musician’s life update

I feel like it’s the calm before the storm, or maybe it’s the eye of the hurricane, the way my life has been going the past few months. Big personal upheavals, major life changes, and now, the heart of the classical music season in Portland. I was about to say, when it rains, it pours, but here in Portland we’ve been having one of our driest winters on record so far. Skiers are despairing, runners and cyclists are rejoicing, and farmers are worrying about the lack of significant snow pack in the Cascade Range. But, as far as the classical music scene in Portland goes, it is pretty much back in full swing after the holiday hiatus.

I was able to catch the second half of the final concert of the Chamber Music Northwest Winter Festival (the inaugural season), dashing up the park blocks from the Schnitz to Lincoln Hall in time to hear the Piazzolla through the door, and then the Copland from my actual seat in the hall. It was fantastic to see so many OSO players represented in the performance – Concertmaster Sarah Kwak, Principal cellist Nancy Ives, Principal flutist Jess Sindell, Assistant principal bassoonist Evan Kuhlmann, and Principal clarinetist Yoshi Nakao. They were joined by festival regular Ida Kavafian on violin, along with the members of the Amphion Quartet, pianist Yekwon Sunyoo, and violinist Rebecca Anderson, a Portland native who’s doing great things out in the world at the start of what will undoubtedly be a stellar career. I just adore the original 13 instrument version of Appalachian Spring, and they delivered a sparkling performance.

The real fun started after the concert, when I tagged along with some of the performers the the bar at Higgins Restaurant for a post-concert nosh. It was great to catch up with Becky, share impressions with Nancy, and meet the young artists for the first time. We were sent a bottle of champagne for the table from a pair of patrons who just loved the concert, and the kitchen sent a charcuterie platter that was to die for. Ah, to live the life of a chamber music star of the firmament! As things were winding down, who should show up but Edgar Myer and Chris Thile (whose wife Claire Coffee is an actress with a regular role on the NBC series Grimm) who were in town working on a new project together. It was great to hob nob with yet more amazing musicians. And I didn’t have to play a note!

But, I digress, what I’d really meant to write about was how my musical docket is about to explode over the next couple of weeks. I’m playing a special concert of the music of Ernest Bloch with Third Angle New Music in February, and in just a week or so I’m playing Third Angle’s Riffs concerts at Jimmy Mak’s, which will feature John Zorn’s Cobra, and David Schiff’s sprawling, epic composition Road Maps for improvising soloist and chamber ensemble. It should be an amazing concert, and I’m looking forward to it very much. Amidst all of this, the Arnica Quartet is preparing for a concert in Astoria on Feb. 16th, which will feature Benjamin Britten’s Second Quartet, Purcell’s Chacony, arr. Britten, and Schubert’s great G major quartet. And, the Oregon Symphony welcomes esteemed guest conductor Mark Wigglesworth to the podium for the first time on Feb. 9-10, featuring a fantastic program: Lutoslawski’s Fourth Symphony, Schumann’s Cello Concerto (with Johannes Moser), and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

So, lots going on, but it’s all fun and amazing for me to be able to do, but now is the time I have to put my practicing hat on, lest I be caught with my pants down…