I just finished giving money to a wonderful organization that helps young musicians, and I strongly urge you to do the same. The organization is the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation, which provides resources for young string musicians. Rachel Barton is a Chicago-based violinist who has a busy solo career (and happened to record the Brahms
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David Stabler had a recent piece about the new round of grants that have been funded by the Oregon Cultural Trust for the 2011-2012 season, and so I went digging through the PDF press release from the OCT website to see what interesting projects would catch my eye. What did not catch my eye? The
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As I was listening to a portion of the Kairos Ensemble rehearsing for tonight’s upcoming benefit concert for Portland’s Phame Academy, I was struck (again) by just how great Mozarts quintets for strings (two violins, two violas, and cello) are. They are doing his great D major, K. 593 quintet, which I had the
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Peggy Swafford, former OSO violist and indefatigable champion of music education, has set up a project through the Music Education Assistance Project (a program of Local 99, American Federation of Musicians) to provide $25,000 to get much needed instruments for instrumental music instructors in the Portland Public Schools. The programs are chosen by popular vote
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This is one of those strange weeks that we often have near the start of the season, where we’ve had a couple of special concerts under our belt, then a few days off, another special, and then the season gets underway in earnest. This week happens to be one where we had a concert on
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Tonight’s the night – the night we try to push over the top and reach our fundraising goal for the Oregon Symphony’s trip to Carnegie Hall in May 2011. The concert will feature Carlos Kalmar and the Oregon Symphony, with guests Thomas Lauderdale, OSO concertmaster Jun Iwasaki, Storm Large, Darcelle XV, and more! We’ve got
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08/12 UPDATE: Thanks to my many generous friends and colleagues, I’ve met my $500 goal for this ride! Thank you so much, everyone! If you have not yet donated, please consider it, as it goes to two great causes: the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and the Knight Cancer Institute. Please pardon this random posting, but I’ve
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It shows how quickly the blog-based news cycle moves, that I delay a response to something I’ve read and I’m beat to my reply by a fellow violist (or as Robert Levine would put it: Bratsche Blogging Brother) in Minneapolis! David Stabler wrote an article on July 25 in the Oregonian about the cuts made
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Happy Bastille Day! Now that the festivals are over (until Sunriver) for me, it’s time to enjoy the freedom from upcoming playing responsibilities. I’ve been getting up early to either ride or watch the Tour de France on television, and enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee for a change, instead of choking something down in
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If you look to the right sidebar, you’ll see a donation button for Team in Training, which is an organization which raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by training teams of runners and cyclists for major full and half marathon events and cycling centuries around the country. My wife Heather has an aunt
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This is the first local, large-scale benefit for victims of the Hatian earthquake that I know of, organized by local dynamo/musician/blogger/organizer Stephen Marc Beaudoin. It’s called Songs for Haiti, and it features a who’s who of local Portland’s classical and non-classical musicians. And it benefits Mercy Corps, which is notable among major charities in that
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Arts patron and philanthropist Louise Nippert has given an astonishing $85 million to the Cincinnati Symphony and other Cincinnati arts groups ($75 million to the symphony and $10 million to other arts organizations that use the symphony to provide live music for their productions). It’s a gift that may never be surpassed in both its
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Not my best work, but it was worth a shot (get it?). Made using Badbeard’s primo beans, his Mondo Cello blend. Badbeard has got the Symphony! blend ready to ship, and there will be decaf and espresso blends with the Symphony moniker available soon. Support the Oregon Symphony and enjoy some of Portland’s best coffee
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The Oregon Symphony announced three major grant received from foundations this month – all new money, rather than repeated funding from prior years – in fact the most recent grant from one of these foundations was received in 2005. The education programs will benefit during the 2009/2010 season from a $50,000 grant from the William
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There have been several articles in the local press about the current Oregon Symphony financial situation: High/low times for the Oregon Symphony [David Stabler/Oregonian] The Oregon Symphony cuts back [David Stabler/Oregonian/video] Arts groups in a fiscal thicket [Bob Hicks/ArtScatter.com] Since we’re about to enter into negotiations between musicians and management, it’s not really time for
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