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April

St. James' Gate

April 26th at 7pm

Resort & Spa

North Bonneville, WA

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, St. Jamess Gate is an Irish power trio / quartet offering dynamic vocals, 3-part harmonies, scorching hot fiddle, funky upright acoustic/electric bass, and tight acoustic rhythm guitar. St. James's Gate specializes in a wide range of Irish Music, including beautiful Irish ballads and waltzes, faster than lightning jigs and reels, traditional pub songs and contemporary Irish music. The band also incorporates bluegrass, polka, Cajun, and classic English/American rock and folk songs in their broad and exciting repertoire. In the past five years, St. James' Gate has become one of the Pacific Northwest's premiere Celtic bands, performing in festivals, packed venues, and for corporate and private functions throughout the region.

This concert brought to you by:

St. James' Gate Web Site

May

The N-E-W Piano Trio

May 30th at 7 pm

at The Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Stevenson, WA

Hailed by the Washington Post as a "polished" and "ravishing" piano trio, the N-E-W Trio has emerged as one of the nation's most promising young ensembles after winning the grand prizes at the 2008 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the 2007 Coleman National Chamber Ensemble Competition, and the first prize and audience choice award at the 2007 Plowman National Chamber Music Competition.

In the 2008-09 season, the N-E-W Trio will perform at the final two concerts at the Olympic Music Festival's 25th anniversary season in Quilcene, Washington, the Sunday Musicale Series in Livingston, New Jersey, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society, the Friends of Chamber Music in Reading, Pennsylvania, the Perlman Music Program in Shelter Island, New York and the inaugural concert at the Kneisel Hall Music Festival’s Emerging Artists Fall Concert Series in Blue Hill, Maine.

The N-E-W Trio's members are currently pursuing graduate, artist diploma and doctoral degrees at the Juilliard School in New York City. They have worked regularly with Joseph Kalichstein of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, clarinetist Charles Neidich, and Mark Steinberg, first violinist of the Brentano String Quartet. As soloists, each member has individually won the Juilliard School's concerto competition leading to performances at Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.

The Trio's Web Site

June

Grammy®Award nominated

pianist David Lanz

June 13th at 7 pm

atThe Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center

Stevenson, WA

David Lanz is a Grammy® nominated contemporary pianist. He has released over 25 albums, many o f which achieved top ten status. His most famous album, Cristofori's Dream, was number one on Billboard's first adult alternative/New Age chart for 27 weeks and eventually sold platinum. One of Lanz's goal is to have his music create an atmosphere of enlightenment as well and entertainment. In an interview with Barnes & Noble, Lanz stated he wanted to create a meditative mood, but with a "more popular hook in it". Lanz has said, "the piano is the most divinely inspired instrument on the planet.” In the preface of his song book, "The David Lanz Collection", he states: "At the piano, I'm able to communicate in a way that is very intimate and direct. My approach of music is a bit like talking to a friend. You don't have to be very complicated when you speak. If you say what's in your heart, it's usually very simple.

This concert brought to you by:

David Lanz will also be giving a workshop for music lovers on

Friday, June 12th

Riverside Church, Hood River OR

David Lanz Web Site

July

Orchestra Zarabanda

July 24th at 7pm

at the beautiful

Skamania Lodge Amphitheater

Stevenson, WA

Both the savvy and the uninitiated get up and moving to this irresistible dance music! Echoing the classic Cuban conjunto format, Zarabanda plays deep-grooving salsa, straight from Old Havana, and spices it up with modern arranging sensibility. Equally at home in dance halls, festivals and concert halls, Orchestra Zarabanda is known for it's trademark sound of sultry melodies contrasted with syncopated and exacting rhythms. The band is comprised of latin rhythm section, trombones, flute and vocals. Influences include Felix Chappotín, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri and Los Van Van.

Orchestra Zarabanda Web Site

August

Janis Ian

August 14th at 7pm

at the beautiful

Skamania Lodge Amphitheater

Stevenson, WA

Who are the great songwriters in America today? Not the most popular. Not the richest. Simply the greats.

Ask any student of the form, and Janis Ian will be counted among them. The writer of "Jesse," a song recorded by so many others that few remember Ian wrote it; "Stars," possibly the best song ever written about the life of a performer, recorded by artists as diverse as Mel Torme and Cher; and the seminal "At Seventeen", a song that brought her five Grammy nominations (the most any solo female artist had ever garnered) in 1975, and which is now reaching its third generation of listeners.

Ian is a formidable talent, a force of nature. Ella Fitzgerald called her "The best young singer in America." Chet Atkins said "Singer? You ought to hear that girl play guitar; she gives me a run for my money!" Reviewers have called her live performances "overwhelming to the spirit and soul," and "drenched with such passion, the audience feels they've been swept up in a hurricane." Not to mention her short stories, her songs for film and television…and oh, yes. She also runs a foundation, named for her mother, which works with various universities and colleges to supply scholarships for returning students; they’ve raised over $300,000 to date!

Media Sponsor:

Janis Ian Web Site

September

3 Leg Torso

September 26th at 7pm

atThe Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center

Stevenson, WA

3 Leg Torso creates charming, elegant and daring modern chamber pop music infused with equal parts tradition and innovation. Since the ensemble's humble start 10 years ago with spontaneous street performances -- called Meestering by co-founders Béla Balogh and Courtney Von Drehle -- they have been featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and at the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, successfully toured the east and west coasts, released four CDs (two with New York spoken word artist, NPR contributor and Duplex Planet founder David Greenberger), composed and recorded film and documentary scores as well as licensing music for film and television both in the US and internationally, written new evening length works commissioned by the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA) and performed both their original compositions and their arrangements of traditional music with several symphony orchestras.

Influenced by tango, Eastern European folk and other world music traditions, their cosmopolitan musical style embraces wit and humor within thoughtful, uncommon and beautiful musical arrangements.

3 Leg Torso Web Site