Oregon Symphony's Lively Spring 2020
In March and April 2020, the Oregon Symphony presents two visually stunning concerts as part of its groundbreaking SoundSights series, launched in 2016-17, incorporating a rich tapestry of artistic elements. For the first, Portland’s award-winning media artist, Rose Bond, has designed world premiere animation to be projected throughout the stage and upon the walls of the concert hall in synchronization with Luciano Berio’s seminal 1968-9 work, Sinfonia (March 14-16). Bond, a pioneer of animated installation, brings to life the late-1960s sounds, styles, ideas, and texts that inspired this revolutionary piece.
The performance features the Oregon Symphony along with Grammy Award-winning ensemble Roomful of Teeth, for a mix of “spoken word quotations from the French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss and Irish writer Samuel Beckett with fragments of spoken syllables; musical quotations from Mahler, Strauss, Schönberg, Debussy, and others” (Elizabeth Schwartz). The program also features Caroline Shaw’s Pulitzer Prize-winning breakout work, Partita for 8 Voices, as well as Wagner’s Overture and Venusberg Music from Tannhäuser. Note: Caroline Shaw also takes the stage March 13 for an Open Music performance and conversation led by Oregon Symphony Creative Chair, Gabriel Kahane, and featuring members of the Oregon Symphony.
The orchestra’s adventuresome spirit presses forward April 25-27 with another wildly engaging SoundSights program. For this, Oregon Symphony collaborates a second time with the world’s most famous puppetry wizard—the production designer and Tony Award-winner Michael Curry—known for his work on The Lion King and Frozen (Broadway), several Olympic Committee ceremonies, Cirque du Soleil, and more. For this April show, Curry brings to life on stage the folklore and mythology of ancient Mayan culture, creating a supernatural setting for the Oregon Symphony’s live performance of Revueltas’ 1939 film score, La noche de los mayas. For this truly unique, immersive concert, Curry has created captivating puppets of people and wild animals of all sizes, with detailed costumes that capture the textures of wildlife and Mayan attire, enhanced by onstage camerawork that will be projected on large screens in the Hall. Also on the program are Villa-Lobos’s Uirapurú and Dvořák’s The Golden Spinning Wheel.
As a civic leader, the Oregon Symphony believes strongly in presenting and investing in work that is deeply relevant to the challenges facing the local and national community. Oregon Symphony and Resonance Ensemble (Katherine FitzGibbon, chorusmaster) join forces May 23 to present the world premiere of An African American Requiem, a musical response commissioned by Resonance Ensemble to address violence against African Americans in the United States. The first work for major forces by the Portland-based composer and acclaimed bass-baritone, Damien Geter (Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera), this bold, 20-movement piece led by the talented conductor, Kazem Abdullah, honors past and present victims of racial violence and spurs reflection on how to build a more hopeful future. Combining traditional Latin Requiem texts with civil rights declarations, poetry, and the famous last words of Eric Garner, the piece is Geter’s response to Nina Simone’s call for artists to create work that “reflect[s] the times in which they live.” In addition to orchestra and chorus, the piece features a quartet of singers (Brandie Sutton, soprano; Karmesha Peake, mezzo-soprano; Bernard Holcomb, tenor; Kenneth Overton, baritone) as well as poet and narrator S. Renee Mitchell.
All Classical Portland presents an unprecedented live, bi-coastal simulcast of the world premiere in collaboration with WQXR in New York (6pm (PDT)/ 9pm (EDT), hosted by Terrance McKnight and Suzanne Nance. Following the live broadcast, the partner stations will produce the program for free distribution. More information at www.allclassical.org.
In addition to these points of focus, the Oregon Symphony offers an abundance of classical programming this season, as well as special concerts: Hip-hop icon Nas’s critically acclaimed debut album, Illmatic; psychedelic pop-rock group, The Flaming Lips, performing their iconic 1999 masterpiece The Soft Bulletin; and Portland-based The Dandy Warhols performing for the first time with their hometown orchestra.
For more on these highlights, see the calendar listings below. For a full look at Oregon Symphony spring programming, visit: www.oregonsymphony.org.
CALENDAR LISTINGS
OPEN MUSIC: CAROLINE SHAW
MARCH 13, 2020 (8:00PM)
See and hear Caroline Shaw, Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning composer, violinist and vocalist, as she delves into the music that excites her the most. From Schubert to Paul Simon, Shaw discusses and performs favorite works and offers a window into her creative life. Devised and hosted by Oregon Symphony Creative Chair Gabriel Kahane. Featuring performances by musicians of the Oregon Symphony.
TICKETS
BERIO’S SINFONIA BY ROSE BOND
MARCH 14 + 16, 2020 (7:30PM); MARCH 15, 2020 (2:00PM)
A multimedia concert event with the Oregon Symphony
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Rose Bond, animator
Roomful of Teeth, vocal ensemble
Wagner: Overture and Venusberg Music from Tannhäuser
Caroline Shaw: Partita for 8 Voices
Berio: Sinfonia
Portland’s own award-winning media artist Rose Bond, in collaboration with the Oregon Symphony, debuts world premiere animation projected onto the walls of the concert hall with a live performances of Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia. Bond’s breathtaking art will bring to life the late-1960s sounds, styles, ideas, and texts that inspired Berio’s revolutionary music, including its emotional tribute to Martin Luther King.
TICKETS
NAS: ILLMATIC – 25TH ANNIVERSARY
MARCH 19, 2020 (7:30PM)
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Norman Huynh, conductor
Hip hop icon Nas teams up with the Oregon Symphony to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his critically acclaimed debut album, Illmatic. Experience one of the defining records of 90s hip hop showcasing the rapper's meticulous rhymes and cutting social commentary in this unforgettable symphonic rendition.
SOLD OUT
THE FLAMING LIPS WITH THE OREGON SYMPHONY
APRIL 13, 2020 (7:30PM)
Norman Huynh, conductor
Reed College Chorus
The Flaming Lips will perform their iconic 1999 masterpiece The Soft Bulletin in its entirety, joined by the Oregon Symphony. The ever-evolving psychedelic pop-rock group led by legendary frontman Wayne Coyne will create an unmissable, moving, and magical experience. The band’s career breakthrough album featured hit singles “Race for the Prize” and “Waitin’ for a Superman.” Upon its release, Pitchfork called it “one of those albums people are going to obsess over for many years to come” – which they absolutely did.
TICKETS
REVUELTAS’ NIGHT OF THE MAYAS BY MICHAEL CURRY
APRIL 25 + 27, 2020 (7:30PM); APRIL 26, 2020 (2:00PM)
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Michael Curry, stage designer/director
Villa-Lobos: Uirapurú
Dvořák: The Golden Spinning Wheel
Revueltas: La noche de los mayas (The Night of the Mayas)
Award-winning designer Michael Curry – whose 2017 imagining of Stravinsky’s Persephone dazzled three sold-out halls – returns to the Oregon Symphony, drawing from ancient Mayan tradition to create a mysterious, supernatural setting for Revueltas’ 1939 film score La noche de los mayas.
TICKETS
THE DANDY WARHOLS WITH THE OREGON SYMPHONY
MAY 21, 2020 (7:30PM)
Since forming in 1994, alt-pop darlings The Dandy Warhols have emerged as one of the most innovative bands on the international scene. Now the Dandys return to share the stage with their hometown orchestra for the first time ever, in a show featuring new favorites and classics from the band’s 25-year career.
TICKETS
AN AFRICAN AMERICAN REQUIEM
MAY 23, 2020 (6:00PM)
Kazem Abdullah, conductor
The African American Requiem Choir, featuring Resonance Ensemble, Kingdom Sound Gospel Ensemble, and members of regional choirs
Katherine FitzGibbon, chorusmaster
Brandie Sutton, soprano
Karmesha Peake, mezzo-soprano
Bernard Holcomb, tenor
Kenneth Overton, baritone
S. Renee Mitchell, poet and narrator
Damien Geter: An African American Requiem (World premiere)
Oregon Symphony and Resonance Ensemble join forces to present the World premiere of An African American Requiem, Portland composer Damien Geter’s bold, thought-provoking musical response to violence against African Americans in the United States. Combining traditional Latin Requiem texts with civil rights declarations, poetry, and the famous last words of Eric Garner, “I can’t breathe,” this performance will honor past and present victims of racial violence and spur reflection on how to build a more hopeful future.
TICKETS
ABOUT OREGON SYMPHONY
The multi-Grammy-nominated Oregon Symphony ranks as one of America’s major orchestras. Led by Music Director Carlos Kalmar, it serves over 300,000 people annually through more than 110 performances and award-winning education and community engagement programs. Through All Classical Portland and American Public Media’s SymphonyCast and Performance Today the Symphony reaches over 26 million listeners. Now in its 124th year, the Oregon Symphony is the oldest orchestra west of the Mississippi.
Known for innovative programming, the Symphony gained national recognition for its ground-breaking Sounds of Home Series which revolutionized the role of the arts in addressing three of the most critical social issues of the day: immigration, the environment, and homelessness. This series made a powerful impact in the community through innovative art, cross-sector partnerships with 37 organizations, and civic leadership and culminated with the recording of, emergency shelter intake form, an Oregon Symphony commission by composer Gabriel Kahane that will be released in March 2020.
At a time when many orchestras are reducing their classical programming, the Oregon Symphony is continuing to invest in the art form. In the 2018/19 Season, the Symphony premiered more than 20 compositions, including works by eight living composers such as John Adams, Unsuk Chin, and John Corigliano. Effective with the 2019/20 Season, the Symphony is expanding its Classical Series to 18 weeks. The schedule includes the return of the Symphony’s popular SoundSights concerts, which were first presented in 2016/17. These visually stunning programs incorporate a rich tapestry of artistic elements, which particularly appeal to new audiences. Photos for media use are available at orsymphony.org/newsroom.