Inside the Orchestra
Let’s Get to Know:
Mark Dubac
Position: second clarinet
Joined the Oregon Symphony: fall 2008
Here’s something we bet you didn’t know: Before joining the Oregon Symphony, second clarinetist Mark Dubac worked as a clarinet tester at the Leblanc clarinet factory in Kenosha, WI. After the instruments wove through the assembly line, Dubac played chromatic scales and tested every alternate fingering; he was the last stop before the shipping room.
“I had to go back and tell them what the problem was,” he says. “I couldn’t just play something and say, ‘This doesn’t feel right.’ I had to play the instrument and know why it didn’t feel right.”
Dubac says the job really helped him. He’s now prepared for just about anything, and he can diagnose a problem quickly. “If I’m onstage and something all of a sudden stops working, I have quite a bit more confidence,” he says. “I know what tools to have in my case. I have much more peace of mind.”
Anniversary Accolades
Our still-new principal pops conductor, Jeff Tyzik, got some extra attention this fall from that other orchestra of his back east – the Rochester Philharmonic – in the form of two special “Celebrate Tyzik!” concerts marking his 15th anniversary as their pops leader.
The anniversary concerts included several works Tyzik composed (he’s written more than 150 pieces for them over the years) and a guest appearance by his friend, trumpeter Alan Vizzutti (who helped Tyzik put together his first Rochester concert in 1993 and flew in from Seattle to perform at this one). But the highlight may have been when his daughter, mezzo soprano Jami Tyzik, sang excerpts from Carmen.
The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle noted the occasion with a lengthy article that offered some bits of insight into Tyzik that even we hadn’t known:
“He is, everyone agrees, restlessly energetic. ‘His sheer energy is legendary,’ says Vizzutti. ‘I've been asleep on the studio floor, and he's still banging away.’
“But Tyzik is basically a simple fellow. He and Jill have been married for 36 years. He's used the same coronet mouthpiece for 25 years. He drives a 10-year-old Audi, but since he's always flying off somewhere, it's pretty low-mileage: In fact, there seems to still be a whiff of new-car smell when you first get inside. ‘I keep things,’ Tyzik says.”
Portlanders’ next chance to catch Tyzik? At the Bright Lights of Broadway Pops concerts Jan. 24 and 25. Tickets: OrSymphony.org.
Outside the Schnitz …
You can catch no less than five Oregon Symphony musicians* (count ‘em) performing at the next concert of the acclaimed Third Angle New Music Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, at Reed College.
And for fans of contemporary music, what a concert: “Maximum Minimalism,” featuring seminal works by Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Louis Andriessen, the latter performed as a live accompaniment to a Hal Hartley film.
Oregon Symphony violinist (and Third Angle Artistic Director) Ron Blessinger, explains: “This distinctly American style has produced works of astonishing beauty and transformative power. The 50th anniversary of the first minimalist composition is a good opportunity to examine the movement and its appeal.”
Ticket info and other details on the web: thirdangle.org.
(* Beside Blessinger, the symphony musicians who’ll perform include flutist David Buck, violist Brian Quincey and clarinetists Todd Kuhns and Mark Dubac.)
