Regarding this post's "(?!)" about the Sorrento Hotel's acting as a retail outlet for Vita's upcoming GIVE charity comp, further evidence that this ain't your grandma's "Favorite Boutique Luxury Hotel" (unless your grandma is a Loch Lomond fan, in which case grrr!):

Again with the press release after the jump...

“Chamber Vs. Chamber” No. 1.

chamber music vs. indie (chamber) rock

Loch Lomond, Lori Goldston (solo cellist) and Spectratone.

Nov. 7th, 2009. Fireside Room @ The Sorrento. 7:30 PM. $15.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The Sorrento Hotel, City Arts Magazine and Night School present “Chamber vs. Chamber”.

Mozart, Hindemith, and Brahms are sadly losing relevancy by the day, symphony audiences are dropping, and “chamber music” is not a word you read on twitter.

Yet in the midst of this shift away from the classical repertoire, indie rock musicians like The Decemberists, Grizzly Bear, Andrew Bird, Loch Lomond, Portland Cello Project, and Jherek Bischof are thriving and incorporating chamber instruments, classical music sensibility and theory into their music—and filling clubs across the country doing it.

Night School at the Sorrento suggests that we spark a dialogue between these two related musical disciplines and combine classical chamber performances with those of indie rock darlings. Each “Chamber Vs. Chamber” evening will include multiple performances that culminate in a conversation between musicians and leaders in both the classical and indie rock universes. We will fill the Fireside Room at the Sorrento with music, people, cocktails, a roaring fire, and thoughtful conversation.

Our inaugural event combines performances by celebrated cellist and composer Lori Goldston, rising chamber indie rock stars Loch Lomond and cross-disciplinary veterans Spectratone. The evening’s conversation will be hosted by the Executive Editor of City Arts Magazine, Mark Baumgarten and classical music critic and historian Zach Carstensen (www.gathernote.com). To close the festivities, Loch Lomond and Spectratone will perform together. City Arts will capture video and produce films documenting each “Chamber Vs. Chamber” performance.

Seating is very limited, and tickets are available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/85366

facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=164027301921

Loch Lomond: 2009 has been a banner year for Portland's Loch Lomond, punctuated with triumph, tumult, and above all, artistic growth. Night Bats (due out on Hush Records on November 11th, 2009), the band's first physical release since the much-loved Paper The Walls full-length and the follow up to their digital-only Trumpets for Paper Children EP, captures Loch Lomond at a unique and singularly brilliant time in their evolution as an undeniably powerful creative unit. Having toured extensively this year with The Decemberists and Blitzen Trapper (among others), Loch Lomond now emphasizes in its new recorded output a directness and sharp pop sensibility that was only hinted at previously.

Lori Goldston: Lori Goldston’s restless, persistent curiosity and the adaptive sounds of her cello blur the lines of genre, time and geography. She co-founded the Black Cat Orchestra and Spectratone International, and has performed and/or recorded with Nirvana, Cat Power, Earth, Mirah, David Byrne, Portland Cello Project, Dead Science, Edding Prestent, Seattle Chinese Orchestra, Laura Veirs, Parenthetical Girls, Threnody Ensemble, University of Washington Turkish Ensemble, Ellen Fullman and many others. Her compositions have been commissioned by On Boards, Seattle International Children's, Fine Arts Cinema, University of Washington Summer Arts Festival, One Reel Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle Asian Art Museum, HBO, Northwest Film Forum, Olympia Film Festival, TBA Festival and WNYC's New Sounds Live. She frequently collaborates with choreographers and filmmakers, and recently contributed to the score for Lynn Shelton's film "Hump Day”.

Spectratone: The members of Spectratone International - cellist Lori Goldston, oudist Kane Mathis, accordionist Kyle Hanson and percussionist Jane Hall - each bring long and wildly varied musical histories to the group. Informed by Middle Eastern, Latin American, African and early European musics, metal and indie rock, their music drifts easily across genre borders. With friends/collaborators Britta Johnson and Mirah, they were commissioned in 2006 by the Seattle International Children's Festival to create "Share This Place", a live music and stop-motion animation film about insects that has been performed around the country. A CD and DVD of the show are available on K Records.

Night School at the Sorrento: Night School is a collaboration between The Sorrento, Michael Hebb, an array of intellectuals, artists, writers, filmmakers, mixologists, chefs and the leading cultural institutions in the Northwest. Stay tuned…

Michael Hebb
www.onepot.org