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The Portland Chamber Orchestra has dissolved midway through its 79th season. In a statement posted to the organization’s website, PCO announced the cancellation of the season’s last two concerts, both scheduled at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton. PCO announced its dissolution on its website; its Facebook page has not been updated since 2025, while its Instagram page has been deactivated.
PCO’s statement does not say why the chamber orchestra is disbanding ahead of its 80th anniversary. Lee Wilkins Black, PCO’s vice president, and Larry Sherman, PCO’s board secretary, did not immediately respond to WW’s email inquiry about the announcement.
“The board thanks all those who have supported the PCO and its mission—an intimate symphony with infinite imagination—especially the patrons and musicians who have contributed their time and talents to this goal,” reads PCO’s statement.
Portland Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1946, according to the Oregon Historical Society, and grew to be the United States’ longest-running chamber orchestra. Boris Sirpo, an acclaimed conductor and composer born in Russia who had an esteemed career in Finland before World War II, started PCO with students from Lewis & Clark College. During Sirpo’s lifetime, PCO toured Europe performing for nobility. PCO’s most recent artistic director was Deanna Tham, who has conducted with the Oregon Symphony, Omaha Symphony and Jacksonville Symphony.
The organization’s statement does not name the two cancelled events, but WW had previously received press announcements for two 2026 events, both slated to take place at Reser Center: a March 3 Chinese New Year celebration, and Banner & Burden: Music and Spoken Word, a May 19 show planned in collaboration with the Oregon Poetry Association, meant to “amplify voices of dissent, resistance and hope.” It was not immediately clear whether ticketholders for those events would receive refunds; WW has contacted Reser Center’s press office for more information.
