September 10, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Broadway tunes made famous by female greats such as Ethel Merman, Julie Andrews and Judy Garland will be performed by some of today’s hottest Broadway divas as guest conductor David Wiley joins the Oregon Symphony in the opening Pops concert of the 2004-05 season on Oct. 9, 10 and 11 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, with an added performance on Oct. 12 at Salem’s Smith Auditorium. Media support is provided by K103fm and Oregon Business Magazine.
Wiley, who is the music director of the Long Island Philharmonic and Virginia’s Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, will lead the orchestra in a program featuring tunes from great Broadway productions such as “My Fair Lady,” “Showboat,” “Annie,” Les Miserables and “Chicago,” among others. Highlights will include “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” “Tomorrow,” and “I Dreamed a Dream,” and “I Love a Piano.”
Wiley will be joined by several of today’s hottest Broadway stars, including Anne Runolfsson, who starred in the touring production of the smash hit “Victor/ Victoria;” Christine Pedi, whose credits include a recent appearance on HBO’s acclaimed show “The Sopranos” as Mrs. Bobby Baccala and has performed in “Forbidden Broadway;” Cara Johnston, who has sung with a number of regional opera companies, including “Musetta” from “La Bohème” with the Chautauqua Opera and Jenny Rose Baker, who played several roles in the Broadway revival of “Annie Get Your Gun,” starring Bernadette Peters.
Performances are scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 9 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 10 at 3 p.m., and Monday, Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, with an additional performance at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 12 at Willamette University’s Smith Auditorium in Salem. Tickets for the Salem concert call the Salem office at (503) 364-0149. Tickets range in price from $26 to $72 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.
David Wiley is admired as one of the most inspiring dynamic young music directors in America and currently serving as Music Director of the Long Island Philharmonic and Virginia’s Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. Prior to these positions, he served as the Assistant Conductor of both the Minnesota Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Recent seasons have seen guest conducting appearances with the Atlanta Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Utah Symphony and the Buffalo Philharmonic, to name but a few.
pAs Music Director of the Roanoke Symphony, David Wiley’s remarkable tenure is noted for dramatically increased subscriptions, sold-out houses, regional touring, expanded educational and in-school activities, consistently high praise from local critics for both over-all programming and individual performances by a revitalized orchestra and chorus, and the issuance of two CDs: a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and a collaboration with soloist Norman Krieger on both Edward MacDowell’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Mr. Wiley’s own Piano Concerto No. 3. In May 2001, the RSO’s public activities also expanded into the new $8.5 million Shaftman Performance Hall. Throughout 2002-03, the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra celebrated its 50th Anniversary Season. In addition to his intensive schedules with the Long Island Philharmonic (where Newsday has praised the orchestra as “fresh and revitalized”) and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, David Wiley continues as Artistic Director of Virginia’s Wintergreen Summer Music Festival, where his appointment has resulted in dramatic artistic growth, expanded audiences and award-winning, innovative outreach programs into the community-at-large.
Born in 1966, David Wiley made his debut as both pianist and composer at the age of ten with Boston’s professional Adventures in Music Orchestra, in the premiere performance of his first piano concerto. Having continued to compose, he has performed his three piano concerti, written numerous choral, chamber and orchestral compositions and devised special arrangements for Pops artists, including Bruce Hornsby. As a solo pianist, Mr. Wiley has performed with the Indianapolis and Roanoke Symphony Orchestras, The Minnesota Orchestra and the Long Island and Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonics, among others. He has also appeared as a jazz pianist in Boston’s Symphony Hall and in numerous recital appearances in China, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria and throughout the United States.
In autumn 1996, David Wiley was awarded his Doctor of Music degree in Conducting from Indiana University, where he had received his Master of Music degree in 1992. He also holds a degree in piano performance with honors from the New England Conservatory of Music and a degree in Religion, summa cum laude, from Tufts University. Mr. Wiley won the 1993 Aspen Conducting Prize, which led to his engagement as Assistant Conductor for the 1994 Aspen Music Festival. In 1995, he was a conducting fellow at Tanglewood, the famed summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
David Wiley has also conducted the Akron, Annapolis, Columbus, Pensacola, Hawaii, Kingsport, Lafayette, New Mexico, Northwest Indiana, San Jose, Savannah, Springfield (MA) and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras, Dayton, Evansville and Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic Orchestras, Bloomington’s Camerata Orchestra, performances with both the Aspen Chamber Symphony and Concert Orchestra and a production of Puccini’s “La Bohème” with the Aspen Opera Theater. Mr. Wiley's additional opera and musical theater credits include a 1988 production of Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide,” under the guidance of Maestro Bernstein, and productions of Bernstein’s “On the Town” and “West Side Story,” Puccini’s “Il Tabarro,” Mozart’s “La Finta Giardinera” and “Le Nozze di Figaro” and Verdi’s “La Traviata.”
David Wiley is married to actress/soprano Leah Marer Wiley; they are the proud parents of their first child, Michael “Misha” Wiley, born in 2003.
Anne Runolfsson is one of those rare artists whose unique versatility has allowed her a distinguished career not only in the theater but also in recording studios, intimate cabaret spaces, and concert halls throughout the world. On Broadway she is best known for her work in “Victor/Victoria” as standby to Julie Andrews and Liza Minelli. She performed the title role over 120 times to great acclaim and went on to recreate the role in the National Tour which began in Seattle and Houston. Other Broadway and National Tour credits include James Joyce’s “The Dead,” “Les Miserables,” “Cyrano-The Musical,” “The Secret Garden” and “Aspects of Love.” Off-Broadway and Regional credits include: “Listen to My Heart,” “Rags,” “Jack’s Holiday,” “ Cather County,” “A Little Night Music,” “Showboat” and “Funny Girl.” She has been affiliated with projects in development at Lincoln Center, Second Stage, Manhattan Theater Club, New York Theater Workshop, The McCarter Theater, and Playwrights Horizons. Ms. Runolfsson enjoys tremendously her work in the concert and cabaret world. She has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall (with Tenor Jose Carreras), The Kennedy Center, Town Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, The National Theater in Iceland, Rainbow and Stars, The Russian Tea Room, Bay Street Theater, The Pump Room, The Cinegrill, The 92nd St. Y, and with The National Symphony, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The National Symphony of Canada, The Cincinnati Pops, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, The Buffalo Philharmonic and the Symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Utah, Detroit and St. Louis, among many others. Most recently she was the featured soloist for the “Lord of The Rings” Symphonic Suite (singing in Elfin), and completed a successful run of her new show “So Many Stars: the Lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman” at the Duplex and Ars Nova in New York City. In 1998 she was awarded the MAC award (Manhattan Association of Cabaret) for Best Female Vocalist, and in 1993 was a Drama League Honoree for her work in “Cyrano.” If you watch morning television you most likely heard her singing the theme song for “The Rosie O’Donnell Show.” Her debut album “At Sea” was critically acclaimed nationwide and can be purchased at annerunolfsson.com.
SOPRANOS fans may recognize Christine Pedi as the dearly departed Mrs. Bobby Baccala (He loved her so much he couldn’t defrost her ziti). Well known in New York for her long association with “Forbidden Broadway,” she’s earned a Drama Desk nomination and an LA Ovation award and has appeared in companies all over the world including L.A., Tokyo, Singapore, Australia and London’s West End (Albery Theatre). She made her Broadway debut in the revival of “Little Me,” directed by Rob Marshall. Ms Pedi’s work in cabaret has earned her a MAC award (Manhattan Assoc. of Cabarets) for her turn as Liza Minelli in “Judy & Liza Live” and several nominations for her one woman shows (“Wonderful Songs - An Evening of Comden & Green,” “Christine Pedi in a Single Act of Desperation” and “Forbidden Divas”) as well as a guest spot on John McD's Cabaret Corner on The Rosie O'Donnell Show. Recordings include: “Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey,” “Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back,” “Forbidden Hollywood,” “Forbidden Broadway: Vol. 3,” “Jekyll & Hyde” and “Little Me.” As a radio host Christine can be heard daily on Sirius Satellite Radio: “Broadway’s Best” (log on to Sirius.com & listen). She has performed for President and Mrs. Clinton (playing Mrs. Clinton) and will be headlining on the Queen Mary 2 in December 04. www.ChristinePedi.com
Soprano Cara Johnston is equally at home with musical theatre and opera. Notable performances include her debut with Chautauqua Opera as Musetta in “ La Bohème,” where she also covered the roles of Juliet in “ Romeo and Juliet” and Josephine in “H.M.S. Pinafore,” Cunegonde in “ Candide” with Opera Boston, and her critically acclaimed portrayal of Amy in Mark Adamo’s “ Little Women” with both the Ash Lawn Highland Festival and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. Other credits include “ My Fair Lady” and “ The Student Prince” with Paper Mill Playhouse and the Lilli/Kate cover in “ Kiss Me, Kate.” An active concert soloist, she has been a guest artist with the Indianapolis, Toronto, Seattle, Oregon, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Omaha symphonies and the Lancaster Festival Orchestra. In 2005, she will make her debut with Lyric Opera of San Antonio as Clorinda in “ Cenerentola.” Recordings include the upcoming release of the City Center Encores! production of “ New Moon.”
Jenny Rose Bakeris thrilled to be making her premiere with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. Within the past year, Jenny has performed with the Baltimore, Detroit and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras. On Broadway, she has played Jessie, Nellie, and Little Jake in “Annie Get Your Gun,” starring Reba McIntire and Bernadette Peters. Jenny performed the lead role of “Annie,” as well as Tessie in the Theatre of the Stars tour. In regional theatre, her credits include “One Happy Marriage” (Jennifer) and “Fiddler on the Roof” (Chava). Ms. Baker has appeared on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, NBC Newschannel 4, and Maury Povich Talented Kids shows. She has performed on recordings including a 1999 Holiday CD with Bernadette Peters and “Annie Get Your Gun,” and has sung “The Star Spangled Banner” at Madison Square Garden.
