This past Thursday night, the Oregon Symphony was broadcast as part of a new series of local and web-streamed broadcasts on our local public classical music station, allclassical.org. In the past we’d had a series of broadcasts on the local NPR station, which were then shifted over to the home of classical music on the radio here in Portland. Due to funding issues, the broadcasts were phased out, and last year’s simulcast of our Carnegie Hall debut was the first to be heard in Portland in some time. Thankfully, funding was found, and in May and September of this year the OSO will be heard in three additional broadcast concerts.<\/p>\n
As a titled player, I seldom get the chance to hear the orchestra from the perspective of the audience – I’m pretty much playing every piece on every concert (and when I get time off, I stay away from the concert hall). I hear a lot more than an audience member might, but especially in the Schnitz, it’s hard to hear the orchestra in its entirety rather than in its multiplicity of component parts. That’s why playing in Carnegie Hall was such a revelation to we musicians in the orchestra: we finally got to hear what we really sounded like without having to sit in the audience.<\/p>\n
So, getting to hear what we sound like in our own hall (albeit in the somewhat manipulated circumstances of a multi-channel, multi-miked recording) was a chance to hear where we’ve come in the past ten years. In short, we’ve become an entirely different orchestra. The string sound is lush, but clear. The brass are ferociously powerful, but also sensitive and capable of a burnished tone. The woodwinds are breathtaking in their virtuosity. And the percussion are accurate, musical, and create countless different sonic effects. I think that our Mozart (and other Classical period) performances are unique among North American orchestras, since we play with limited vibrato and with a keen sense of lithe phrasing and unity of ensemble. We’re now a virtuoso ensemble capable of performances that match any in the US, and maybe the world, given the right direction, repertoire, and inspiration. We have a music director who knows music, and how to get what he wants to suit his vision of that music. We have a great staff that works tirelessly for us twelve months of the year, and we have loyal patrons and fans that come out to every concert we give. That’s not such a bad place to work, especially given that we work in Portland, one of the best cities to live in in the world.<\/p>\n
Now, can we get started on finding out how to get a new hall, please?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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Knight Foundation) on orchestral audience segmentation when I found this paragraph (which was used as a pull-quote in large type on the first page of the study findings). It makes the pulling of the\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":6291,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/05\/03\/carnegie-broadcasts\/","url_meta":{"origin":7547,"position":1},"title":"carnegie broadcasts","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 If you can't make it to the Oregon Symphony's upcoming Carnegie Hall debut as part of the Spring for Music series, you can sit in the comfort of your own home and still be part of this historic event! Our own Allclassical.org (KQAC 98.9 FM) will be broadcasting\/streaming the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "audio"","block_context":{"text":"audio","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/old_fashion_radio_microphone_hg_wht.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7906,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/09\/30\/battle-of-the-bands\/","url_meta":{"origin":7547,"position":2},"title":"battle of the bands","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"If you want to see how a $44,648* orchestra compares to a $143,260* orchestra, now's your chance! Both the Oregon Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic have archived streaming broadcasts available online right now that both feature Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Not to take anything away from the LAPhil, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "radio"","block_context":{"text":"radio","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/orch-battle.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/orch-battle.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/orch-battle.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6427,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/05\/15\/whats-next\/","url_meta":{"origin":7547,"position":3},"title":"what’s next?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The few remaining stragglers from the trip to New York will be arriving back home to Portland today, and the out of town fun has been had (and had, and had...). Slowly, we'll all come down from the tremendous high that resulted from our triumphant debut in the epicenter\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":513,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/11\/03\/how-not-to-fix-the-oregon-symphony\/","url_meta":{"origin":7547,"position":4},"title":"how not to fix the Oregon Symphony","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the last two years, the coverage of the the Oregon Symphony in the local press has become more sporadic, and when it does happen, much more pessimistic, and maybe a little bit cynical. First, an outline of what constitutes the press in Portland, Oregon, for those of you who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":516,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/11\/06\/oso-president-responds-to-crosscut-article\/","url_meta":{"origin":7547,"position":5},"title":"OSO president responds to Crosscut article","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"[This was forwarded to me by OSO president Elaine Calder - a truncated version will be published at Crosscut.com.] Response to: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can Anybody fix the Oregon Symphony?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Stephen Marc Beaudoin Crosscut Seattle Friday, November 2nd, 2007 Of course it will take more than an endorsement from Thomas Lauderdale to fix\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7547","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=7547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7547\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}