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Weekend MusicWatch: Introducing Ear Trumpet

By Brett Campbell
January 10, 2015
Music

Here at ArtsWatch, we’ve long admired and often chronicled the essential curatorial work of Portland composer Bob Priest, the indefatigable apostle of classical music from the 20th and 21st centuries and a frequent and valuable contributor (via our comments section) to ArtsWatch’s continuing conversation about Oregon music. Though one of the unhappiest parts of the new year is that it will contain no new edition of Priest’s March Music Moderne — the exhilarating yet exhausting (for its impresario) labor of love music festival he somehow almost single-handedly and superhumanly wills into periodic existence — we’re happy to see one of Oregon’s most valuable arts figures marshaling his considerable energy for the 2016 iteration.

MMM master Bob Priest

MMM master Bob Priest

One silver lining (along with sparing Priest from burnout, as happened when he ran a similar festival for years in Seattle) is that this year’s absence has left the MMM maven enough juice to formalize his hitherto informal notices about upcoming modern music events in a periodic email newsletter, and were grateful that he’s generously agreed to allow OAW to run it here. Its focus only on relatively recent (at least in geological classical music terms) music and Portland, and its monthly rather than weekly purview makes Ear Trumpet narrower than but complementary to our regular music coverage. You’ll find the first edition at the end of our usual previews, where they make a nice, quick roundup of the happily swelling number of Portland events devoted to contemporary sounds. As you’ve seen in our recent previews and will see even more in coming weeks, Oregon classical music is finally starting to pull itself out of its necromusicophiliacal obsession with the 19th century, and Bob Priest’s cheerful noodging and constructive, make-it-happen efforts have played a big role.

Cappella Romana, Saturday, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, and Sunday afternoon, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Portland.

Read my Willamette Week preview of the incomparable Portland based choir’s concerts that find a divine resonance between contemporary and Renaissance music. Congrats to Cappella for its triumphant performance at New York’s Trinity Wall Street.

 

The Wishermen, Kulululu, Two Planets, Friday, Alberta Street Pub, Portland.

One of the many young Portland groups who are reinventing and refreshing jazz by bringing in electronic beats and electric sounds and pop music energy — just don’t use the F-word, as this combo feels far more organic than fused — features the busy, inventive drummer/composer Barra Brown. That it fits nicely with the other two bands on the bill — a hip hop quintet and a “peformance art/experimental rock” project — shows the band’s broad musical pallette.

Anton Baranov, Friday, Marylhurst University’s Wiegand Hall, Portland.

Read my Willamette Week preview of the award winning young Russian guitarist’s recital.

 

Oregon Symphony, Marc-André Hamelin, Saturday and Sunday, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

In a program that would likely receive a rare (Bob) Priestly blessing, the orchestra performs spellbinding mid–20th century music by two of France’s finest composers, Henri Dutilleux’s first symphony and Olivier Messiaen’s Exotic Birds, plus a couple of works originating in dance: Ravel’s ever popular, always delightful 20th century masterpiece Bolero and, with the renowned Canadian-American pianist Hamelin at the keys, Liszt’s dramatic Dance of Death.

Yennayer Celebration, Saturday, Alberta St. Pub, Portland.

Read my Willamette Week preview of the Middle Eastern music concert that celebrates Berber New Year. Note: frontman Aliche will not appear because he’s returning to be with this family after the death of his mother.

sutton

Mary Sutton, Sunday, Portland Piano Company.

One of the really groundbreaking recordings in the late 20th century world music resurgence was the Paris-based Buda music label’s Ethiopiques series of CDs that compiled Ethiopian Afropop and traditional music releases from the 1960s and ‘70s — including one devoted entirely to the music of Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou, a classically trained nun who’d given up music for church work and fled repression in her home country for safety in Jerusalem. That’s where pianist Mary Sutton recently found and impressed the nonagenarian composer with her performances of Guebrou’s solo piano music. She’s now embarked on a worthy project to transcribe and publish her music, which this recital of all the compositions on that first Ethiopiques disk benefits, along with Guebrou’s own Emahoy Music Foundation.

VSO Chamber Series, Sunday, Kiggins Theatre, Vancouver, Washington.

Ssoprano Barbara Choltco joins Vancouver Symphony Orchestra members in a sweet menu of 19th and 20th century love songs by Martinu, Bizet, Wynton Marsalis, Françaix, Saint-Saens, the fine contemporary American composer Eric Ewazen, Eric Whitacre, and Robert Schumann.

 

Oregon Symphony, Itzhak Perlman, Monday, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland.

Read my Willamette Week preview of the legendary violinist’s appearance with the orchestra. If it sells out, well, there’s always that Oregon-intensive national sporting event to watch instead, featuring soloist Marcus Mariota.

 

EAR TRUMPET

Portland New Music Calendar

January 2015

========================

Concerts:

10 – Sat – 7:30

NIEBUHR & SHARK

Piano Duo

Lutoslawski & Piazzolla

The Old Church

theoldchurch.org

*

10/11 – Sat/Sun – 7:30

OREGON SYMPHONY

Dutilleux & Messiaen

Arlene Schnitzer Hall

orsymphony.org

*

17 – Sat – 8

ARCO-PDX

Amplified Chamber Orchestra

Bunch & Cellotronik

Refuge PDX

arcopdx.com

*

18 – Sun – 7

MUSE FORWARD & C-REV

Emerging Music Salon

The Waypost

museforward.org

*

22/23 – Thur/Fri – 7:30

THIRD ANGLE

Horn Trios

Ligeti & Prangcharoen

Zoomtopia

thirdangle.org

*

24 – Sat – 7:30

CASCADIA COMPOSERS

Mixed Ensembles

Bernstein, Floyd, Hsu, Safar & Woody

Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church

cascadiacomposers.org

*

24 – Sat – 8

CREATIVE MUSIC GUILD

Henry Kaiser – guitar

Performance Works NW

creativemusicguild.org

*

29 – Thur – 7:30

CHAMBER MUSIC NORTHWEST

McDermott & Vonsattel – piano

Barber, Debussy & Stravinsky

Lincoln Hall

cmnw.org

*

31 – Sat – 7:30

45th PARALLEL

Mixed Ensembles

Bunch, Carreno & Winslow

Alberta Rose Theatre

45thparallelpdx.org

============================

Radio:

10/17/24/31 – Saturday: 8–10

CLUB MOD

All-Classical @ 89.9 FM

allclassical.org

*

5/12/19/26 – Monday: 8–10

A DIFFERENT NATURE

KBOO @ 90.7 FM

kboo.fm

====================

Blogs:

ALITISA

alitisa.com

*

EXPERIMENTAL PORTLAND

experimentalportland.com

*

NOBLE VIOLA

nobleviola.com

*

NORTHWEST REVERB

northwestreverb.blogspot.com

*

OREGON ARTS WATCH

orartswatch.org

===================

ET was birthed by MMM

marchmusicmoderne.org

 
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