whither bricks and mortar? September 7, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : fundraising, music, politics, portland, the orchestra world, 1 comment so farBack in the boom years of the dot-com bubble, technology start-ups bloomed like weeds in a vacant lot. They marketed premises, and sometimes only even just their names, and got tons of funding for just the idea of being something. We all know what happened to 99% of those corporations.
Here in Portland, we’ve got the opposite problem: we’ve got genuine cultural assets that you can see, hear, touch, and feel. But there’s not bricks-and-mortar support from the community. With the exception of the new Gerding Theater at the old Armory (for Portland Center Stage), there has been no new, major, purpose-built cultural building proposed for the Portland area.
Here’s a snippet from an article about the Dallas area and its support for the orchestra and other cultural institutions that I found to be quite telling:
The Dallas Arts District is expanding with two long-awaited new facilities, both designed by international “starchitects.” The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts’ Winspear Opera House, by London’s Foster and Partners, and the Wyly Theatre, by Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus, are both due to open in fall 2009. A year later, a smaller City Performance Hall will round out a concentration of visual- and performing-arts facilities unmatched anywhere.
“There’s a demonstrated commitment to the arts and culture and quality of life,” Mr. Adams says of Dallas, “and it’s demonstrated in a physical sense in the Meyerson Symphony Center, where the DSO plays, being one of the finest concert halls in America. The new buildings next door are further evidence of that commitment. The idea of Dallas being a can-do city is not just PR.”
It’s time for Portland to step up and support a major, purpose-built, new home for the Oregon Symphony, with a recital hall and management offices all under the same roof. We can talk about how much of a great, visionary, progressive city we are, but until we have a showcase for our primary cultural assets, it’s all still just talk.
And, coincidentally, here’s an article from today’s Seattle Times, telling the story behind their spectacular Benaroya Hall, which began with an organization in dire financial straits, and with no readily perceivable sources of public financing.
almost obama-esque? August 29, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : music, portland, summer festivals, add a comment
Tom McCall Waterfront Park at Thursday
Thursday night’s free OSO concert at Tom McCall Waterfront Park was a great success, as you can see from the photo above, courtesy of OSO principal violist Joël Belgique (who has the smallest camera I’ve ever seen!). It was great to see the music lovers in our community turn out in such numbers! Thanks for coming!
Lake Oswego Ride July 22, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : cycling, add a commentHad a nice ride this afternoon of one of my favorite loops, which brings me from Garden Home out to Lake Oswego via Tryon Creek Park, then through downtown Lake O, Lake Grove, and over in to Tigard and back to Garden Home. A nice, rolling 21 miles on a perfect day for cycling!
terwilliger surprise July 10, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : cycling, add a commentYesterday morning I did what I hope will be my autumnal commuting trip into downtown. I went down Barbur Blvd and was going to return via the same route, but then Terwilliger beckoned.
Now, I’d ridden Terwilliger in the ‘easy’ direction - to downtown - which is more downhill than up, but not the reverse. I made a deal with myself: if I feel like I can’t make it all the way, I’ll just coast back down and return on Barbur. Surprisingly, a bail-out was not necessary!
Now that Terwilliger is tamed, I can use it as part of my regular repertoire of ride routes, which is very satisfying. Next: Terwilliger from downtown all the way in to Lake Oswego.
Stay tuned!
landscape and dance: the halprin collaboration June 24, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : chamber music, contemporary, music, portland, 1 comment so far
Tuesday morning Heather and I went to Pettygrove Park, and small urban oasis set in a 70’s urban renewal zone largely characterized by monolithic, concrete apartment blocks. It is one of three plazas in the area designed by renowned landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, along with the Keller Fountain (formerly the Forecourt Fountain) and the Lovejoy Fountain. We went there, instruments in hand, to check out the acoustics of the site for a planned installation of music and dance for the 2008 PICA TBA Festival (Festival of Time-Based Art). (more…)
tidbits for monday morning June 2, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : appreciation/criticism, bloggers, cello, chamber music, music, soloists & recitals, the orchestra world, viola, violin, 2comments• I just caught Robert Levine’s latest blog entry about the Milwaukee Symphony’s recent concerts with Hilary Hahn. Robert is one of the smartest guys out there, I’m coming to appreciate, and reading this post had me scratching my head and wondering “why couldn’t I have said that?”. I like the way he clearly expresses what’s on his mind, and gets to the crux of the matter with minimal equivocation. Hahn was in Milwaukee playing the Tchaikovsky concerto, and Levine really hits the nail on the head about this piece (which is one of my favorite guilty pleasures, by the way):
But I found myself not really convinced by her version of the piece, which surprised me, as I hadn’t felt that way about the previous times she’d played with us. I spent all week trying to figure out why. The best I could come up with was that she was trying to find more in the piece than was actually there. She was making wonderful and interesting phrases all over the place. But it’s not that kind of piece. In a funny way, her great strengths as a musician – her intelligence and imagination – were not really relevant to the piece, and even got in the way. One doesn’t think of semplice and Tchaikowsky as ever being coupled – but I think that’s what it needs. Perhaps that’s why the last movement consistently worked the best, because all it needs – all there’s time for, really – is technique and a kind of inexorable rhythmic stability, which of course she has in spades.
• In other news, my joint recital with Heather Blackburn went pretty well - I’ll have more thoughts on it when I have a little more distance from it. For now, my alarm clock is off until further notice, however!
• Last Friday evening I went to hear a chamber concert organized by cellist Justin Kagan, and it featured some top local players in works of Shostakovich (his Piano Quintet), Gerald Cohen (a trio for viola, cello and piano), and Schoenberg (his sextet Verklärte Nacht). Every work was played with conviction and assurance, with kudos going out to everyone involved, as to single out one or several would be unfair to them all.
I hope that concerts such as this become more of a regular event in Portland. We have plenty of high-powered out-of-towners that come in and play chamber music on the various series in town, but little opportunity to hear our high-powered locals play the same.
majestic & transformative May 28, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : chamber music, music, add a commentThis should be a great concert, featuring some of Portland’s best classical musicians - I’ll actually be there for this one!
An Evening of Majestic and Transformative
Chamber Music
Thursday, May 29 @ 8 PM
The Old Church
1422 SW 11th Ave., Portland, OR
Program:
Shostakovich: Quintet for Piano & Strings
Gerald Cohen: Trio for Viola, Cello & Piano
Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht
Performers:
Greg Ewer & Ron Blessinger, violins
Michelle Mathewson & Viorel Bejenaru, violas
Justin Kagan & Dorothy Lewis, cellos
Cary Lewis, piano
Admission at door: $10
Doors open at 7:00 PM
a nice ride May 25, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : cycling, portland, add a commentThere was no denying it, Saturday was the perfect day to go for a ride. My quandary was that I also needed to have energy to practice, so an ‘epic’ ride was not in order. So, I decided to tackle a route that has long fascinated and scared me: Terwilliger Blvd. (more…)
Ride of Silence May 23, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : cycling, portland, the orchestra world, add a comment
Ride of Silence - Portland-4.jpg | Originally uploaded by BikePortland.org
click photo to enlarge
Thursday evening a Ride of Silence was held in Portland to remember fallen cyclists from the past year. A worthy endeavor in which I wish I’d been able to take part.
For more coverage and info see bikeportland.org.
a far cry May 23, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : music, the orchestra world, 2comments
a far cry, a conductorless string orchestra from Boston, will be making a Portland stop on their West Coast tour tonight, May 23 at the First Unitarian Church downtown at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and $20. You can order tickets online at Brown Paper Tickets.
My friend LC recommended this group to me, as she knows several of its members, and says that it should be a great show. Sounds interesting, and I plan to be there.
You can view a video of the group in action here, and you can read an article about the group here, and view a slide show here.
On a side note, this reminds me of the excellent group Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, also based in Boston, I believe, and I wonder if they still are concertizing as well, and if the two groups share any members. UPDATE: I was not able to find a working website for Metamorphosen, so I suspect they may have disbanded. UPDATE: SMB wrote to say that Metamorphosen suspended operations around 2004.
If anyone knows it they’re still playing concerts, leave a comment as to their status.
