Back to Top
CMNW logo for print template

Timeless Classics: Mozart Clarinet Quintet & “Rhapsody in Blue”

Timeless Classics: Mozart Clarinet Quintet & “Rhapsody in Blue”

World-renowned clarinetist and CMNW Artistic Director Emeritus David Shifrin leads an incredible concert of soaring clarinet favorites. The evening begins with Mozart’s dazzling Clarinet Quintet, a magical display of woodwind virtuosity in the hands of one of the world’s greatest aficionados of the instrument. Equally mesmerizing is Astor Piazzolla’s Grand Tango, embodying all the passion and rhythm of Argentina.

These delightful works are a prelude to one of the most iconic American clarinet and piano masterworks ever written—George Gershwin’s jazzy Rhapsody in Blue. Don’t miss this special chamber arrangement of Gershwin’s most famous piece featuring the charismatic Cliburn finalist and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient pianist Clayton Stephenson.

Patricia Reser Center for the Arts
Thursday, 7/16 • 7:30 pm

SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Program

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

MOZART Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581

W. A. MOZART (1756–1791) Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (30’)
   
I. Allegro
II. Larghetto
III. Menuetto
IV. Allegretto con variazioni

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA “Grand Tango”

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA (1921–1992) Grand Tango (12’)

GEORGE GERSHWIN “Rhapsody in Blue” (Arr. Alistair Coleman)

GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898–1937) Rhapsody in Blue (18’) (Arr. Alistair Coleman)

Artists

Efe Baltacigil Efe Baltacigil Cello

Turkish cellist Efe Baltacigil finished his undergraduate studies in Istanbul, Turkey, before attending the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. During his last year of study, at the age of 23, he won the Associate Principal Cello position at the famous Philadelphia Orchestra.

Since 2011, he has held the position of Principal Cellist at the Seattle Symphony and has appeared as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony. Efe has had recital and concerto debuts in Carnegie Hall and has been a senior member of the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont since 2017.

Efe performed as a soloist for Seattle Symphony’s 2022 Opening Night Gala and played Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto with them in October 2023.

Besides music and his family, Efe enjoys windsurfing, sailing, drawing, and volleypong.


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Jonathan Greeney Jonathan Greeney Percussion

Jon Greeney has been Principal Timpanist of the Oregon Symphony since the Autumn of 2010. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Percussion Studies at Portland State University. Jon holds a B.M. from the Peabody Conservatory and an M.M. from Cleveland State University. His teachers at Peabody included percussion virtuosos Robert van Sice and Jonathan Haas, and at Cleveland State he studied with Tom Freer of the Cleveland Orchestra.

Jon has performed as an orchestral percussionist, timpanist, and chamber musician in numerous venues around the country, including Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. In 2006, Jon won a position in the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa in Veracruz, Mexico, where he performed as a full-time Section Percussionist until the summer of 2008. Since joining the Oregon Symphony, Jon and his family have resided happily in Portland, Oregon.


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Braizahn Jones Braizahn Jones Bass

Braizahn Jones is a double bassist, educator, and entrepreneur based in Portland, Oregon. He serves as Assistant Principal Bass of the Oregon Symphony and is on the faculty at Portland State University and Reed College. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, he maintains a multifaceted career spanning orchestral performance, chamber music, and teaching.

As an orchestral musician, Jones has appeared extensively as a substitute with major ensembles including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony, and has performed at festivals such as Chamber Music Northwest, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Bellingham Music Festival, and the Pacific Music Institute. He has performed with many of today’s leading conductors and soloists.

Jones has been on the faculty of the National Orchestral Institute since 2019. He is the founder of Umami Bass, an international workshop and performance initiative dedicated to bass pedagogy and community building. The project has hosted successful programs in Japan and the United States, with further expansion underway.

Known for his precise, detail-oriented teaching, Jones works with students at all levels to develop sound musical clarity, and artistic confidence. Through his work as a performer, teacher, and organizer, Jones aims to foster musical environments that value depth, curiosity, and meaningful collaboration.


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Soovin Kim Soovin Kim 2025 YAI Faculty, Violin & Artistic Director

Soovin Kim enjoys a broad musical career regularly performing Bach sonatas and Paganini caprices for solo violin, sonatas for violin and piano ranging from Beethoven to Ives, Mozart, and Haydn concertos and symphonies as a conductor, and new world-premiere works almost every season. When he was 20 years old, Kim received first prize at the Paganini International Violin Competition. He immersed himself in the string quartet literature for 20 years as the 1st violinist of the Johannes Quartet. Among his many commercial recordings are his “thrillingly triumphant” (Classic FM Magazine) disc of Paganini’s demanding 24 Caprices and a two-disc set of Bach’s complete solo violin works that were released in 2022.

Kim is the founder and artistic director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival (LCCMF) in Burlington, Vermont. In addition to its explorative programming and extensive work with living composers, LCCMF created the ONE Strings program through which all 3rd through 5th grade students of the Integrated Arts Academy in Burlington study violin. The University of Vermont recognized Soovin Kim’s work by bestowing an Honorary Doctorate upon him in 2015. In 2020, he and his wife, pianist Gloria Chien, became artistic directors of Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon. He, with Chien, were awarded Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s 2021 CMS Award for Extraordinary Service to Chamber Music. Kim devotes much of his time to his passion for teaching at the New England Conservatory in Boston and the Yale School of Music in New Haven.


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Jens Lindemann Jens Lindemann Trumpet

As the first classical brass soloist to ever receive the Order of Canada as well as the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist award, Jens Lindemann is hailed as one of the most celebrated artists in his instrument’s history and was recently named “International Brass Personality of the Year” (Brass Herald). Jens has played both jazz and classical in every major concert venue in the world: from the Philharmonics of New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Moscow, and Tokyo to Carnegie Hall and even the Great Wall of China. His career has ranged from appearing internationally as an orchestral soloist, being featured at the 2010 Olympics for an audience of two billion people, national anthems at the Rose Bowl and for the San Francisco Giants on Memorial Day, performing at London’s “Last Night of the Proms,” recording with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to playing lead trumpet with the renowned Canadian Brass and a solo Command Performance for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Jens has also won major awards ranging from Grammy and Juno nominations to winning the prestigious Echo Klassik in Germany and British Bandsman 2011 Solo CD of the year as well as receiving several honorary doctorates.

Classically trained at the renowned Juilliard School in New York and McGill University in Montreal, Jens’s proven ability to perform as a diverse artist places him at the front of a new generation of musicians. He has performed as soloist and recording artist with classical stars such as Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Angel Romero, Pinchas Zukerman, Doc Severinsen, Charles Dutoit, Gerard Schwarz, Eiji Oue, Bramwell Tovey, Kent Nagano, Lior Shambadal, Boris Brott, and Jukka Pekka Saraste. Having recorded for BMG, EMI, CBC, and the BBC, Jens is helping to redefine the idea of the concert artist by transcending stylistic genres and the very stereotype of his instrument by performing with “impeccable attacks, agility, and amazing smoothness” (The Clarin, Buenos Aires).

A prodigious talent, Jens Lindemann performed as a soloist with orchestras and won accolades at numerous festivals while still in his teens. A prizewinner at numerous jazz and classical competitions including the prestigious ARD in Munich, Jens also placed first, by unanimous juries, at both the Prague and Ellsworth Smith (Florida) International Trumpet Competitions in 1992. Since then, he has performed solos with orchestras including, the London Symphony, Berlin, Philadelphia, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Beijing, Bayersicher Rundfunk, Buenos Aires Chamber, Atlanta, Washington, Seattle, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Montreal, Toronto, National Arts Centre, Vancouver, Warsaw, Mexico City, Costa Rica, Bogota, Welsh Chamber, I Musici de Montreal, St. Louis, and Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center.

Heralded internationally as an outstanding artist, critics have stated: “He played with golden timbre and virtuosic flair” (The New York Times), “a world-class talent” (Los Angeles Times), “it was one of the most memorable recitals in International Trumpet Guild history” (ITG), “performed brilliantly in the North American premiere of Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Concerto with the Toronto Symphony” (Toronto Star), and “he gave the virtuoso highlight of the evening with the Montreal Symphony.”

Based in Los Angeles as Professor with High Distinction at UCLA, Jens is also director of the summer brass program at the Banff Centre in Canada. Jens Lindemann is an international Yamaha artist playing exclusively on 24K gold plated instruments.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Samuel Rosenthal Samuel Rosenthal Viola, Protégé

Internationally acclaimed for his generous musical spirit, violist Samuel Rosenthal delights in sharing music with audiences of all ages and collaborating with some of today’s preeminent artists. His performances are recognized for their “intimate, personal approach” (Journal of the American Viola Society) and communicative style “clearly conveying the range of human emotions” (Cleveland Classical).

First Prize winner at the 2025 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, Sam was also recipient of the silver medal at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition. Other awards and recognitions include major prizes at the Johansen International Competition and, as a member of the Razumovsky String Quartet, at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

Sam began his musical studies in Cleveland and continued his viola studies with Jeffrey Irvine as a member of the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His passion for chamber music was ignited by formative work with the Cavani String Quartet and Cleveland Quartet violinist Peter Salaff. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Perlman Music Program community as a student at both the Summer Music School and the Chamber Music Workshop.

Chamber music plays a central part in Sam’s musical life. Since 2023, he has attended the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, where he had the opportunity to perform and collaborate with its legendary roster of extraordinary artists. Sam has been invited to perform at a variety of celebrated chamber music festivals across the United States and abroad including Chamberfest Cleveland, Musique de Chambre en Normandie, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, and Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute.

Sam is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he had the honor of studying with Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, and Hsin-Yun Huang, and was a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. He is currently studying at the Kronberg Academy under the tutelage of Nobuko Imai and Antoine Tamestit. These studies are funded by the Annika and Wolfgang Fink Patronage.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

David Shifrin David Shifrin Clarinet & Artistic Director Emeritus 1981–2020

David Shifrin began performing with Chamber Music Northwest in 1978 and served as its Artistic Director from 1981 to 2020. He has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1982 and served as its Artistic Director from 1992 to 2004.

Shifrin received Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Avery Fisher Prize, as well as numerous awards and prizes competitions and organizations worldwide.

David Shifrin is the Samuel S. Sanford Professor in the Practice of Clarinet at the Yale School of Music where he teaches a studio of graduate-level clarinetists and coaches chamber music ensembles. He is also the Artistic Director of Yale’s Oneppo Chamber Music Society and the Yale in New York concert series. Previously, Shifrin served on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the University of Southern California, the University of Michigan, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the University of Hawaii. He has appeared with many of the major orchestras in the United States and abroad and has served as principal clarinetist with the Cleveland Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of New Haven, Honolulu, and Dallas. Shifrin also continues to broaden the clarinet repertoire by commissioning and championing more than 100 works of 20th and 21st-century American composers. Shifrin’s recordings have consistently garnered praise and awards including three Grammy nominations and “Record of the Year” from Stereo Review.

Shifrin is represented by CM Artists in New York and performs on Backun clarinets and Légère reeds.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Clayton Stephenson Clayton Stephenson Composer & Piano

American pianist Clayton Stephenson’s love for music is immediately apparent in his joyous charisma onstage, expressive power, and natural ease at the instrument. Hailed for “extraordinary narrative and poetic gifts” and interpretations that are “fresh, incisive, and characterfully alive” (Gramophone), he is committed to making an impact on the world through his music-making.

Growing up in New York City, Clayton started piano lessons at age seven, and the next year was accepted into The Julliard School’s Music Advancement Program—a full-scholarship program for underrepresented students—where he lingered to watch student recitals and fell in love with music. He advanced to Juilliard’s elite Pre-College at age 10—with the help of his teacher at the time, Beth Nam, who gave him countless extra lessons without charge—to study with Matti Raekallio, Hung-Kuang Chen, and Ernest Barretta. Clayton practiced on a synthesizer at home until he found an old upright piano on the street that an elementary school had thrown away; that would become his practice piano for the next six years, until the Lang Lang Foundation donated a new piano to him when he was 17.

He credits the generous support of community programs with providing him musical inspiration and resources along the way. As he describes it, the “Third Street Music School jump-started my music education; the Young People’s Choir taught me phrasing and voicing; Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program introduced me to formal and rigorous piano training, which enabled me to get into Juilliard Pre-College; the Morningside Music Bridge validated my talent and elevated my self-confidence; the Boy’s Club of New York exposed me to jazz; and the Lang Lang Foundation brought me to stages worldwide and transformed me from a piano student to a young artist.”

Recent and upcoming highlights include concertos with the Houston, North Carolina, and Cincinnati Symphonies; festival appearances at Grand Teton, Grant Park, and Tippet Rise; recitals at Washington Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center, Fondation Louis Vuitton, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; gala performances with the New York and Las Vegas Philharmonics; and collaborations with violinists Nikki and Timothy Chooi. He also joined the Hartford Symphony Orchestra as 2024-2025 Artist-in-Residence.

Clayton graduated from the Harvard-New England Conservatory (NEC) dual degree program in spring 2023 with a Bachelor’s degree in economics at Harvard and a Master’s degree in piano performance at NEC under Wha Kyung Byun. In addition to being the first Black finalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022, he received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2024, won the inaugural Nina Simone Piano Competition in 2023, and was a 2025 Sphinx Medal of Excellence honoree.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

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 Event

7/18  •  8:00 pm Reed College, Kaul Auditorium Timeless Classics: Mozart Clarinet Quintet & “Rhapsody in Blue”   Timeless Classics: Mozart Clarinet Quintet & “Rhapsody in Blue”



« Back

Newsletter Sign-Up (opens in new window)


Please Log In

Forgot your password?