In its 10th Anniversary Season, Project Chamber Music: Willamette Valley turns toward intimacy, depth, and human connection with an uplifting spring residency and concert that brings together three artists of international stature: soprano Katharine Dain, violist Caitlin Lynch, and pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute.
This spring residency is part of PCM’s expanded anniversary season, doubling its programming for the first time with a second residency. The April 17 concert, This Love Between Us, explores love not as sentiment, but as a sustaining force that is inherited, tested, remembered, and renewed across generations.
Soprano Katharine Dain brings a searching musical intelligence shaped by a global career spanning the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestra of the 18th Century, BBC Symphony Orchestras, and major opera houses and festivals throughout Europe and the U.S. Her acclaimed debut album Regards sur l’Infini received the Edison Klassiek Award and international praise for its emotional clarity and depth. She is joined by GRAMMY Award winner Caitlin Lynch, violist and founding Artistic Director of Project Chamber Music, whose work centers collaboration and mentorship, and Ieva Jokubaviciute, a pianist “riveting in every way” (The Washington Post) and celebrated worldwide for her insight, range, and adventurous musical partnerships. (Full artist biographies are available at pcmwv.org/artists.)
The concert takes its title and guiding philosophy from composer Reena Esmail, who shares:
“Our love, our human connection, goes back so far in time. It is our very foundation. To recognize ourselves in one another is truly to remember that connection…. I wrote This Love Between Us through some of the darkest times in our country and in our world. But my mind always returns to the last line of this piece, the words of Rumi, which are repeated like a mantra over affirming phrases from each religion, as they wash over one another: ‘Concentrate on the Essence. Concentrate on the Light.’”
Her work anchors an evening that moves fluidly between centuries, weaving together music by Brahms, Clara and Robert Schumann, Schubert, Frank Bridge, and Leilehua Lanzilotti, alongside Esmail’s own luminous meditation on connection. The program traces different forms of love and connection, offering a sonic portrait of the beauty and essentiality of our shared humanity: motherly tenderness in Brahms’ Sacred Lullaby; longing and loss in Bridge’s Three Songs; the intricate emotional world shared by Clara and Robert Schumann; and the ache of separation in Schubert’s Shepherd on the Rock. Shaped by texts from the ancient saint-poet Kabir, Friedrich Rückert, Heinrich Heine, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Wilhelm Müller, these pieces offer an intimate and hopeful meditation on connection, listening, and what binds us together. As Lanzilotti writes, “these moments can reveal love: joyful, enduring, always.”
SPRING MAINSTAGE CONCERT: This Love Between Us
Friday, April 17, 2026 | 7:30 PM — LaJoie Theatre, Chehalem Cultural Center, Newberg
Program:
Johannes Brahms, Two Songs for Alto, Viola, and Piano, Op. 91
Reena Esmail, This Love Between Us
Clara Schumann, Six Lieder, Op. 13
Robert Schumann, Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70
Leilehua Lanzilotti, of moments
Frank Bridge, Three Songs for Voice, Viola, and Piano, H. 76
Franz Schubert, The Shepherd on the Rock, Op. 129, D. 965
Meet the artists at a complimentary reception immediately following the concert!
TICKETS: available at pcmwv.org
All ticket proceeds directly benefit need-based scholarships to provide music instruction to local kids; this particular concert supports the financial aid fund of Young Musicians & Artists, a local summer camp with a 60-year legacy.
EDUCATION
The residency includes educational engagement at Willamette University, showcasing PCM’s long- standing belief in meaningful musical experiences through mentorship. These events are open to the public.
- April 17 | 9:30 – 11am: Piano Masterclass with Ieva Jokubaviciute
- April 18 | 10am – 12pm: Vocal Masterclass with Katharine Dain
Project Chamber Music: Willamette Valley – Ten Years of Transformative Connection through Music
Project Chamber Music: Willamette Valley (PCM) is a transformative concert series and mentorship program that delivers awe-inspiring interactive experiences with engaging and affable virtuoso musicians from around the country. Artistic Director Caitlin Lynch, a Grammy Award-winning violist and chamber music icon, grew up in the fertile Willamette Valley and founded the mission-driven Project specifically to give back to the community that nurtured her love of music and passion for collaboration. In addition to supporting area students in their musical training through celebratory masterclasses and warm side-by-side collaborations with world-class professionals, PCM donates all proceeds made through its concerts to fund need-based scholarships to support private music lessons for students. The Project’s public concerts feature some of the industry’s most sought-after soloists and chamber artists offering riveting performances of essential classical masterpieces. Powerful, inclusive, and community-focused, PCM residencies uplift the next generation of musicians and music appreciators while bringing people of all ages and backgrounds together in shared experiences of exceptional chamber music artistry. A spirit of non-competition, joy, and positivity encompasses the Project and translates to infectious enthusiasm among its participants and audiences as they learn, feel, and grow through the power of music. PCM is supported by funding from generous individuals, and the Ralph Hull Foundation. Learn more at pcmwv.org
