Music

From classical music to pop classics, here’s a look at Oregon’s remaining summer concert season

By Prakruti Bhatt (OPB)
Aug. 2, 2023 5:48 p.m.

Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square will host contemporary acts, retro musicians are visiting Bend and the Oregon Symphony will launch a far-ranging season

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From folk-pop tunes by singer-songwriter Noah Kahan to hard-hitting melodies by pop-punk band Paramore, Oregon hosts a musical landscape spanning multiple genres over the next two months.

In Bend, fans can enjoy shows by established bands like the Goo Goo Dolls, The Lumineers and Pink Martini. Weezer and Noah Kahan will also make pit stops in that city as part of their nationwide tours.

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In Portland, foundational record store Music Millennium will celebrate its 30th Annual Customer Appreciation Bar-B-Q. The free Aug. 12 event will include live music from musicians such as Ty Curtis and Gravel.

Michelle Zauner, aka Japanese Breakfast, wrote an emotional essay in the New Yorker about how her mother was her access point to her Korean heritage.

Michelle Zauner, front woman for Japanese Breakfast, will be performing at Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square as part of PDX LIVE this month.

Courtesy Joyce Jude

Mid-August, PDX LIVE will turn the city’s “living room” — Pioneer Courthouse Square — into a 3,000-person open-air music venue nestled between looming skyscrapers in downtown Portland. This will be PDX LIVE’s sophomore year. The PDX LIVE lineup includes Japanese Breakfast, Patti Smith and Her Band, and Fleet Foxes.

“Last year’s concerts drew in more than 40,000 residents and visitors who enjoyed live music on beautiful summer nights. This year, we’re looking forward to once again bringing the community together and claiming these moments in Downtown Portland,” Courtney Posey, the president of the board of trustees for Pioneer Courthouse Square, said in a press release.

And the Oregon Symphony will kick off its 2023-24 season on Sept. 10. The season will feature performances by Yo-Yo Ma and Andy Akiho among many others. Music lovers will also be able to enjoy a slate of free shows every Wednesday as part of Music on Main.

Here are some of the many shows you can catch in Oregon this August and September:

August:

Celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma is pictured here with his cello. The artist will perform with the Oregon Symphony on Sept. 10.

Celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma is pictured here with his cello. The artist will perform with the Oregon Symphony on Sept. 10.

Courtesy of Jason Bell/Oregon Symphony

September:

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