August 12, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Actor and comedian Martin Short combines his unique brand of comedy with hidden musical talents when he teams up with the Oregon Symphony for a special concert on Sept. 10 in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
Short, a two-time Tony award winner for his performances in “Little Me” and “The Goodbye Girl,” will unveil his musical talents as he performs Broadway show tunes in a Victor Borge-style show that will also feature the appearance of some of his most memorable characters and impressions. The Symphony will be led by guest conductor Josephine Lee, Artistic Director of the Chicago Children’s Choir, who will present a number of well-known light classics, including “Holiday for Strings,” “Bugler’s Holiday,” and the “Egyptian March” during the first half of the concert.
The multi-talented Short began work in television for “SCTV” and later “Saturday Night Live,” where his amazingly accurate character portrayals and impersonations brought him instant fame. He later went on to appear in a number of movies, including “The Three Amigos,” “Father of the Bride, Parts 1 and 2” and “Mars Attacks!” In more recent years Short has hosted his own talk show, “The Martin Short Show,” which received seven Emmy nominations, and created several comedy specials, including the Emmy award-winning “The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show.”
The performance is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets range from $15 to $115 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Friday, 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.
Born in Ontario, Canada, Short began his career on Canada’s “SCTV Comedy Network,” where his work garnered an Emmy Award. Short’s proven ability as a comedic chameleon and his host of hilarious impressions brought him to the attention of “Saturday Night Live.” After only one season, Short was instantly recognized for his standout performances and on-the-mark impressions of such characters as Ed Grimley, Jackie Rogers Jr., legendary songwriter Irving Cohen and lawyer Nathan Thurm. With the tremendous exposure he gained on “Saturday Night Live,” he was on the Hollywood fast track and quickly crossed over into feature film work.
Short made his big screen debut in “Three Amigos,” where he worked along side former SNL colleagues Chevy Chase and Steve Martin. Over the years he has continued to land plum comedic roles in theatrical releases such as “Inner Space,” Tim Burton’s “Mars Attacks,” “Jungle to Jungle” and “The Big Picture,” among others. Perhaps his most memorable role was that of the scene-stealing Franck the wedding planner in “Father of the Bride.” He later reprised the hilarious portrayal for “Father of the Bride II.”
Not limiting himself to acting, Short has also written, produced and starred in three highly acclaimed comedy specials for television. For these efforts, which included “Martin Short’s Concert for the North Americas” for Showtime, “I Martin Short, Goes Hollywood” for NBC, and “The Show Formerly Known As The Martin Short Show” for NBC, he won two Cable Ace awards and an Emmy Award, respectively. Short’s work in television also includes his co-starring, Emmy-nominated role in the NBC mini-series “Merlin,” one of the highest-rated programs in the network’s history. And following that he co-starred in the critically acclaimed “ Alice in Wonderland” for NBC as the Mad Hatter.
A veteran of the theater in Canada and on Broadway, Short has received accolades for this varied work on the stage, earning a Tony Award nomination, a Theatre World Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for the 1993 Broadway production of “The Goodbye Girl.” Most recently, Martin won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his work in the Neil Simon/Colemon Broadway production of “Little Me.” In addition, he also starred in Lawrence Kasdan’s “Four Dogs and a Bone” at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
In the fall of 1999, Short brought his comedic and musical talents, versatility and improvisational genius to the television genre when he hosted King World’s daily one-hour talk/variety entertainment program, “The Martin Short Show.” The show garnered seven Emmy nominations, two of which were for “Best Show” and “Best Host.”
Short’s incredible career has been recognized by the public and critics alike, and by his Canadian homeland. In 1994, Short was awarded the “Order of Canada” (the Canadian equivalent to British Knighthood) for his contribution to Canadian culture and was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame in June 2000.
Born in Chicago to parents of Korean descent, Josephine Lee started violin lessons at the age of three, piano at the age of four, and conducting at the age of fifteen.
In December 1999, she was appointed the Chicago Children’s Choir’s Artistic Director, the youngest person to hold that position in the organization's history. Under her direction, the Choir’s young singers have toured nationally and internationally, appearing in such prestigious venues as Vienna’s Musikverein, Hamburg’s Musikhalle, Boston’s Jordan Hall, and New York City’s Carnegie Hall. They have worked and performed with such distinguished artists as Bobby McFerrin, Samuel Ramey, Jai Uttal, John MacDowell, Rachel Barton Pine, Alban Gerhardt and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
Josephine recently prepared the children’s choruses for Christoph Eschenbach’s performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and for Carlos Kalmar’s performances of Britten’s “War Requiem” with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. In the summer of 2001 the Choir performed in Mendelssohn’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Ravinia Music Festival and, the next summer, in Ravinia’s production of “Romeo and Juliet.”
Not only a choral conductor, Josephine led the CSO in the world premiere of Bobby McFerrin and Roger Treece’s “He Ran to the Train” and made her Grant Park Symphony conducting debut at Millennium Park in a concert with Tony Award-winning Debbie Gravitte, Christiane Noll, and Doug LaBreque. She also has conducted, performed concerts, and taught master classes in Canada, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, South Korea, and Thailand.
In addition to working with the choral repertoire, Josephine has introduced the Choir’s singers to the worlds of opera and theater. Josephine was co-creator of “Sita Ram,” a groundbreaking work of musical theater. She prepared and directed the chorus and orchestra for the work’s 2003 world premiere written and directed by Lookingglass founding-member David Kersnar and performed in collaboration with Grammy-nominated recording artist Jai Uttal and South Indian classical dance master Krithika Rajagopalan of the Natya Dance Theatre. In recent years, Josephine has trained children’s choruses for Lyric Opera of Chicago’s productions of “Pique Dame,” “Tosca,” “Otello,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “La Boheme” and “The Cunning Little Vixen.”
Josephine was honored by Today’s Chicago Woman Foundation in 2003, when she was named one of Chicago’s twenty-one “Rising Stars,” a select group of professional women under the age of 40 drawn from a variety of disciplines including arts, business, education and government. She also has won numerous major competitions and awards in her 25 years of musical study, including the 1995 Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Award in Piano and finalist rank in the National Chopin Competition in New York. In 2002, Chorus America awarded Josephine the first Robert Shaw Conducting Fellowship. This Fellowship honors the great conductor’s legacy in the choral arts by supporting the professional development of outstanding emerging young conductors who exemplify the highest standards of choral performance.
In the winter of 2004, Josephine and the Chicago Children’s Choir released “ Open Up Your Heart,” an exciting new recording produced by Deaf Dog Studio’s Grammy-nominee John Ovnik with guest artists including Grammy-nominated violinist Rachel Barton Pine; cellist Alban Gerhardt; six time Grammy-nominated pianist Jon Webber and Mark Walker, drummer and percussionist with the band Oregon. Her upcoming engagements include conducting the Grant Park Symphony on July 6th in Millennium Park, in a concert of East meets West with musicians Betty and Wei, featuring music from the Award-Winning film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” composed by Tan Dun. She will also be conducting the Chicago Children’s Choir for their Japan send-off concert in Millennium Park Sunday, July 24th. In September of 2005 she will be making her debut with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra with guest artist Martin Short. In March of 2006 she will be conducting a production of “Sita Ram,” a work commissioned by the Chicago Children’s Choir, produced by Lookingglass Theater.
Josephine Lee’s passion in life is opening people’s hearts and mind with music that represents the beauty that is within all of us.
