February 20, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Symphony violinist Jonathan Dubay and violinist George Shiolas join the acclaimed Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre to present “The Wooden Boy,” an hour-long play with puppets and music of Bartók as part of the Oregon Symphony’s Creative Empowerment Project (CEP) on March 21 and 22 at the Winningstad Theatre in the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, located at 1111 SW Broadway. This program is sponsored by a grant from the Knight Foundation.
This unique collaboration combines the little-known 44 Duets for Two Violins by composer and ethnomusicologist Béla Bartók with Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre’s hour-long dramatic work, “The Wooden Boy,” based on an original adaptation of Hungarian and Rumanian folk tales, and is suitable for adults and kids aged five and older.
Bartók wrote the 44 Duets for children, intending them to nurture an appreciation for Hungary’s distinctive indigenous musical style. The 44 Duets are based on folk melodies Bartók collected in his many trips throughout the Hungarian countryside. The simple distilled beauty and strength of these melodies is performed by one violin while the second violin plays a modernist accompaniment. In this production, Tears of Joy puppeteers put these 44 pieces back into the context from which their inspiration came, where the everyday life of Hungarian villagers takes on mythic proportions through their cultural traditions of song and dance.
Dubay, who recently recorded the 44 Duets with Shiolas, worked on the script with the CEP mentor, Eric Booth, the Tears of Joy Artistic Director, Nancy Aldrich and the show’s director Amy Gray. The story presents Bartók collecting folksongs in a Hungarian village, where he encounters a story teller and her daughter who tell the tale of a carved Wooden Boy who comes to life. The Wooden Boy easily makes both friends and enemies with his unique abilities. Shunned by his neighbors, he leaves his village and befriends a troubled king. By agreeing to help the king, he puts his own life in danger.
In 2001, the Symphony received a grant from the Knight Foundation for a three-year program called the Creative Empowerment Project (CEP). The CEP established an internal grant cycle for Oregon Symphony musicians to design music projects which develop new audiences, forge partnerships with other organizations and/or redefine the concert experience.
Performances are scheduled for Sunday, March 21 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and Monday, March 22 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the Winningstad Theatre in the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. All tickets are $10 reserved seating and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony’s Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
Violinist Jonathan Dubay grew up in Portland, studying with Michael Foxman and Carol Sindell. He attended Reed College and the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Charles Castleman and received his bachelor’s degree. He holds a master’s and doctoral degrees from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Syoko Aki. He has been a Teaching Assistant at The Juilliard School, assisting the Juilliard String Quartet.
As a member of the Essex Quartet, Dr. Dubay has performed chamber music concerts and radio broadcasts across the country, including the Aspen Music Festival. He is a member of the Oregon Symphony, and has performed twice as featured soloist with the orchestra. He teaches violin and chamber music at Lewis and Clark College. He has recently recorded the 44 Duets of Béla Bartók with violinist George Shiolas.
Violinist George Shiolas began study of the violin at age five with his father and subsequently studied for eleven years as a pupil of Raphael Spiro. His is the winner of the Jacques Gershkovich Award, the Beaux Arts Scholarship, the Eleanor Lieber Award, and has performed on three continents as both soloist and chamber musician. Mr. Shiolas earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music as a scholarship student of Charles Treger. He has had master classes with Eudice Shapiro and Rafael Druian, and studied chamber music with Arthur Balsam and Raphael Hillyer. Mr. Shiolas has recently recorded the 44 Duets of Béla Bartók with violinist Jonathan Dubay.
