WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

 

“Fear No Music is a civic treasure”

— Oregon ArtsWatch

“One of the best concerts of the year”

— Willamette Week

“Extraordinary intensity"

— The Oregonian

"Every time I hear Fear No Music, I'm amazed"

— Oregon ArtsWatch

"Never expect Fear No Music programming to be doctrinaire"

— Seattle Weekly

"Intelligent taste in programming"

— Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Performed with energy, intelligence, and technical polish"

— Tacoma News Tribune

"a soaring and diving musical exploration of the swifts, while touching on themes of home, immigration, and open borders"

— Portland Monthly Magazine



"unimpeachable performance credentials, a love for local and contemporary composers, and a mature sense of social justice and responsibility”

— Oregon ArtsWatch

“… a concert that dared actually feature composers from our own place and time qualifies as a momentous event. Which isn’t to disparage the remarkable efforts of one of the state’s most valuable performing arts ensembles, Fear No Music — in fact, it shows just how critical they are to Portland’s artistic vitality… FNM’s many concerts featuring works by young composers, women composers, composers from ‘shithole’ countries, and so on, cultivate a very Portland sense of civic art. “Think globally, act locally,” as the bumper stickers used to say.”

— Oregon ArtsWatch

“Fear No Music has been delivering brilliant musical experiences to Portland for over 25 years, and tonight this classically trained collective offers a program of fresh compositions responding to last year's senate confirmation hearings that elevated the dishonorable Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court… Come give witness to the power of creative transmutation as some of this town's finest musicians turn national heartache into unadulterated hope.”

— Portland Mercury

“Local new music group Fear No Music is known for two things. They’re some of the best classical musicians in town, and they bring that expertise to lovingly daring performances… they tend to collaborate with composers from Oregon and environs. That earns them an A+ from Arts Watch.”

— Oregon ArtsWatch

“When we gather together to remember and to mourn these kinds of tragedies, we build community and resilience. Art as a vehicle for that kind of gathering is particularly powerful for opening the hearts, inspiring the soul and creating hope. Portland United Against Hate is honored to partner with Fear No Music in recognition of the vital contribution this event is making in creating the world we both envision.”

— Rabbi Debra Kolodny, Program Director, Portland United Against Hate

“My husband and I were speechless and moved by the music. It was wonderful."  

— Barb Randall, Arts Journalist, Lake Oswego Review

“Thank you so much for an incredible concert last night! The program was brave, your approach to trauma was thoughtful and reassuring, and the decision to foreground women's voices was absolutely right... it was exhausting in a really beautiful / horrific and meaningful way. Congratulations again, and I'm grateful to have been in the audience!" 

— Wynn Kiyama, Executive Director, Portland Taiko

The Best of the Best

  • 2024

    “For more than three decades, FearNoMusic has brought some of today’s most intriguing contemporary classical compositions to Portland stages, and for the last decade, it’s presented an annual concert of music entirely written by Oregon composers” - Oregon LIve

  • 2023

    “​​A quarter century and probably a couple hundred students later, FearNoMusic’s Young Composers Project remains one of the nation’s most productive educational resources for emerging young composers” - Orgon ArtsWatch

  • 2020

    “FNM’s annual Locally Sourced Sounds concerts focus specifically on new music by composers from Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, and they’re always among the best of the season” - Oregon ArtsWatch

  • 2019

    Fear No Music’s Locally Sourced Sounds is “one of Oregon’s most valuable music series” - Oregon ArtsWatch

  • 2008

    Pianist Jeff Payne’s performance of Messiaen’s “Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jesus” was one of the ten best performances of the year by The Oregonian.

  • 1998

    The “Piano Riot” concert was selected by Willamette Week as one of the year’s best performances.

  • 1994

    The “Funniest Entrance” award from Willamette Week: “The perambulations of the players in William Bolcom's Duets for a Quintet drew the chuckles they deserved.”