45^th Parallel Chamber Orchestra is an experiment in democratic music making, combining the intimacy of chamber music with the richness of an orchestra.

45^th Parallel Chamber Orchestra will be equal parts museum and gallery, a place where traditional and modern music will reside in a mutually enriching relationship.

Passion for great music is what defines us, and Portland is our stage.

For the past decade, we’ve pushed buttons, envelopes, and every other metaphor for limits, challenging ourselves and our audiences with musical work that is fresh, timely, and relevant.

Our home planet is the Oregon Symphony, and the Pyxis constellation is our compass as we chart a new course in contemporary string quartet music.

Arcturus Quintet is a new star in the chamber music universe.  Created in 2018 as a part of the 45^th Parallel Universe expansion, Arcturus features five musicians from the Oregon Symphony who just freakin' love chamber music.  Arcturus wants to play it all – standard quintet repertoire, new works by our friends and colleagues, arrangements of Disney tunes for kids – and allow audiences to hear the beauty of this mismatched ensemble. 

The Gemini Project is a collective that stems from two percussive brothers from other mothers. The mission of The Project is to periodically expand to include performing artists from around the world in order to push the boundaries of performance in the Pacific Northwest.

Formed in the fall of 2011, mousai REMIX assembled out of a passion to study and perform the great string quartet literature for our beloved community. We’ve used our concert series to bring awareness to and raise funds for local music education non-profits, including the Oregon Symphony, James DePreist Community Engagement Fund, Portland Summer Ensembles, and the Community Music Center. mousai REMIX takes its name from the ancient Greek Mousai, the muses inspiring the arts and sciences.

We are all F.O.G., because we are all Friends Of Greg…

F.O.G. is our musical laboratory. It’s the place where Ives gets paired with Gesualdo, where poetry gets paired with Beethoven, where jazz, Irish fiddling, baroque music and anything else that sprouts from the fertile mind of founder Greg Ewer is born.

F.O.G. is the place where Greg and friends will continue 45^th Parallel’s eclectic tradition with concerts that amuse, challenge, provoke, and inspire.