February 11, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Discover uncharted territories with the Oregon Symphony as Music Director Carlos Kalmar conducts the world premiere of Kevin Walczyk’s symphony “Corps of Discovery,” which celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition on May 14, 15 and 16 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. This concert also features the Symphony premiere of Mendelssohn’s “ Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage” and Barber’s Piano Concerto with pianist Peter Donohoe, as well as Debussy’s “La Mer.” Lufthansa is the exclusive airline sponsor for the Symphony’s Classical series. The May 14 concert is sponsored by the Argosy Foundation and Tektronix. Media support is provided by The Oregonian.
Walczyk, an associate professor of music composition at Western Oregon State University, composed his symphony as a co-commission by the St. Louis Symphony and the Oregon Symphony. The two-part symphony musically depicts the historic mission of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to map the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The first half, “Discovery: Upper Louisiana Territory,” premiered in the fall of 2004 in St. Louis. The second half, “Discovery: Pacific Northwest Territory,” receives its world premiere in this concert. “Discovery: Pacific Northwest Territory” is made up of five tableaux that narrate the expedition’s great portage, their crossing of the Continental Divide, their exploits in the uncharted west and their arrival at the Pacific Ocean.
The concert also features an audience favorite, Debussy’s evocative tone poem, “La Mer,” which captures the various moods of the ocean, from calm murmurs to storm-tossed waves crashing on the shore. The musical exploration of the ocean continues with Mendelssohn’s overture, “ Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage,” inspired by two poems of Goethe.
Pianist Peter Donohoe, the 1982 winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, is known for his performances of 20 th century works. He joins the Symphony to perform Barber’s Piano Concerto, commissioned by his publisher G. Schirmer in honor of their 100 th anniversary and premiered in the inaugural concerts that celebrated the opening of Lincoln Center in New York City in 1962.
Oregon Symphony Classical concerts regularly include additional opportunities for listeners to learn more about the music and the orchestra. These activities include:
Concert Conversations: Carlos Kalmar and Shaun Yu of KBPS All Classical 89.9 will have a discussion one hour before the concert of the works to be performed. Media support for “Concert Conversations” is provided by Classical Millennium.
Saturday: Carlos Kalmar will speak briefly from the podium in “Saturday Interactive.” Media support for “Saturday Interactive” is provided by KINKfm102.
Performances are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, May 16 at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets range in price from $18 to $80 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. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony’s Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
An Oregon native, Kevin Walczyk received his masters and doctoral degrees in music composition from the University of North Texas. His composition instructors have included Jacob Avshalomov, Karel Husa, Cindy McTee, Larry Austin, David Del Tredici and Thomas Svoboda. As an accomplished jazz composer and arranger Walczyk refined his craft with prominent jazz arrangers Tom Kubis and Frank Mantooth.
Walczyk’s works have been commissioned and/or recorded by numerous ensembles, including the Oregon Symphony, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Kiev Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Hutchins Consort and the Third Angle New Music Ensemble. His works have been featured throughout Europe, Asia, South America and North America and at new music festivals in Holland, Belgium, and Peru. Walczyk served as principal arranger (1992-1999) for the Art Abrams Swing Machine Big Band. His works for large jazz ensemble are represented on three recordings (AYA label).
Walczyk’s honors include grants from Meet The Composer, the Argosy Foundation, the American Music Center, and (multiple grants) from Western Oregon University. He has earned prizes or finalist status from the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble’s Harvey Gaul Competition, ASCAP, BMI, the Lionel Hampton Creative Composition Contest, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, ERMMedia’s Masterworks of the New Era recording prize, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Synergy project. His works have been selected for participation by the Ernest Bloch Composers Symposium, the College Band Directors National Symposium, the Southeastern League of Composers, the College Music Society, the North American Saxophone Alliance, Society of Composers, Inc., and the Master Musician’s Collective recording project. His recordings can be found on labels by Albany Records, Composers Recordings, Inc., Master Musicians Recordings and ERMMedia.
Walczyk is currently resident composer and Associate Professor of composition studies at Western Oregon University , where he has taught for the past 10 years.
Peter Donohoe is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest living British pianists. He first came to public attention when he won the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 1982 and he now performs regularly with many of the major orchestras throughout the world. In the 2004-05 season Peter Donohoe’s performances include the London Philharmonic/Jurowski, Deutsche Oper Berlin/Märkl, Munich Phliharmonic/Metzmacher, Bergen Philharmonic/Litton, Oregon Symphony, Winterthur, Malaysian Philharmonic and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras. He will also be performing concertos and recitals in Russia, including Moscow and St. Petersburg and undertaking a major tour with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under their Music Director James Judd.
He has made a number of celebrated recordings for EMI, Chandos and Naxos. In 2001 a Finzi disc to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth was released by Naxos, and formed the first of a major series of recordings which aims to raise the public’s awareness of British piano repertoire through concert performance and recordings. Discs of music by Rawsthorne and Bliss have now also been released to great critical acclaim. Donohoe has an extensive repertoire list, and he is particularly known for his interpretation of 20th century and contemporary works.
