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Northwest Sinfonietta presents free ‘Close-Up’ neighborhood concerts Mar. 31, Apr. 14

March 08, 2022 in Orchestra

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Northwest Sinfonietta presents free ‘Close-Up’ neighborhood concerts Mar. 31, Apr. 14

By Zachary C. Person
Media contact: Karin Choo, Northwest Sinfonietta

TACOMA, Wash. – The Northwest Sinfonietta presents two “Close-Up Concerts” this spring in collaboration with community arts partners. The free hour-long “neighborhood performances” will be held on Thursday, March 31 at the Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center (T.U.P.A.C.) (1105 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma) and on Thursday, April 14 at Mt. Tahoma High School (4634 S. 74th St., Tacoma).

Both concerts begin at 6:00 p.m. and are free and open to all. Advance registration is requested but not required. To learn more or register in advance, visit: www.nwsinfonietta.org.

“Song & Dance” on March 31 features a chamber ensemble from the Northwest Sinfonietta, and dancers from T.U.P.A.C. and Tacoma’s Sabor Flamenco. The program includes variations on “Black Noir Black” and juxtaposes works by prominent Black composers William Grant Still (“Lyric Quartet”), Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-Georges (a movement from his second symphony), Jessie Montgomery’s “Strum” and a looping cello work by Gretchen Yanover with the well-known “La Musica della Strade di Madrid” by Italian classical-era composer Luigi Boccherini and Aaron Copland’s “At the River” from his second set of American songs.

“Pictures in Song” on April 14 features soloist Denise Dillenbeck, concertmaster of the Northwest Sinfonietta, a chamber ensemble of musicians from the sinfonietta, and the Mt. Tahoma High School orchestra directed by Emily Golan. The Mt. Tahoma High School orchestra will perform two works side-by-side with members of the Northwest Sinfonietta.

“It has been such a great experience having Northwest Sinfonietta musicians work with my students,” says Golan, “and we are all excited about the upcoming concert. It will definitely be something they never forget!”

The spring-themed program includes “Flowering Jasmine” by Latvian composer Georgs Pelēcis; the popular “Spring” from Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”; and two works by Astor Piazzolla: “Primavera Porteña” from the “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” and an arrangement “Oblivion” for string orchestra.

Concertmaster and violin soloist Denise Dillenbeck also serves as concertmaster of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra (Yakima, Washington), the Lake Chelan Bach Festival (Chelan, Wash.) and the York Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania. Dillenbeck has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Oregon Symphony and Baltimore Symphony, and has served as concertmaster for orchestras in Germany and England.

The Northwest Sinfonietta 2021-2022 season continues April 29 and May 1 with “Archipelago” featuring Cuban cross-over pianist Aldo López-Gavilán and concludes on May 21-22 with “In Place and Time” featuring flute soloist Demarre McGill and conductor Mei-Ann Chen in a program of works by Esmail, Rodrigo and Mozart

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About the Northwest Sinfonietta: The Northwest Sinfonietta was founded in 1991 by harpsichordist Kathryn Habedank and conductor Christophe Chagnard. The 35-member ensemble is the premiere chamber orchestra in the Puget Sound region and blends the intimacy of chamber music with the power of a full orchestra. In 2015, the Northwest Sinfonietta became one of the few orchestras in the world to move to an Artistic Partner model of operations, giving the musicians of the ensemble a larger role in the programming and vision for the ensemble. Learn more about the orchestra at: www.nwsinfonietta.org

Northwest Sinfonietta presents “Violet Sunrise,” Lockington’s final performances March 5-6

February 15, 2022 in Orchestra

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Northwest Sinfonietta presents “Violet Sunrise,” Lockington’s final performances March 5-6

By Zachary C. Person

TACOMA, Wash. – The Northwest Sinfonietta under the direction of artistic partner David Lockington presents “Violet Sunrise” March 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the historic Rialto Theater in Tacoma (310 S. 9th St.) and on March 6 at 2:00 p.m. at the Pioneer Park Pavilion in Puyallup (330 S. Meridian).

Tickets $22-50. Student, military and group discounts available. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit: www.northwestsinfonietta.org.

These performances mark the last of Lockington’s tenure with the Northwest Sinfonietta. In 2015, the Northwest Sinfonietta became one of the few orchestras in the world to move to an “artistic partner” model of operations, allowing the musicians of the ensemble to take a larger role in the artistic decisions and vision for the orchestra. Lockington was one of three inaugural artistic partners that season and in 2018 was named principal artistic partner.

“Violet Sunrise” features three brilliant works for small orchestra. Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 6 in D Major “Le Matin” opens the program. Composed in 1761 by a youthful Haydn who had just joined the Esterházy court, “Le Matin” (“Morning”) was not written as an explicitly programmatic work, though the opening adagio introduction clearly depicting a sunrise has inspired many others to refer to the remaining movements as “noon” and “evening.”

Two movements from W.A. Mozart’s Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314 follow, featuring Northwest Sinfonietta Youth Concerto Competition winner Sebastian Kelzenberg. Now considered a popular and successful concerto for oboe, somehow K.314 was lost during Mozart’s lifetime and was “rediscovered” in the 1920’s in Salzburg, Austria by Mozart scholar Alfred Einstein. The second movement, in typical Mozartian fashion, is expressive and operatic in nature with delicately balanced phrases; the playful third movement features a theme later reused by Mozart in his opera “Abduction from the Seraglio.”

Kelzenberg is an award-winning young oboist from Washington state. He was winner of the Music Teachers National Association woodwind competition in 2019, a Merit Award recipient from the YoungArts Foundation, and was grand prize winner of the 2020 King FM/Seattle Chamber Music Society Young Artist Awards.

David Lockington’s “Violet Viola Concerto” featuring soloist Libor Ondras closes the program. The concerto is named after Lockington’s first granddaughter, Violet, who was born while he was composing the piece. Two days after her birth, a lullaby appeared to Lockington, which he wrote down and took to Ondras to play; that lullaby became the focus of the concerto’s second movement. The first movement, an “appassionata,” evokes a feeling the composer associated with Eastern European expression. The third and final movement, which Lockington describes as a “stomping type of dance” evokes a sense of travel. The concerto was premiered in 2019 by the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and composed for soloist Libor Ondras.

Soloist Libor Ondras is a viola recitalist, conductor and educator. He began his studies with the famed violist Yuri Bashmet at the Moscow Conservatory as a recipient of a Slovak Ministry of Culture fellowship. Ondras continued his studies at the Academy of Music Arts in Prague and holds a doctorate from the University of Houston (Texas). He is currently associate professor, string specialist and director of orchestras at Grand Rapids Community College in Grand Rapids, Mich.

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Corvallis-OSU Symphony performs all-Rachmaninoff program Feb. 25

February 03, 2020 in Orchestra

For Immediate Release

Corvallis-OSU Symphony performs all-Rachmaninoff program Feb. 25

By Zachary C. Person
Source: Marlan Carlson

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Corvallis-OSU Symphony under the direction of Maestro Marlan Carlson performs an all-Rachmaninoff program at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 25 in the Austin Auditorium at The LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis.

The concert features two works by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff: “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” Op. 43 for piano and orchestra featuring student soloist Christopher Yoon, and the Symphony No. 1 in D-minor, Op. 13.

The “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” Op. 43, composed in the summer of 1934, is one of only six works Rachmaninoff composed after fleeing Russia in 1917 as a result of the revolution in February of that year. At the time of its composition, Rachmaninoff had largely abandoned writing music in order to pursue his career as a virtuoso piano soloist in order to provide support and stability to his family after losing nearly everything as a result of their self-imposed exile from Russia.

His Op. 43 derives its main theme from the 24th and final caprice for solo violin by Niccolo Paganini. Over a span of 24 minutes, Rachmaninoff spins Paganini’s famous theme through 24 increasingly virtuosic variations in a variety of keys and tempi.

Rachmaninoff wrote his first symphony in 1895 at the youthful age of 22, a few short years after graduating from the Moscow Conservatory of Music. Despite his youth, Rachmaninoff was already one of the most respected musicians in Russia; his first piano concerto had already received its premiere while he was still a student, and Rachmaninoff had received a prestigious gold medal in composition upon graduation from the conservatory. The premiere of the symphony in 1897 was an unmitigated disaster; when Rachmaninoff later fled to the west, he left the score for his first symphony behind, and only acknowledge its existence by naming his next symphony as his second. Op. 43 remained unperformed and almost entirely unknown for decades, though following its American premiere in 1948 by the Philadelphia Orchestra it has since established itself as a work of importance worthy of inclusion in the standard symphonic repertory.

Tickets are $22 to $32 in advance or $25 to $35 at the door. Tickets are available online at www.cosusymphony.org. Up to three K-8 students accompanied by a ticketed adult, and all high school and college students with ID, may be given free general admission tickets at the door starting one hour prior to the concert, subject to availability.

Corvallis Arts for All discounts apply with a valid SNAP card and are available one hour prior to performance. For accommodations relating to a disability please call 541-286-5580, preferably one week in advance.

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About the OSU College of Liberal Arts: The College of Liberal Arts includes the fine and performing arts, humanities and social sciences, making it one of the largest and most diverse colleges at OSU. The college’s research and instructional faculty members contribute to the education of all university students and provide national and international leadership, creativity and scholarship in their academic disciplines.

On-campus TV and radio studios: Oregon State University is equipped with on-campus television and radio studios that can be used by journalists. Live or live-to-tape broadcast television studio interviews can be conducted using Vyvx. Oregon State staff can also gather b-roll and coordinate live-to-tape interviews on locations throughout campus. For radio, Oregon State’s ISDN phone line provides a broadcast-quality audio feed.

Corvallis-OSU Symphony performs Shostakovich’s tenth symphony Nov. 24

November 05, 2019 in Orchestra

For Immediate Release: November 5, 2019

Corvallis-OSU Symphony performs Shostakovich’s tenth symphony Nov. 24

By Zachary C. Person

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Corvallis-OSU Symphony under the direction of Maestro Marlan Carlson performs works by Antonín Dvořák, Zoltán Kodály and Dmitri Shostakovich at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 24 in the Austin Auditorium at The LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis.

Antonín Dvořák’s “Carnival Overture” Op. 92 opens the program. The rousing nine-minute work from 1891 forms the second in Dvořák’s trilogy of concert overtures inspired by the composer’s impressions of life, love and nature which embody the human experience.

Zoltán Kodály’s "Dance of Galanta," a four-part whirlwind of folk melodies and gypsy tunes, follows. Like his contemporary Béla Bartók, Kodály spent his lifetime collecting folk music melodies in the remote areas of Hungary, Transylvania and other areas of Eastern Europe. "This passion for the unblemished and authentic musical expressions of mostly illiterate people with no formal musical education eventually manifested itself in many of their compositions," says Maestro Carlson. "And like the food of this area, the music of these composers is both exhilarating and sensorially intoxicating."

The Tenth Symphony in E minor, Op. 93 by Dmitri Shostakovich closes the program. Shostakovich began composing the four-movement symphony shortly after the death of Josef Stalin in 1953, and the symphony forms a musical portrait of both Stalin as a person and Shostakovich’s experience of living under the Stalinist regime.

The symphony was premiered in 1953 by the Leningrad Philharmonic under the direction of Yevgeny Mravinsky to huge success, though the overall pessimistic tone of the work quickly attracted public scrutiny from the Soviet Composer’s Union as being an "optimistic tragedy” and “non-realistic.” Despite the criticism, Shostakovich, who was well accustomed to politically motivated ridicule of his works - and very adept at publicly apologizing for their content - did not offer to rewrite the symphony. His Op. 93 stands today as a mid-century masterwork and an astute if somewhat less than overt political statement summing up in a mere 53 minutes Shostakovich’s experiences during decades of Stalinism.

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Corvallis-OSU Symphony Society hosts Portland Youth Philharmonic Oct. 27

October 01, 2019 in Orchestra

Corvallis-OSU Symphony Society hosts Portland Youth Philharmonic Oct. 27

Story by: Zachary Person
Source: Josh Espinoza

CORVALIS, Ore. – The Portland Youth Philharmonic hosted by the Corvallis-OSU Symphony Society performs at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, October 27 in the Austin Auditorium at The LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th Street.

Portland Youth Philharmonic music director David Hattner leads the orchestra in three works: George Gershwin’s jazz-inspired Piano Concerto in F (1925) featuring 14-year-old Joshua Ji, winter of the 2019 Portland Piano International / SOLO Piano Competition; Amy Beach’s “Gaelic Symphony” (1894); and “Batuque” (1941) by Brazilian composer Oscar Lorenzo Fernández.

Following the immense success of his “Rhapsody in Blue” in 1924, George Gershwin (1898-1937) received a commission from Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphony that resulted in his popular three movement piano concerto. Unlike any composer before or since, Gershwin transcended the boundaries between jazz and classical music with his catalog of jazzy, blues-inflected works.

The “Gaelic Symphony” by Amy Beach (1867-1944) was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. Despite her lack of European musical training, Beach was a highly regarded composer during the late-19thand early-20th centuries. In addition to her well-known compositions, Beach was an acclaimed piano soloist (frequently performing her own music) and also served as president of the board at the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music.

Brazilian composer Oscar Lorenzo Fernández (1897-1948) was primarily known for his three-act opera “Malazarte.” “Batuque,” the third movement from a popular suite for orchestra extracted from the opera, is based on an Afro-Brazilian folk dance brilliantly adapted for symphony orchestra.

Tickets $5, all seating general admission. Advance tickets available at cosusymphony.org or at the box office beginning one hour prior to the performance. Accommodations relating to a disability may be made by calling 541-286-5580, preferably at least one week in advance.

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About the OSU College of Liberal Arts: The College of Liberal Arts includes fine and performing arts, humanities and social sciences, making it one of the largest and most diverse colleges at OSU. The college’s research and instructional faculty members contribute to the education of all university students and provide national and international leadership, creativity and scholarship in their academic disciplines.

Corvallis-OSU Symphony performs Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring Feb. 24

February 07, 2019 in Orchestra

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 7 February 2019

Corvallis-OSU Symphony performs Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring Feb. 24

By Zachary C. Person, 541-737-4671, zachary.person@oregonstate.edu

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Corvallis-OSU Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Marlan Carlson presents “Stars of the Orchestra” at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, February 24 in the Austin Auditorium at The LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th Street, Corvallis.

Student soloists from OSU who were selected at a competitive audition in October, 2018 are featured in in the opening half:

· Hailey Cervantes: “Con Forza” from Concerto for Percussion by Joseph Schwantner

· Christopher Yoon: “Adagio-Moderato” from Concerto for Cello by Edward Elgar

· Adrian Galash and Ralph Musni: “Allegro” from Concerto for Two Clarinets by Franz Krommer

· Bettine Rehr-Zimmerman: Selections from “Carmen Fantasy” for violin and orchestra by Pablo de Sarasate

· Eric Russell: “Allegro” from Concerto for Horn by Gordon Jacob

· Andrew Yoon: “Rhapsody in Blue” for piano by George Gershwin

Oboists Robert Koll, Stephanie Brannan and Janie Anderson, and horn players Eric Russell and Luke Schroeder will also be featured in the first movement of J.S. Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto No. 1,” conducted by OSU music education student Rolly Toribio.

Igor Stravinsky’s landmark “Rite of Spring” is the major work on the program. The ballet score induced a riot at its inaugural performance at Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in 1913, shocking the audience with a highly complex rhythmic scheme and an audacious approach to tonality. The entire ensemble is showcased in the “Rite of Spring” through Stravinsky’s virtuosic solo writing, brilliant passagework and genius command of orchestration and thematic development.

In the words of Maestro Marlan Carlson, “this is a concert I’ve been dreaming about for years - a concert featuring many of our outstanding student instrumentalists as soloists combined with the 20th century’s all-time star composition for orchestra, the ‘Rite of Spring’ by Igor Stravinsky. No other work composed in the last 120 years can touch the Rite of Spring (1913) in terms of its creative brilliance and its impact on the course of music history. I’ve known this piece for many decades, performed it many times, and in fact had the opportunity to play it as acting principal viola in the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.”

Reserved seating $22, $27, $32. Advance tickets available online at www.cosusymphony.org. Up to three K-8 students accompanied by a ticketed adult, and all high school and college students with ID, may be given free general admission tickets at the door starting one hour prior to the concert, subject to availability. CAFA discounts apply with valid SNAP card, available one hour prior to performance at the LaSells Stewart Center. For accommodations relating to a disability please call 541-286-5580, preferably one week in advance.

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Corvallis-OSU Symphony, violin soloist Jessica Lambert celebrate Bernstein Centenary Nov. 18

November 02, 2018 in Orchestra

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2 November 2018

Corvallis-OSU Symphony, violin soloist Jessica Lambert celebrate Bernstein Centenary Nov. 18

By Zachary C. Person

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Corvallis-OSU Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Marlan Carlson presents its season opening concert “Bernstein 100” at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, November 18.

The concert will be held in the Austin Auditorium at The LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th Street, Corvallis.

Arthur Honegger’s programmatic “Pacific 231” (1923) opens the program. The widely performed work vividly evokes a steam locomotive gathering terrifying speed and wildly racing down the tracks before the relentless machine finally grinds to a noisy, exhausted halt.

Violinist Jessica Lambert, concertmaster of orchestra since 2007, joins as soloist for Leonard Bernstein’s infrequently performed “Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium).” While not strictly programmatic, the 1954 composition is based on Bernstein’s interpretation of Plato’s famed dialogue “The Symposium.” Bernstein explained that “the music, like the dialogue, is a series of related statements in praise of love, and generally follows the Platonic form through the succession of speakers at the banquet.” Each of the five movements draws its focus from characters in the dialogue: I. Phaedrus; Pausanias; II. Aristophanes; III. Eryximachus; IV. Agathon; V. Socrates.

Lambert is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Zvi Zeitlin and members of the Cleveland String Quartet. She is artistic director of the Oregon State University Chamber Music Workshop and maintains a large private studio in Corvallis. Previous professional engagements include the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, the El Paso Symphony and the El Paso Pro Musica.

Carl Nielsen’s Fifth Symphony, Op. 50 (1922) comprises the entire second half of the program. Unusually, the symphony eschews the traditional symphonic form and is written in only two lengthy and highly contrasting movements. The inclusion of Nielsen’s work celebrates Leonard Bernstein’s conducting legacy and influence on modern concert programming. Bernstein was long a champion of works by Carl Nielsen, Jean Sibelius and other (at the time) ‘neglected’ composers including Gustav Mahler, and his profound impact as an interpreter and conductor of works by lesser-known composers forms one of the most important and lasting parts of his tremendous legacy.

The Corvallis-OSU Symphony will continue its exploration of Leonard Bernstein’s legacy throughout the remainder of the 2018-2019 season. On November 30, the orchestra will be joined by the OSU Chamber Choir for a performance of Bernstein’s charming “Chichester Psalms.” In February, Maestro Carlson will lead the ensemble in a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s savage “Rite of Spring” and in May, the orchestra will perform Gustav Mahler’s heart wrenching ninth and final symphony. The Stravinsky and Mahler works were at the core of Bernstein’s conducting repertoire and his interpretation and approach of both masterpieces have long stood the test of time.

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