March 10, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Music that explores the infinite mysteries of time and space is featured on an Oregon Symphony Sundays at Two concert led by Music Director Carlos Kalmar and featuring Principal Percussionist Niel DePonte performing Creston’s Concertino for Marimba on April 9 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. American Airlines is the exclusive airline sponsor for the Symphony’s Sundays at Two series.
Kalmar leads the Symphony in its premiere of American composer Joseph Schwantner’s “Aftertones of Infinity,” which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979. This work, based on an evocative poem written by Schwantner, requires the orchestra to sing in certain passages and is scored for a number of unusual percussion instruments, including tuned crystal goblets and bowed marimba.
Creston’s concerto, the first ever written for solo marimba, features jazzy syncopated rhythms and a technically demanding solo part. “For a composer who had little formal classical training in composition, Paul Creston shows a remarkable ability to write extended melodies and to flavor them with impressionistic sounding jazz-like harmonies,” says DePonte.
Also featured on this concert are Haydn’s “Clock” Symphony, so called because of the ticking accompaniment in its second movement, and Josef Strauss’ “Music of the Spheres Waltz,” one of the finest examples of the Viennese waltz at the height of its popularity.
The performance is scheduled for Sunday, April 9 at 2 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets range in price from $16 to $22 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Customer Service Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Discounted tickets for groups of eight or more are available through the Group Sales hotline at (503) 416-6380. 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.
Niel DePonte is the Principal Percussionist of the Oregon Symphony, a post to which he was appointed in 1977 at the age of 24. He has appeared with the Oregon Symphony numerous times as a marimba soloist, playing a varied repertoire including his own composition, Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Colorado Springs and Walla Walla (WA) symphonies, and appears regularly as solo percussionist for Chamber Music Northwest. He was a 2003 Grammy Award nominee in the category of Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra for his performance of the Concerto for Marimba by Tomas Svoboda, with James DePreist and the Oregon Symphony on Albany Records.
Niel is also the Music Director and Conductor for Oregon Ballet Theatre and has appeared as guest conductor with the symphonies of Oregon, Syracuse, Spokane, Charlotte, Anchorage, Tulsa, Dayton and the San Francisco and Boston Ballet Orchestras. Also a published composer, Niel’s works have been performed by the Oregon Symphony, the Eastman Wind Ensemble and other ensembles throughout the United States. He has composed, arranged, and edited orchestral scores for use in ballet performance, most recently, a full-length ballet score for Houston Ballet’s 2002 production of “Peter Pan.” As President of MetroArts Inc, a non-profit arts education organization founded by Niel in 1993, he has done considerable research on the use of the arts for teaching cognitive strategies in the classroom and conducts the Young Artists Debut program and runs the MetroArts Kids Camp program each July at PCPA.
