{"id":12662,"date":"2013-05-22T22:57:22","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T05:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=12662"},"modified":"2013-05-22T22:57:22","modified_gmt":"2013-05-23T05:57:22","slug":"season-eighteen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/05\/22\/season-eighteen\/","title":{"rendered":"season eighteen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Me
Me with retiring OSO violist Steve Price, with 41 seasons under his belt!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monday night marked the final concert of my eighteenth season with the Oregon Symphony. It’s been a year of marked contrasts for both myself and the orchestra. The orchestra is sounding very, very good. Make no mistake about that. We made a strong debut at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall. We are playing difficult and little-known works with confidence and aplomb. Guest conductors and soloists continue to be pleasantly surprised by our quality.<\/p>\n

But…<\/p>\n

Morale seems to be ebbing after the high point of our Carnegie Hall debut two years ago. I am most aware of this from the standpoint of the musicians, but I feel as though it may be an issue with the rest of the institution as well. The orchestra had an expensive, but inconclusive, search for a new president to succeed Elaine Calder. No word on when a replacement might be found. Cost pressures are high – and are starting to directly affect artistic quality and decision-making. My question, both for myself and for the orchestra: what next?<\/p>\n

Where are we headed? I’m turning 45 this September. I’m at the classic point for having a mid-life ‘crisis’. I’m examining what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, and looking for alternatives, if they exist. If they don’t, then I’m looking at ways to accomplish the same goals in novel ways that keep me interested and engaged. When I turn 65 (and no doubt will not be ready to retire yet), I’ll have been playing in a professional orchestra for 38 years. Will the Oregon Symphony still exist as a full-time orchestra then? How many music directors, presidents, and boards will have served by then? What will our audiences look like? Will there be comprehensive music education programs in the Portland Public Schools? Will I still love music? Will I even still be able to play in an orchestra? Lots of questions, not many answers.<\/p>\n

I’m proud of the Classical Up Close<\/a>\u00a0concerts the musicians of the orchestra put on this year. I think that it has done immeasurable good in terms of giving our audiences human faces to go with the roster of members of the orchestra, and us in getting to know our audiences better. I don’t know what plans are for future iterations of this series, but I hope that it continues past this year.<\/p>\n

This summer brings four festivals for me – three orchestral and one chamber music. I’m not sure if I’ll be any more rested when I return for my 19th season, but I hope that I’ll continue to be enthusiastic, capable, and clearheaded when I do. Have a great summer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday night marked the final concert of my eighteenth season with the Oregon Symphony. It’s been a year of marked contrasts for both myself and the orchestra. The orchestra is sounding very, very good. Make no mistake about that. We made a strong debut at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall. We are playing difficult and little-known works […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-3ie","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/06\/22\/back-from-the-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":12662,"position":0},"title":"back from the dead!","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"planter 1, originally uploaded by nobleviola. This lovely planter was a gift from our dear friend Anna Schaum who retired from the orchestra at the end of the 2005-2006 season to pursue a private counselling practice. There were a variety of plants growing in it when she gave it to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6188,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/04\/16\/great-concerts-ahead\/","url_meta":{"origin":12662,"position":1},"title":"great concerts ahead","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 In just two hours the Oregon Symphony will play the first of three subscription concerts in Portland that may be a high point of our season thus far. I think Carlos arrived at the hall on Thursday with a burning desire to show that he's still a relevant and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/james-ehnes-4507-5x7.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":315,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/05\/08\/self-criticism\/","url_meta":{"origin":12662,"position":2},"title":"self criticism","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"self criticism, originally uploaded by nobleviola. A visual representation of the creative process (I'm being pretty nice to myself in this shot).","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12969,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/09\/04\/season-nineteen-begins\/","url_meta":{"origin":12662,"position":3},"title":"season nineteen begins","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Eighteen years ago (actually it's a couple weeks more than that now, since our season has shrunk by several weeks) I joined the Oregon Symphony for my first season with a major symphony orchestra. I had already been a member of the Maryland Symphony, but that was an orchestra that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/480095_10152840019530122_297754356_n-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/480095_10152840019530122_297754356_n-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/480095_10152840019530122_297754356_n-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/480095_10152840019530122_297754356_n-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/06\/22\/tower-theater\/","url_meta":{"origin":12662,"position":4},"title":"tower theater","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"tower theater, originally uploaded by nobleviola. If you have the occasion to visit Bend, central Oregon's largest city, take in a show or concert at the lovingly restored Tower Theater in the heart of downtown. The Sunriver Music Festival will be presenting its annual pops concert here on Tuesday, August\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/05\/24\/the-end\/","url_meta":{"origin":12662,"position":5},"title":"the end","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, with the last titanic chords of Mahler's Seventh Symphony ringing across the expanses of the Salem Armory Auditorium, my 10th season with the Oregon Symphony came to a close.\u00c2\u00a0 For three of my colleagues, it marked their final seasons with the orchestra, and after a stupendous amount of seasons,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12662\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}