PENDLETON — Diné composer and pianist Connor Chee will bring a style that blends Navajo tradition with classical form to the Oregon East Symphony’s (OES) annual Chamber Music Festival.
The festival, which pairs chamber music with wine and hors d’oeuvres, will begin at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at the Vert Clubroom, 345 SW Fourth St.
The music event offers audiences an intimate evening of live chamber music performed by regional musicians in a relaxed social setting. Members of the OES Board of Directors and Reception Committee will serve wine and hors d’oeuvres throughout the evening, according to the press release.
This year’s Chamber Music Festival will feature Chee as a guest artist. Chee blends Western classical music with the rich cultural heritage of the Navajo people, often drawing inspiration from traditional Navajo stories and beliefs to create works that reflect both his heritage and classical training.
Beyond performing, Chee is committed to music education and cultural preservation, inspiring the next generation of musicians.
Chee made his Carnegie Hall debut at age 12 after winning a gold medal in the World Piano Competition. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music. His work has earned national recognition, including performances on NPR’s “Performance Today” and a commission from YourClassical MPR for “Unbroken,” a tribute to the Navajo Code Talkers.
Chee has released five studio albums and a popular collection of music videos on YouTube. His most recent album, “Across the Desert: The Long Walk Home,” honors the resilience of the Navajo people and their journey back to ancestral lands.
In March 2025, the Oregon East Symphony presented the Oregon premiere of Chee’s Bassoon Concerto, featuring guest soloist and Yakama Nation member Jacqueline Wilson.
In addition to his Chamber Music Festival performance, Chee will present a free public lecture on Indigenous identity in classical music at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 10, at the Vert Clubroom. During his visit, he will also give presentations to students at Nixyáawi Community School and Pendleton High School, as well as to piano students of the Oregon Music Teachers Association.
Additional performances at the 2026 Chamber Music Festival will include Chelsea Spence-Crane and clarinetist Shannon Scott performing Richard Rodney Bennett’s Suite from the Victorian Kitchen Garden — often attributed to Nigel Hess’s television score and later arranged by Paul Reade — a lighthearted lyrical work drawn from the popular BBC series and inspired by 19th-century English domestic life.
The program will also feature Schubert’s “String Quintet in C Major, D. 956,” led by George Winte, arrangements of classical works for accordion duo by Eastern Oregon University Piano Professor Emeritus Matt Cooper and his colleague Christine Boris and a brief opening performance by the OES’s Youth Chamber Collective.
The Chamber Music Festival is a limited-capacity event, and seating is available by advance purchase only. For more information about the Oregon East Symphony or to buy tickets, visit www.OregonEastSymphony.org, call 541-276-0320, or stop by the OES office at 345 SW Fourth St., Pendleton, Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
