October 24, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE OREGON SYMPHONY IN NOVEMBER:

MOZART, HERBIE HANCOCK, DVOŘÁK AND
THE VON TRAPP CHILDREN

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(PORTLAND, Ore.) – As if proof were needed about the truth of the Symphony’s new tagline—“Raising the Roof … Week After Week”—the lineup for November should do  the trick, providing Portland and the entire metro region an array of concerts that span genres, times and tastes. 

The symphony tackles a dazzling piece that requires virtuosity from every section of the orchestra; the spotlight gets focused on Mozart’s crowning symphonic achievement; jazz giant Herbie Hancock joins us for the first time playing his not-to-be-missed rendition of “Rhapsody in Blue”; Dvořák salutes America in The New World Symphony;  and the holiday season gets a heart-warming start with the strains of “The Sound of Music.”

 

SATURDAY, NOV. 5:
MONDAY, NOV. 7:
MOZART’S JUPITER SYMPHONY

• When and Where:   [EDITORS PLEASE NOTE DIFFERING PERFORMANCE TIMES] Two performances: at 7:30 pm Saturday, November 5 and at 8:00 pm Monday, November 7; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

• The Performers: The Oregon Symphony with Music Director Carlos Kalmar conducting; Steven Osborne, piano.

• The Program:
• Strauss:  Don Juan
• Britten: Piano Concerto
• Mozart:  Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter”

• More Background Info and Photos:

• On the Oregon Symphony: www.orsymphony.org
• On Steven Osborne: www.stevenosborne.co.uk

• Tickets: $21 to $92; 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:

• An intense and high-energy program throughout.
• Strauss’s Don Juan is an extremely challenging piece to play and should give Symphony audiences the chance to appreciate the high level at which the orchestra now performs.  So difficult is the opening violin attack that violinists are usually asked to play it in any high level audition. With the trumpets getting an extraordinary workout, the piece’s challenges require virtuosic playing from every chair.
• It’s hard to imagine that this brilliantly written piece was composed by Strauss when he was only 24.
• Don Juan is based on the poem “Don Juan” by Nikolaus Lenau about the legendary libertine who eventually met a fiery death.
• Britten’s Piano Concerto was composed to show off the capabilities of the piano.  Originally written in 1938, the composer made later revisions including a substantially new third movement in 1945.  The Symphony will play the revised version.
• Guest pianist Steven Osborne makes his Oregon Symphony debut. Highly regarded in his British homeland, he is just now beginning to get the recognition he deserves in the United States.  Music Director Carlos Kalmar added this piano concerto to the program specifically to feature Mr. Osborne.
• Mozart graced this world for a mere 35 years during which time he composed some of the most glorious music ever written.
• Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony was his final symphony and his crowning symphonic achievement.  In Music Director Carlos Kalmar’s words: “This is one of the greatest symphonies ever written!”

 

FRIDAY, NOV. 11:
HERBIE HANCOCK’S GERSHWIN
 

• When and Where: One performance only; Nov. 11 at 7:30 pm; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

• The Performers: Gregory Vajda conducts the Oregon Symphony; Herbie Hancock, piano. 

• The Program:

• Duke Ellington’s version of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite
• Gershwin:  Lullaby for String Orchestra
• Ellington:  The Essential Ellington
• Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Herbie Hancock)
• Piano solos by Herbie Hancock.

• More Background Info and Photos:

• On Herbie Hancock:  www.herbiehancock.com
• On the Oregon Symphony:  www.orsymphony.org

• Tickets: $30 to $125; 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:

• A very special evening as the legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock makes his debut with the Oregon Symphony.
• A 12-time Grammy Award winner, Herbie Hancock is a true icon of modern music, with an astonishing ability to transcend musical genres with his unmistakable musicality.
• No stranger to working with symphony orchestras, he played a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra when he was only 11.  Today, he is the Creative Chair for Jazz with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
• This one-performance-only concert highlights the works of George Gershwin with Mr. Hancock playing his not-to-be-missed version of Rhapsody in Blue.
• In addition, this concert includes a number of Mr. Hancock’s own compositions.

 

SATURDAY, NOV. 19:
SUNDAY, NOV. 20:
MONDAY, NOV. 21:
FROM THE NEW WORLD

• When and Where:   [EDITORS PLEASE NOTE DIFFERING PERFORMANCE TIMES] Three performances: at 7:30 pm Saturday, November 19; at 7:30 pm Sunday, November 20; and at 8:00 pm Monday, November 21; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

• The Performers: The Oregon Symphony with Music Director Carlos Kalmar conducting; Alban Gerhardt, cello.

• The Program:
• Rouse:  Phaethon
• Prokofiev: Symphony-Concerto
• Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

• More Background Info and Photos:

• On the Oregon Symphony: www.orsymphony.org
• On Alban Gerhardt: www.albangerhardt.com

• Tickets: $21 to $92; 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 concert program is designed to provide patrons an exciting variety of work, with two unknown pieces played with one of the most popular of all symphonies.
• Features one of the world’s most renowned cellists, Alban Gerhardt, who makes his fourth appearance with the orchestra. He last performed with us in 2007, playing Schumann’s Concerto for Cello in A minor.
• Prokofiev’s Symphony-Concerto provides Mr. Gerhardt with plenty of opportunity to showcase his virtuoso talents.
• Written at the height of Prokofiev’s powers, the piece requires and highlights the intense musical colors of the cello and the other orchestral instruments.  Cello and cellist take on a monumental challenge as they are called on to compete with an unusually large orchestra.
• Dvořák’s From the New World is one of the most popular and recognizable pieces in the classical canon.  The Czech composer, visiting the U.S. from 1892 to 1895, was fascinated with America and its music—both Native American and African American melodies.  
• Rouse’s Phaethon injects a modern element into the mix.  Based on the mythical tale of the god of the sun’s son who borrows his father’s hot chariot and comes to a fiery end.  The music, fitting for such a tale, is some of the loudest the orchestra has ever played.

 

SATURDAY, NOV. 26:
A VON TRAPP FAMILY CHRISTMAS

• When and Where:  Nov. 26 at 7:30pm

At the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

• The Performers: The Oregon Symphony, with Gregory Vajda conducting; the von Trapp Family Singers

• The Program:
• A heart-warming selection of holiday favorites with the Oregon Symphony and the von Trapp Family singers.

• More Background Info and Photos:

• On the Oregon Symphony: www.orsymphony.org
• On the von Trapp Family Singers: www.vontrappchildren.com

• Tickets: $25 to $90; 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:

• Officially opens the Oregon Symphony holiday season!
• Features the von Trapp Family singers, the great-grandchildren of the legendary Captain von Trapp.
• These four dynamic young vocalists share an infectious and heart-warming selection of holiday fare, with an ample dose of everyone’s favorite hits from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music”—Edelweiss, Climb Ev’ry Mountain, My Favorite Things, Do Re Mi, and more.

 

Photos for media uses can be found at:
www.orsymphony.org/newsroom/artists.aspx

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CONTACT:
Jim Fullan
Vice President, Communications, Marketing & Sales
503-416-6347
jfullan@orsymphony.org