fair game ipod The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced direct grants to 631 nonprofit arts groups totally almost 30 million dollars. The Oregon Symphony will receive $50,000 and the Portland Youth Philharmonic will receive $25,000, the Eugene Symphony will receive $50,000, and Early Music America (headquartered in Seattle) will receive $25,000. For the…

‘no strings attached’ film The audience filled every seat at the Cabell Center on the campus of the Catlin Gabel School in eager anticipation of an all-Mozart concert that took place on Tuesday (June 30). This performance ushered in the second week of concerts presented by Chamber Music Northwest with a program consisting of music…

Harold Gray, now in his 31st year as artistic director of the Portland Piano International, is getting geared up for the 2009 Portland International Piano Festival. Running from July 12th through the 19th at the World Forestry Center, the festival is jam packed with an intriguing slate of artists, teachers, and films. I chatted with…

I came to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall with great anticipation on Saturday evening (June 27), because Helmuth Rilling and the Oregon Bach Festival choir and orchestra were in town to perform Haydn’s “Creation.” I had sung this piece under Rilling at least ten years ago (more about that later), so I willingly took a…

movie battle: los angeles Haydn and Mendelssohn have been dead for a very long time, but their presence is felt every time their music is played by virtuosic musicians like the ones who took the stage on Tuesday  (June 23) at Chamber Music Northwest’s opening concert series. I attended the concert at Catlin Gabel School…

Music critic David Stabler of The Oregonian has a full report on the financial problems at the Oregon Symphony online here. It’s a tough time for arts organizations everywhere, and the orchestra’s president Elaine Calder says that she will scrutinize every nook and cranny in its budget and operations. Calder was in Chicago a week…

Chamber Music Northwest opens its 39th summer season next week, offering five weeks (June 22 – July 26) of great music with top tier musicians from all over the nation. This summer’s programming celebrates the 200th anniversaries of Felix Mendelssohn (who was born in 1809) and Joseph Haydn (who died in 1809), and the music…

This year’s competition had a lot of excitement after the last concert finished. The press in attendance was very divided regarding who the medalists would be. Most of the critics agreed that Bulgarian pianist Evgeni Bozhanov played himself out of contention with his bombastic style. But all of the five remaining competitors were mentioned as…

the fighter movie dvdrip From the moment that members of the Pink Martini ensemble stepped out onto the stage on Monday evening (June 1), the standing-room only audience of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert gave them and the members of the Oregon Symphony a city-wide group hug. This was the second in three nights of sold-out…

The Oregonian reports that the Oregon Ballet Theatre is in desparate need of $750,000 by June 30th or it may have to shut down altogether. The monetary problems have been caused by a severe loss of donations and a loss of revenue due to the snowy weather during its performances of “The Nutcracker.” To help…