March 27, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … A Symphony woodwind quintet featuring Mary Grant, Martha Herby, Todd Kuhns, Bob Naglee and Karen Wagner will perform a chamber concert at the Estacada Auditorium on Tuesday, April 17 at 7 p.m. The 90-minute concert is appropriate for families. Tickets will be sold at the door. Prices are $10 for families, $5 for one adult and $3 for students and seniors. All proceeds benefit future Estacada community arts events.
The chamber concert is part of a two-year Community Music Partnership (CMP) between the Oregon Symphony, the City of Estacada, the Estacada School District and the local presenting organization, Estacada Together.
On April 2 and 3 Oregon Symphony Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda will make his first visit to the schools this year. On Monday, April 2, Vajda will guest conduct the choir at Estacada High School in addition to speaking to a painting class about the topic “Following Your Passion.” Later that day he will visit the music appreciation class at Estacada Junior High School and fifth and sixth grade classrooms at Eagle Creek Elementary School. On Tuesday, April 3, Vajda will guest conduct the high school band in addition to visiting Clackamas River and River Mill Elementary Schools. Vajda will return on May 11 and 12 to conduct the Oregon Symphony Youth Concerts and Community Concert at the Estacada High School Gym.
Oregon Symphony musicians and staff will continue residency visits to all schools in the Estacada School District on April 9 and 10 as part of the partnership. These visits will feature the brass as well as the woodwinds with quintets formed by Oregon Symphony musicians. The CMP calls for the Symphony’s extensive roster of musicians and staff to work with students, educators, local arts organizations and business leaders to strengthen existing programs while integrating new arts programming into Estacada’s school curriculum and the greater community by offering resources in music education, live performances and arts advocacy.
Over 60 residency activities will take place throughout the school district during the April visits. On Monday, April 9, a brass quintet featuring Dave Bamonte, JáTtik Clark, John Cox, Aaron LaVere and Jeff Work will present ensemble performances for students at Estacada High School in the morning and River Mill Elementary in the afternoon. A woodwind quintet featuring Mary Grant, Martha Herby, Todd Kuhns, Bob Naglee and Karen Wagner will present ensemble performances for students at Clackamas River Elementary in the morning and River Mill and Eagle Creek Elementary in the afternoon. In addition, both quintets will hold “informances” with individual classes at the elementary level that provide a more in-depth look at the instrument and the life of a musician.
On Tuesday, April 10, the activities continue with the woodwind quintet presenting ensemble performances and classroom “informances” for students at Estacada Junior High School in the afternoon. In addition, a musician from the quintet will hold an “informance” with a group of homeschoolers at Clackamas Valley Baptist Church.
Following monthly visits from Symphony musicians representing all of the instrument families, year one of the CMP will culminate in May 2007, with two full-orchestra youth concerts and a community concert.
As the Symphony’s leading and most comprehensive education and community initiative, the CMP focuses on rural or remote Oregon communities of 30,000 people or less. Symphony staff work with a local steering committee comprised of school district and city representatives, parents and community arts advocates to craft the orchestra’s presence to meet community music needs over the two-year period.
For more information about the Symphony’s Community Music Partnership, visit www.OrSymphony.org.
CMP funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Family Foundation and the PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning.