As you may know, I was recently profiled as part of a Crosscut article about Portland arts advocates. It was ably written by Portland music writer and musician Stephen Marc Beaudoin. It was an honor to be included, and I was happy with the article as it was published.
I was approached by Stephen via email, and chose to conduct the “interview” via email, since I tend to function better with a chance to mull over questions over time rather than just speaking off the cuff. Stephen agreed to this, and he sent me a list of questions:
1) What do you see as the most exciting part of being a classical musician – or musician, period – in Portland, Oregon today?
2) Ten years from now, how might classical performance look, sound or feel different from today? What do you see as the connectivity amongst the growing “classical fringe” (classical-indie bands; bar/nightclub performance; electonica; “crossover”; etc) and the stalwart “classical institutions” (the symphony orchestra, opera company, etc)
3) Can you please identify four classical musicians or music administrators in the Portland area you feel hold great promise in advancing the scene here? Why are they so integral to the scene, or what makes them visionary or exciting as musicians/administrators, etc? Also, tell me about a really fabulous Portland classical performance you saw recently.
I thought it might be interesting to show my full answers to these questions, without space restrictions that a print (or web) news publication must adhere to. Here are my complete, unedited responses to the questions above:
Three questions with answers that could easily fill a book (or at least a large-ish pamphlet)!
Let’s see, exciting part of being a musician in Portland today… I’d have to say that Portland is on the verge of becoming “something” – I’m not sure what, but it might just be the “next big thing” in urban centers. A lot of decisions that were made a generation ago are finally reaping some major benefits: light rail, urban growth boundary, etc.
I think that at least as far as the Oregon Symphony goes, there are going to have to be some major, major stakeholders who decide to invest in the symphonic infrastructure of this city – and a generation from now we might be mentioned (both as a city and as an arts institution) more often in the same breath as, say, Malmö, Helsinki, or Barcelona – places where visual arts, design, architecture and music of all kinds are regarded as essential for being a cosmopolitan city of the world – a place where people increasingly go to be engaged in a vital, artistically enhance life as young people, or come to enjoy the fruits of a slightly less hectic urban center later in life, say in retirement.So, to make a long story shorter, I’d say that being an artist in Portland right now is exciting because there are so many different things happening here, and it’s relatively easy to be involved with any of them if you’re talented and willing to take some risks.
As for 10 years from now – how will classical performance be different? I’m not sure. I’m not sure just how different it has to be. I think that the act of going into a darkened concert hall, seeing the lights go down, the orchestra tune, and then hearing something great that has come out of the mind of a composer who is either still with us or died 200 years ago is such a sacred experience in its purest form. I hope that will remain the core of what we do as a symphony orchestra for many years to come.
That having been said, I’m all in favor of projects that blur the lines between artistic genres, if they are done well, and to the benefit of all the art forms involved. It’s easy to feature a DJ with full orchestra, but then the orchestra ends up playing sustained drones the entire evening, and ends up serving as aural wallpaper to the “main” act. People forget just how powerful the symphony orchestra can be – it can easily blow away almost anything else on stage, either sonically or just through the power of its repertoire.
More than anything, I’d say that the biggest responsibility of the orchestra of 10 years from now will be to provide a place for the music of living composers to thrive alongside the music of the usual dead, white, European males. I think that if you provide a steady diet of great works by current composers, you can build trust with an audience and get them to come in good numbers. So much of what we do is determined by the bottom line monetarily and not artistically. Imagine how much great music we would be missing if there were not enthusiastic presenters of the music of Beethoven, Brahms, Berg, Schoenberg, Adams, Higdon, etc. And I believe that audiences are smarter than we give them credit for – they will respond to good music presented with dedication and commitment.
Ok, four musicians/administrators that hold much promise:
1. Elaine Calder, President of the Oregon Symphony – she’s determined to make the symphony work and thrive here, and I think that she’s the person who’s got the best chance to make it happen. She says what she means and means what she says, and she is involved in what’s going on in the organization at every level, and with a virtually microscopic attention to detail. She’s also a realist and a pragmatist, two qualities that are often sadly lacking in arts administrators these days. On top of it all, she loves the arts in every form, and you can see her and her husband Bill at all sorts of performances all over the city every weekend.
2. Ron Blessinger and Inés Voglar, who respectively run Third Angle New Music Ensemble and FearNoMusic. Ron is really chasing the shangri-la of classical music, which is to find ways to combine the best of many different forms of art in a vibrant setting, and I feel like he’s really got the zeitgeist of Portland’s art scene down. Inés is putting together incredible, eclectic programs that feel like rummaging through an old chest in an attic full of treasures. To have one great new music ensemble in Portland is remarkable, but to have two of this caliber is really quite miraculous. If I won the lottery tomorrow, they’d both get big checks from me.
3. Thomas Lauderdale, founder of Pink Martini. Thomas is a huge symphony booster with a formal classical background, and I know that Pink Martini won’t probably last forever, and I think that whatever Thomas sets his sights on next will be something that will be major and change the face of the arts in Portland in a lasting and substantial way. I have no idea what this might be, but Thomas is an unpredictable fellow who knows Portland’s many scenes like the back of his hand, and I would just keep a watchful eye on what he’s up to in the next decade or so.
4. Carlos Kalmar, OSO music director. Carlos has done so much with the OSO in his first five years here that it’s hard to imagine where we’ll go from here, but I think that with his contract extension, we’ll see a further maturation of his approach, maybe a more open, accessible presence that Portland audiences can further embrace. Every season the orchestra builds on what it has accomplished the year before, and even from inside the orchestra it’s very possible to sense the momentum building. If we could have the financial support to match the artistic gains, the Oregon Symphony would become a renowned ensemble instead of the hidden gem it is right now.
As for performances, I’ve been so busy this year that I have hardly been to any performances that I haven’t taken part in myself, but I always love the FearNoMusic and Third Angle concerts that I make it to, and I’m totally blown away by the huge strides made in the past few years by the Oregon Ballet Theater – artistic director Christopher Stowell is going to be a major force in the dance world!