Portland is home to half the world's rock stars, but lacking a major music school, it maintains an only respectable 21st century and experimental music community. But they are here, and have plenty rainy winter time to get good.
The Creative Music Guild, the PDX Classical Revolution, the Portland Cello Project and the late Music Population Orchestra are notable proponents of new music played on old instruments. Listen once live, and your ears will be forever changed in judging synthetic instrument samples. The technology to create poignant synthetic instrumental sounds, except maybe for a piano, is not yet here. So we are stuck for now with crunchy electro-style samples.
Tonight is your opportunity to break sonic barriers in hearing real instruments in service of new composition. Portland composers Mary Wright and Jody Hughes present their Symphony No. 1: Travelogue of Locusts played by the purpose-built New Portland Chamber Orchestra. It has been a collaboration two years in the making.
In the spirit that chamber music was the experimental pop music of its day, Wright and Hughes are undertaking a beautiful experiment with the players entering and leaving the sound field as they play.
Travelogue of the Locusts comprises twelve movements arranged by the time cycle of our circadian rhythm (that is not the 7 year cicadian rhythm familiar to Midwesterners).
There composers are internationally noted and are worth keeping track of in their development.
At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division 7PM and 9 $5-10, kids free