Anthony Tommasini), performing “with beauty, clarity and drive…[offering a] warmth…expressiveness [that’s] irresistible and deeply moving” (The Times Argus, Vermont) allows her an active international career as a piano soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. Her “scintillating” (The Arts Desk, United Kingdom, David Nice) playing, combined with “an overt virtuosity [and] deep sensitivity that makes her lines sing” (Rutland Herald, Vermont)  has taken her around the globe, from Lincoln Center in New York City, to remote villages in Bulgaria, to concert halls across Japan. 

A pianist “dutifully and gracefully” (San Francisco Classical Voice) attentive to musical depth and detail, Ohuchi is a frequent soloist with orchestras; recent engagements include the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Marin Symphony Orchestra. Locally in her hometown of Portland, Oregon, Ohuchi performs with internationally acclaimed artists of Chamber Music Northwest, is often broadcast on All Classical Radio, is pianist of the quartet The Thunder Egg Consort, and enjoys soloing with regional orchestras.

Ohuchi is the pianist and Executive Director of the new music ensemble, Fear No Music. She is the Director of Music Performance at Reed College, where she also teaches piano and chamber music. Ohuchi holds advanced degrees from the Juilliard School.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

  • NEW@NIGHT: “Lost Freedom: A Memory”  (currently selected)
Claire Wells Claire Wells Violin

American violinist Claire Wells is acclaimed by audiences and press for her expressive musicality and rich, singing quality of sound. Claire has won numerous major prizes in renowned international competitions such as the Sibelius, Michael Hill, and Indianapolis competitions, and has collaborated with orchestras such as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and others. Solo concert engagements have brought her to halls like the Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, the Meyerson Symphony Center, Bass Performance Hall, and Teatro Degollado.

Having always held a special place in her heart for chamber music, Claire has been invited to perform at several international festivals such as Chamber Music Northwest, Chamber Music Connects the World, the Gstaad Festival, Krzyzowa Festival, and the Verbier Festival. Claire has the pleasure of frequently collaborating with some of the world’s top young musicians, as well as sharing the stage with world-renowned musicians such as Noah Bendix-Balgley, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Anders Tomter, and Enrico Pace, amongst others.

Since 2022, Claire Wells has studied with Mihaela Martin at the Kronberg Academy, made possible by the Opel/Dr. Schaefer patronage. Claire plays on a Nicolo Amati and a Grand Adam bow, on loan from a generous donor.


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Suggested Events

7/1  •  7:00 pm The Old Church NEW@NIGHT: Echoes of Home   NEW@NIGHT: Echoes of Home

7/15  •  7:00 pm The Old Church NEW@NIGHT: Across the Americas   NEW@NIGHT: Across the Americas



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