The Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival opens its 11th season on Saturday, Aug. 8, with a program that pairs Beethoven, contemporary compositions, and three glasses of wine inside a barrel room just 40 minutes up the road from Salem.

The opening weekend concerts run Aug. 8–9 at J. Christopher Wines at Appassionata Estate, 17150 NE Hillside Drive, Newberg. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with performances running until about 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $89.50 to $145.10 (before fees) and are available at wvchambermusic.org.

This year's season theme is "Inventing America," timed to the nation's 250th anniversary. The festival's 2026 composer-in-residence is Lei Liang, a Chinese-American composer, Grawemeyer Award winner, and Pulitzer Prize finalist who teaches at the University of California, San Diego. It's his first visit to Oregon.

Five of Liang's pieces will be performed across the festival's three weekends. The opening program features his "Gobi Gloria," inspired by Mongolian folk music, and "Six Seasons," a work developed with oceanographers to reflect the sounds of the Alaskan sea floor. Those sit alongside Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 18, No. 2 and Reena Esmail's "This Is It (Part 3)."

Winemaker Tim Malone collaborated with festival co-founders Sasha Callahan and Leo Eguchi to create a commemorative bottling for the season: the J. Christopher Six Seasons Special Commemorative Bottling, a 2023 Pinot Noir from La Colina Vineyard, named for Liang's composition. It will be poured at the opening weekend alongside two other wines included with admission.

Callahan grew up in Portland, and her sister Eve Callahan, a Portland arts leader, helped originate and sustain the festival. The co-founders now live in Boston but return each August to curate and perform. Opening weekend musicians also include violinist Megumi Stohs Lewis and violist Wendy Richman.

Concerts are held in barrel rooms and indoor spaces, so summer heat is not a concern for attendees.

The festival continues Aug. 15–16 at Archery Summit's barrel room and wraps Aug. 22–23 at Sokol Blosser Winery in Dayton, where the program spotlights Indigenous traditions including Dvořák's "American" quartet and works by Tuscarora/Taino singer Pura Fé and Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate.

A 20% discount code, VALLEY26, is available for the opening weekend, and attendees will receive a free CD.

Upcoming schedule

  • Aug. 8–9: J. Christopher Wines at Appassionata Estate, Newberg (Beethoven, Esmail, Lei Liang)
  • Aug. 15–16: Archery Summit (includes West Coast premiere of Kian Ravaei's "Neverland")
  • Aug. 22–23: Sokol Blosser Winery, Dayton (Indigenous traditions, Dvořák, Lei Liang)