November 12, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE OREGON SYMPHONY IN DECEMBER:
FIVE SPECIAL EVENTS TO RING IN THE SEASON OF GOOD CHEER

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(PORTLAND, Ore.) – ‘Tis the season for holiday tunes, of course, and the Oregon Symphony aims to get everyone into the proper spirit, regardless of musical tastes, with four different programs of holiday music in December, including such perennial favorites as Handel’s Messiah and Portland’s own unique holiday tradition, Gospel Christmas. Up first, though, a very special evening with classical music’s biggest star, cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Complete details follow:

SUNDAY, DEC. 5:
SOLD OUT!: CELLO MEGASTAR YO-YO MA MAKES A RARE PORTLAND APPEARANCE

• When and Where: One performance only, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

• The Performers: The Oregon Symphony, with Music Director Carlos Kalmar on the podium, joined by cellist Yo-Yo Ma as soloist in a performance of the Shostakovich First Cello Concerto.

• The Program:
• John Adams: Slonimsky’s Earbox
• Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring Suite
• Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1
• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnol

• Tickets: The performance is sold out.

• What’s So Special About This Concert:

• The concert marks the first Oregon Symphony collaboration since May 2001 for cellist Yo-Yo Ma, easily classical music’s most recognizable superstar. Following that 2001 performance, The Oregonian’s James McQuillen called Ma “the consummate American musician,” adding, “Listening to his seemingly effortless virtuosity, one gets the sense that he transcended technical challenges ages ago, and all that’s left is pure expression and the joy of music.”
• This time he’ll perform one of the more modern works in the cello repertoire, Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1, written in 1959 for another titan of the instrument, Mstislav Rostropovich.
• To say this performance has captured the interest of Portland concertgoers is the understatement of the year. Ticket buyers snapped up the last available seat last Apr. 23 – more than seven months in advance – making it the Oregon Symphony’s earliest sellout in memory.
• The concert opens with another rarity: “Slonimsky’s Earbox,” by America’s most-often-performed living composer, John Adams. The Oregon Symphony co-commissioned “Slonimsky’s Earbox” and gave it its American premiere at the orchestra’s 100th birthday concert in 1996, but it hasn’t been performed here since. After the premiere, Oregonian critic David Stabler, in a description today’s Portlanders might find especially apt, called it “the aural equivalent of mainlining a double espresso.”
• Presenting sponsor of the concert is First Independent Bank.

 

MONDAY, DEC. 6:
HOLIDAY TUNES WITH A TWIST FROM BÉLA FLECK AND THE FLECKTONES

• When and Where: One performance only, at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

• The Performers: The Oregon Symphony, with Music Director Carlos Kalmar on the podium, joined by the jazz/fusion/bluegrass ensemble Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and their special guests, the Tuvan throat-singing ensemble Alash. 

• The Program: The orchestra performs a variety of holiday music to open the concert, including pieces by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Georges Bizet and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Then Fleck & Co. join the orchestra to put their own distinct spin on the music of the season, performing tunes from their Grammy-winning 2008 holiday album Jingle All the Way.  

• Tickets: $23 to $123; at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office, 923 SW Washington St., in downtown Portland. Ticket office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, at the concert hall box office starting two hours before the performance, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, OrSymphony.org.

• What’s So Special About This Concert:

• The concert features holiday music start to finish, but it’s safe to say you’ve never heard any of these tunes performed in quite this way before –  in the Flecktones’ fiery fusion style that blends jazz and bluegrass, folk and world beat.
• Fleck’s fans will recognize much of the music from the band’s 2008 recording Jingle All the Way, the Grammy-winning album that was the Flecktones’ first holiday collection after 20 years of performing together.
• As they did on the album, the Flecktones will share their spotlight with a special guest: Alash, an internationally acclaimed quartet of throat singers from the tiny  Central Asian republic of Tuva.
• Fleck, widely regarded as the best banjoist in the world today, is a 13-time Grammy winner; he’s been nominated 25 times in more different categories than any other musician in history.
• Fleck has been a frequent Oregon Symphony collaborator in recent years. He performed with the orchestra in February 2008 (with the Flecktones) and September 2009 (without), earning wide critical and audience acclaim both times.

 

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, DEC. 10-12:
GOSPEL CHRISTMAS RETURNS FOR ITS 12TH INSPIRATIONAL YEAR

• When and Where: Three performances, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and a 4 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Dec. 12; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

• The Performers: The Oregon Symphony, led by guest conductor Charles Floyd, with the Northwest Community Gospel Choir under the direction of Gary Hemenway.

• The Program: A variety of contemporary and holiday Gospel favorites, as well as original arrangements for choir and orchestra by conductor Charles Floyd.

• Tickets: $23 to $88; at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office, 923 SW Washington St., in downtown Portland. Ticket office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, at the concert hall box office starting two hours before the performance, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, OrSymphony.org.

• What’s So Special About These Concerts:
• Now in their 12th season, the Oregon Symphony’s annual Gospel Christmas concerts have become a much-loved Portland holiday tradition, with many audience members returning year after year – and some snapping up tickets a year in advance.
• The 100+ singers in the Northwest Community Gospel Choir join together specifically for these concerts each year. Choir members come from the choirs of more than 30 local churches and meet every Saturday for three months to rehearse for Gospel Christmas under the direction of Gary Hemenway, pastor of Journey Church in Walla Walla, WA.
• Los Angeles-based conductor Charles Floyd – a nationally known pianist, arranger and composer himself – has conducted every Oregon Symphony Gospel Christmas performance since the first one in 1999.
• Sunday’s performance moves to a new, earlier time this year – 4 p.m. – to make it convenient for concertgoers who prefer matinees.
• The presenting sponsors of these concerts are the Heathman Hotel and KOIN-TV.

 

SATURDAY-SUNDAY, DEC. 18-19:
TWO RARE OREGON SYMPHONY PERFORMANCES OF HANDEL’S MESSIAH

• When and Where: Two performances, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, and a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Dec. 19; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

• The Performers: Guest conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni and the Oregon Symphony are joined by the Portland Symphonic Choir and soloists Nathalie Paulin, soprano; Matthew White, countertenor; Frederic Antoun, tenor; and Joshua Hopkins, baritone.

• The Program:
• George Frideric Handel: Messiah

• Tickets: $25 to $95; at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office, 923 SW Washington St., in downtown Portland. Ticket office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, at the concert hall box office starting two hours before the performance, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, OrSymphony.org.

• What’s So Special About These Concerts:

• George Frideric Handel’s much-loved masterpiece, Messiah, may have become a holiday staple in the music world, but it’s a real rarity on the Oregon Symphony’s stage. In the past six decades plus, the orchestra has performed it only twice before: once in 1949 and once in 2004. 
• French Canadian conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni, the recently named music director of Ohio’s Columbus Symphony who will lead the performances, has a special connection to the this orchestra: His U.S. orchestral debut was at a 2005 Oregon Symphony community concert in North Bend.
• Tickets for both performances have been selling briskly since the concerts were first announced. Patrons are advised to buy early for the best remaining seating.

 

THURSDAY, DEC. 23:
… AND, RIGHT BEFORE THE BIG DAY, TIDINGS OF “COMFORT AND JOY”

• When and Where: One performance only, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 23; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

• The Performers: The Oregon Symphony, with Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda on the podium, joined by the Pacific Youth Choir.

• The Program: People whose tastes in holiday music tend toward the classical side will appreciate this thoughtful assortment of seasonal music from the likes of Johann Sebastian Bach, Claude Debussy, Franz Joseph Haydn, Frederic Delius and Johann Strauss Jr. And, of course, to get everyone into the spirit: a Christmas sing-along is a must.  

• Tickets: $18 to $53; at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office, 923 SW Washington St., in downtown Portland. Ticket office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, at the concert hall box office starting two hours before the performance, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, OrSymphony.org.

• What’s So Special About This Concert:
• This is the special event for people who just can’t get enough Christmas music as the big day approaches – carols, traditional seasonal favorites and what else but a no-holds-barred audience sing-along.
• Family-friendly prices, with tickets starting as low as $18, make it possible to share the gift of live music with loved ones of all ages, right before Christmas. The more, the merrier!
• Presenting sponsor of this concert is the stations of All Classical FM.

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CONTACT:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
(503) 416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org