"ANATOMY OF THE FIFTH" TO OPEN NERVE ENDINGS SERIES
WITH BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH SYMPHONY
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Portland, Ore. … Beethoven's illustrious Fifth Symphony will be the subject of a dramatic, audience-interactive exploration hosted by Resident Conductor Murry Sidlin in "Anatomy of the Fifth," an Oregon Symphony Nerve Endings concert, Nov. 15 and 16 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Nerve Endings is sponsored by BridgePort Brewing Company. Media support is provided by The Oregonian.

In the first half of the program, audience members will have an opportunity to participate with Sidlin and members of the orchestra in an exploration of the Fifth Symphony's philosophy, purpose and history featuring actor Tobias Andersen. "You'll sense Beethoven's anger over Napoleon's betrayal and his assurance at the end of the symphony that freedom, law, compassion and human dignity are the most noble objectives of any society," Sidlin said. Sidlin will take questions from the audience followed by a complete performance of the symphony during the second half of the concert.

Nerve Endings was designed to attract new audiences and expand the traditional role of the symphony orchestra with innovative concerts. The series draws hundreds of new subscribers each season, and it attracts international attention to the Oregon Symphony for presenting classical music in a very "unclassical" way. This season the Symphony will present a Nerve Endings-style Special Event, titled "Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin," that will commemorate the musical events of the Terezin Concentration Camp with a performance of Verdi's Requiem in what Sidlin calls "an affirmation of the human spirit of survival and dignity," April 20 at the Portland Expo Center. Past concerts have included "Film-Harmonic," films by Gus Van Sant, Chel White, Jim Blashfield and Joan C. Gratz inspired and accompanied by great works of symphonic music. Nerve Endings was made possible in part via the Knight Foundation of Miami's "Magic of Music" initiative.

"Anatomy of the Fifth" is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 15, and Friday, Nov. 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets range from $16 to $50 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Prices for students under 25 range from $8 to $30. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony's Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.

Tobias Andersen

This is Tobias Andersen's third appearance with the Nerve Endings series, having previously been seen as Stalin in "Musical Expressions of Political Outrage" and as Freud in "Sigmund Freud and the Dreams of Gustav Mahler." Recent appearances on Portland stages include Prospero in "The Tempest" (Tygre's Heart), Clarence Darrow in "Never The Sinner" (Artist's Repertory), Atticus in "To Kill a Mockingbird," Richlieu in "The Three Musketeers (Northwest Children's Theatre), Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady," Vandergelder in "Hello Dolly" (The Musical Company) and Jim in "Tales of the Lost Formicans (Profile Theatre).

A resident artist of such companies as The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and Playmaker's Repertory of Chapel Hill, Andersen now serves as Artistic Director of the Mt. Hood Repertory Theatre Company, where he has played The Stage Manager in "Our Town," Whiteside in "The Man Who Came to Dinner," Elwood P. Dowd in "Harvey" and recently directed "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

Andersen's critically acclaimed performance as America's most famous jurist, Clarence Darrow, in the one-man play, "Darrow," has been seen throughout the country and was selected by the USIA to represent the United States at the second annual International Drama Festival in Lahore, Pakistan. He will next appear as Shamrayev in Portland Center Stage's upcoming production of "The Seagull."