[Note: I’ve been asked to provide a basic letter or script that could be used as the basis for your own appeal on behalf of the Oregon Symphony to the powers that be in Oregon. So I offer the following up as a starting point for your own personal appeal. I’ll put the list of officials at the end of this post. Thanks for your help.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My name is Charles Noble, and I have been the Assistant principal violist of the Oregon Symphony since 1995. I have worked since the age of nine to be a professional musician. To be able to support myself and my family doing what I love means the world to me. Even more important is the fact that I share great music with so many people around the City of Portland, the State of Oregon, and the world. All of that is under serious threat now. I fear for my livelihood and the future of my beloved orchestra more than I have in my 25 year history with this orchestra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am contacting you to urge you to come to the aid of the Oregon Symphony. We are unique in that our very existence depends upon having thousands of people in the concert hall with us as we perform, and we need to be close together (often within three feet of each other) in order to perform as an ensemble. With those things now made impossible due to restrictions on public gatherings, we have no way to earn income to keep the orchestra going. With the exceptionally low levels of government and corporate support for the arts in Oregon, we depend more than other major symphonies on ticket sales, but grassroots support can\u2019t sustain us during this crisis. As a non-profit, we have neither deep reserves nor the ability to take out extensive loans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Oregon Symphony provides incalculable benefit to the City of Portland and the State of Oregon. It provides solace and inspiration for many thousands of Oregonians and our community will need us more than ever after this immediate crisis is over. There MUST be an Oregon Symphony left to perform as soon as conditions allow, and to do that we need emergency funding to keep the orchestra alive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We musicians desperately want to perform and our audiences desperately want to hear us, but there is no way for this to happen without some kind of intervention in the form of emergency funding. Please help insure that the Oregon Symphony will survive for the future benefit of all Oregonians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler<\/a> [mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov] – 503-823-4120; @tedwheeler<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly<\/a> [chloe@portlandoregon.gov] – 503-823-4682; @ChloeEudalyPDX <\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oregon Governor Kate Brown –<\/a> 503-378-4582; @oregongovbrown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Rep (1st District) Suzanne Bonamici <\/a>– DC office: 202-225-0855; Beaverton office: 503-469-6010; @RepBonamici<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Rep (3rd District) Earl Blumenauer<\/a> – DC office: 202-225-4811; Portland office: 503-231-2300; @BlumenauerMedia<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senator Ron Wyden<\/a> – DC office: 202-224-5244; Portland office: 503-326-7525; @RonWyden<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senator Jeff Merkley<\/a> – DC office: 202-224-3753; Portland office: 503-326-3386; @SenJeffMerkley<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[Note: I’ve been asked to provide a basic letter or script that could be used as the basis for your own appeal on behalf of the Oregon Symphony to the powers that be in Oregon. So I offer the following up as a starting point for your own personal appeal. I’ll put the list of […]<\/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":[3984,3969,3968,3979,3978,3981,3980,3983,3982],"class_list":["post-17915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-commissioner-chloe-eudaly","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-governor-kate-brown","tag-mayor-ted-wheeler","tag-rep-earl-blumenauer","tag-rep-suzanne-bonamici","tag-sen-jeff-merkley","tag-sen-ron-wyden"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-4EX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2921,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/29\/how-oregon-is-the-oregon-symphony\/","url_meta":{"origin":17915,"position":0},"title":"how ‘oregon’ is the oregon symphony?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"After reading David Stabler's story yesterday on the cutting of the Oregon Symphony's nationally-renowned Community Music Partnership, which provided a year-long musical interaction between OSO musicians and a different rural community each year, I've been pondering the following question: should the Oregon Symphony still be called the Oregon Symphony?\u00a0 We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "education"","block_context":{"text":"education","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"oregon-map","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/oregon-map-400x255.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3319,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/11\/04\/oregon-symphony-looking-good\/","url_meta":{"origin":17915,"position":1},"title":"oregon symphony – looking good","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Here it is, in a worldwide-exclusive, you-saw-it-here-first preview: the new full portrait of the 2009-2010 Oregon Symphony: Photo: Oregon Symphony\/Leah Nash [click photo to enlarge] Leah Nash, the photographer commissioned by the symphony to produce the portrait, won the PDN\/Billboard award in 2009 for best Live Music photo, of Antony\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "photography"","block_context":{"text":"photography","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/photography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"full_orch","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/full_orch-400x263.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7811,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/08\/29\/is-the-oregon-symphony-the-future-model-for-the-symphony-orchestra\/","url_meta":{"origin":17915,"position":2},"title":"is the oregon symphony the future model for the symphony orchestra?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"You have to wonder. We have a deep pool of highly talented and skilled players. We \"punch above our weight\" as our outgoing President, Elaine Calder, likes to say. We're paid about 50% less than we should be. Our player complement is 15% down from the CBA mandatory minimums (amended\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "administration"","block_context":{"text":"administration","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/administration-the-orchestra-world-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6809,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/08\/25\/the-write-stuff\/","url_meta":{"origin":17915,"position":3},"title":"the write stuff","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I just turned in my first set of program notes for the Oregon Symphony! I was asked to write notes that were a bit off the beaten path of program notes (which are normally all written for the Oregon Symphony by the excellent Elizabeth Schwartz), and it was fun 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\/08\/iStock_000001958827XSmall-200x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19059,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2020\/07\/08\/oregon-symphony-announcement\/","url_meta":{"origin":17915,"position":4},"title":"oregon symphony announcement","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon Symphony | Photo: \u00a9 Charles Noble We musicians got word yesterday afternoon that the Oregon Symphony would be canceling all scheduled services (concerts and rehearsals) until January 2021. It's not unexpected. In fact, it's probably the best-case scenario. It all depends upon when a vaccine is widely available, when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "administration"","block_context":{"text":"administration","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/administration-the-orchestra-world-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_0290-e1464230460632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_0290-e1464230460632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_0290-e1464230460632.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_0290-e1464230460632.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12634,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/05\/04\/can-someone-find-the-oregon-symphony-board\/","url_meta":{"origin":17915,"position":5},"title":"can someone find the oregon symphony board?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Please help us! The Oregon Symphony's board seems to be missing! The Oregon Symphony played in Benaroya Hall in Seattle for the first time in its history, and not a single current board member seems to have showed up. Clearly, something must have happened to the board members, they must\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\/17915","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=17915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17915\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}