Ron Blessinger, violinist with the Oregon Symphony, blogger, and artistic director of the Third Angle New Music Ensemble, well be a guest on the new Oregon Public Broadcasting radio show Think Out Loud, on Wednesday, February 27th from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. You can listen on your radio at 91.5 FM in the Portland metro area, or listen worldwide on OPB’s internet stream. You can also download the podcast later in the day to enjoy at your leisure.

The topic of discussion will be Oregon-based musical culture. Discuss…

Arguably one of the great violists of the 20th/21st century, Kim Kashkashian has made many critically-acclaimed recordings (almost all on ECM New Series) of both the standard repertoire and new works, many written especially for her. Born in Detroit, she was a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Md., but ended up spending much of her early career in Europe, teaching at several music schools in Germany (Freiburg and Berlin) for years. Luckily for American violists and music lovers, she recently returned to the US to take a position at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Mass.

I was fortunate to take part in a week-long master course with Ms. Kashkashian in 1993 at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh, England. It was a great experience, and one of the most profound and concentrate periods of musical learning that I’ve experienced - the results of which I’m still processing to this day.

There’s a great interview/performance program that aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday today - click here to take a listen. It’s centered around her recent ECM recording release: Asturiana.  It’s an excellent recording that I do own, and I’d recommend it highly.

Thanks to B. Moran for the tip.