"Concert programs that any forward-looking orchestra should envy"

"Instead of making some of Portland’s top young musicians slog through classical music’s greatest hits, Metropolitan Youth Symphony music director Raúl Gómez-Rojas creates concert programs that any forward-looking orchestra should envy. This time, he brings in leading American jazz violinist Regina Carter to perform the West Coast premiere of 4 Sisters, the spiffy, bluesy violin concerto that Portland’s David Schiff wrote for her. The show also features two premieres by young Oregon composers: Grace Miedziak’s cinematicSeereise (Sea Voyage), the latest in the orchestra’s visionary series of new works by MYS composer-musicians, and John Blewster’sThose Moments in Between,which MYS’s Jazz Ensemble will perform along with jazz classics by the likes of Charles Mingus and Lee Konitz."

BRETT CAMPBELL for Willamette Week