April 28, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Oregon Public Broadcasting will air an Oregon Symphony Classical concert featuring Music Director Carlos Kalmar leading the orchestra in Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with pianist Kirill Gerstein on Friday, June 2, from 9 to 11 p.m. This broadcast is the sixth of nine OPB broadcasts of classical Oregon Symphony concerts from the 2005-06 season which will air on OPB Radio the first Friday of each month through September 2006.
“This is literally an entire program of jazz,” says Kalmar. “What is interesting there is the fact that two of the pieces are not by American composers.” In addition to Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” the best-known work on the program, the concert also features Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major and a work by Austrian composer HK Gruber, “Manhattan Broadcasts,” which Kalmar describes as a “light-hearted wacky big band piece.”
Gerstein, who won First Prize at the 2001 Artur Rubenstein Piano Competition, will perform the piano solo parts for both the Ravel and “Rhapsody in Blue.” Ravel’s bluesy Piano Concerto demonstrates the influence of jazz on Ravel’s style, particularly in the two outer movements.
After intermission Gerstein will return to perform in Gershwin’s signature work, “Rhapsody in Blue,” the music that introduced jazz into the classical concert hall. The concert ends with an orchestral suite from Gershwin’s folk opera, “Porgy and Bess,” which features some of its best-known songs, including “Summertime,” “Bess, You Is My Woman Now” and “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’.”
In addition to the concerts, OPB and KBPS are collaborating to bring listeners interviews with musicians and conductors during the performance intermission. All broadcasts will repeat on KBPS in a nine-week series beginning July 23; this concert will air Sunday, Aug. 20, from 7 to 9 p.m. KBPS programs classical music all day, every day at 89.9 FM in the Portland region and 90.1 in the Columbia Gorge. Jefferson Public Radio, serving southwest Oregon and northern California, will also air the broadcasts in a nine-week series beginning June 2; this concert will be heard Friday, July 7, from 10 a.m. to Noon.
Oregon Public Broadcasting is a statewide network of community-supported learning resources, including OPB Television, an affiliate of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and OPB Radio, presenting local news coverage and the programs of National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Radio International (PRI). For a list of OPB Radio frequencies, log on to www.opb.org.
For more information, please contact Carol Howard at (503) 977-7751 or carol_howard@opb.org, or visit the Symphony’s website at www.orsymphony.org.
