Thirty years is no mean feat in any profession. The gilded corporations of old would give a retiring company man a gold watch (and back then it most certainly was a man). If you serve in the military, you qualify for full retirement (regardless of age) after 20 years of service. I make no equivalence between playing in an orchestra and military service (it just comes to mind easily because I was an Army brat and my dad did 20-plus years as an officer), but music can have its resonances in both athletics and combat, I’d posit.
I wish I had access to our database of performances. I’d love to have a count of how many times I’ve played Rhapsody in Blue, Beethoven’s 5th, 7th, and 9th symphonies, etc. Maybe I’d just rather not know? I do know that I’ve done all of the Mahler symphonies except the 8th. I’m not holding my breath for that one. On the other hand, I thought I’d never get to play Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony, but we opened our season with it this year (and I played it at the Oregon Bach Festival in 2023). Every time we play a Haydn or Mozart symphony I wonder why we don’t play those as often. They certainly both wrote enough of them to go around!
I’ve been a member of the orchestra through a variety of leaders, both within the orchestra and without. Three music directors: James DePreist, Carlos Kalmar, and David Danzmayr. At least five President/CEO’s: the first few I cannot recall and a quick Google search didn’t provide the names, but after that were Tony Woodcock, Elaine Calder, Scott Showalter, and current CEO Isaac Thompson. They’ve all made varying contributions to the health of the orchestra, but I’d say that Scott and Isaac have built on that foundation such that some innovation and growth now seems more possible than every before.
Within the orchestra, I’ve worked with four concertmasters: Michael Foxman, Amy Schwartz Morreti, Jun Iwasaki, and Sarah Kwak. The concertmasters in this orchestra have been a parade of excellence that have been inspiring to watch and perform with. Two principal violists: Joël Belgique and Amanda Grimm. Truly I’ve been blessed with two of the most amazing stand partners, something that I’m thankful for every single day I go to work. They both have the most wonderful personalities and also inspire or inspired me every day to live up to their examples. Four principal cellists: India Jobelman, Mark Votapek, Margo Tatgenhorst, and Nancy Ives. Also a remarkable run of talent!
When you’ve been at the job-site for 30 years, the scenery changes around you. But the one thing that hasn’t changed, and that in fact has only intensified is the feeling of the Oregon Symphony as a family of musicians. Sometimes there are spats, but for the most part we are a welcoming and inclusive bunch who socialize outside of the workplace more than some of our peer orchestras’ members do.
There have been literally countless performances over the past 30 years. Many were forgotten within minutes of leaving the stage. Some were very moving and gradually faded into the haze of sheer numbers of performances. Some, finally, stuck in this alto clef-reading brain and are available to discuss even after decades have passed.
My first concert with the Oregon Symphony was in September of 1995. I can’t remember if it was one of our Symphony Sunday concerts or if it was a Classical subscription show, but it featured two prominent viola solos. (I should mention that I won the audition for Assistant principal viola in May of 1995, and between the audition and my signing a contract to accept the position the previous principal violist, Randall Vemer, retired from his position. I was asked by Jimmy to serve my first season as acting Principal viola). The Lied movement of Kodaly’s Hary Janos Suite, and Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1. The sheer terror of playing those solos in front of an orchestra that had just hired me for my first service remains seared into my memory. It all went fine, but man was it intense!
Any concert with Jimmy that involved a great Romantic work was always a moving experience. I particularly remember playing Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony with him under very moving circumstances. Also Sibelius’ Second Symphony and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra remain vivid memories.
In the Kalmar era, our trip to Carnegie hall (the first in the orchestras’ history) in 2011 was remarkable. The program was incredibly intense – Music in a Time of War was the theme (and also the title of the recording of the program we made that year) and it brought the orchestra to a new level of national and international acclaim. The sheer variety of new music from Europe and the US that Carlos brought to the orchestra was dizzying, and led to many long evenings of practicing! There was a level of intensity that was always there in rehearsals and concerts – Kalmar demanded much of us, and as an orchestra we’re always happy to work hard.
With David Danzmayr arriving in 2021 a breath of fresh air also swept in. Four years into his time here, he has brought a sense of joy and positivity to the orchestra. It will be exciting to see where that leads us!