October 17, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Members of the Oregon Symphony’s brass section team up for an evening of well-known and newer works for brass quintet at Chamber Music on Tap, the Oregon Symphony’s popular chamber music series that presents four-star music in a beer and pizza setting, on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. Chamber Music on Tap, the “listener-friendly” chamber music series, is sponsored by BridgePort Brewing Company, and presented by Fortissimo, the Symphony’s young professional volunteer organization. The BridgePort BrewPub is located at 1313 N.W. Marshall.
“A Splash of Brass” features Symphony regulars Dave Bamonte and Steve Conrow on trumpet, Associate Principal Horn Joseph Berger, Principal Trombone Aaron LaVere and Principal Tuba JáTik Clark performing music of Leonard Bernstein, Tomaso Albinoni, Malcolm Arnold and Victor Ewald, among others. They will also be presenting a work by Eric Ewazen, “Colchester Fantasy,” written in 1987 while the composer lived in the English town of Colchester, the oldest town in Britain. One reason Bamonte wanted to program this work for a Chamber Music on Tap concert is because each of its movements is named after a pub in Colchester. Ewazen writes, “These old English pubs of Colchester were a fine inspiration. Their names brought to my mind images of ancient and historical traditions and impressions of the grandeur and majesty of times past. The beer was good, too!” Other works on the program include Albinoni’s “Saint Mark” Sonata, selections from Bernstein’s “Westside Story,” a quintet by Malcolm Arnold and another by Victor Ewald, “The Canadian Brass Rag,” by Eldon Rathburn and “That’s A-Plenty” by Lew Pollack.
Chamber Music on Tap is held on the third Wednesday of each month from October through March; there was a change made in this month’s concert date to accommodate the Thanksgiving holiday. The concerts provide audience members the opportunity to interact with musicians and socialize while sampling the brewery’s homemade pizza and handcrafted, award-winning ales in the pub’s unique building, a 100-year-old former rope factory.
Tickets are $6 for Fortissimo members, $12 for the general public and may be purchased in advance 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 the door, if available. All proceeds from the evening benefit Fortissimo.
Dave Bamonte has been a member of the Oregon Symphony since 1994. Prior to coming to Oregon, Dave played two seasons in the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. He also performs regularly with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops and has performed in concert with the New York Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. Dave can be heard on recordings by the Oregon Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Boston Pops and with Wynton Marsalis and the Eastman Wind Ensemble. His most recent recordings are as principal trumpet of the Israel Philharmonic performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” and as a solo cornettist on a recording of “L’Histoire du Soldat” with Third Angle New Music Ensemble. Dave has also performed master classes and clinics throughout the United States and Japan.
Steve Conrow is a native Oregonian who has received degrees in music from Portland State University and the University of New Mexico. He is a former Principal Trumpet of La Filarmonica del Bajio in Guanajuato, Mexico and has also performed with the New Mexico Symphony, the Santa Fe Symphony and many summer orchestras. Steve currently performs with the Oregon Symphony.
Joseph Berger is currently Associate Principal Horn of the Oregon Symphony, a position he has held since 1998. Prior to winning his position in Oregon he completed his music degree at the Juilliard School in New York City and was active as a freelance horn player in the New York area. He has performed with many orchestras throughout the country including the Honolulu Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Seattle Symphony.
In addition to his work with the Symphony, Berger is an active performer playing solo recitals and in festivals throughout Oregon, some of which include the Sun River Festival, the Bach Festival and the Bloch Festival on the Oregon coast. The Bach Festival in 1998 included a recording of the premiere of Penderecki’s “Credo.” Two recent summers have found him playing solo horn in Wagner’s Ring Cycle in productions by the Arizona Opera in Flagstaff where reviewers at Opera News and the Dallas Morning News described his solos as “even stronger than they had been in Chicago this spring,” and “horn passages were flawless and soaring.” The Oregonian wrote, “his burnished tone filled Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall with glorious sound.” The past two summers Berger has played principal horn with the Chautauqua Music Festival in the quaint historic city of Chautauqua, New York.
Berger received his Bachelor’s degree in music from the Juilliard School in 1987 where he studied with James Chambers. Other teachers include James Decker, Julie Landsman and John Cerminaro.
Other than music, Berger enjoys many other interests including riding his recumbent bicycle all over the bike-friendly city of Portland and flying his paraglider over the inland mountains of Oregon and Washington and on the Oregon coast. He also builds artistic furniture and has a new son, Jake.
Recently appointed Principal Trombone of the Oregon Symphony, Aaron LaVere is emerging as one of the leading brass players of his generation. His most recent work with the New World Symphony had him performing under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, Hans Vonk, Sergiu Comissiona, Vladimir Spivakov, Don Runnicles and Hugh Wolff. Mr. LaVere has worked with the Detroit Symphony under Neeme Jarvi, the San Antonio Symphony under Christopher Wilkins, the Kalamazoo Symphony, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ann Arbor Symphony and the Flint Symphony.
A frequent soloist, Mr. LaVere has appeared throughout Oregon and the Midwest, performing the Grondahi Concerto, the David Concerto and the Jacob Concerto. As a chamber musician, Mr. LaVere has performed with the Detroit Chamber Winds, the Detroit Symphony Brass Quintet, the Michigan Chamber Brass and the New World Brass Quintet.
A native of Flint, Michigan, Mr. LaVere began his musical studies at the age of nine in the public schools. His education took him to Interlochen and on to the University of Michigan, where he earned both a BM and an MM in performance. He has studied with Jay Friedman, Sam Pilafian, James DeSano, Milt Stevens, Mark Lawrence, Ian Bousefield and H. Dennis Smith, and received an invitation to the Tanglewood Music Festival. As a member of the Pacific Music Festival, Mr. LaVere toured throughout Asia, performing under Christoph Eschenbach. At the National Orchestra Institute in Washington, D.C., he worked under the batons of Marin Alsop, Maximiano Valdes and Peter Bay.
JáTik Clark is currently in his fifth season with the Oregon Symphony as Principal Tuba. He is also the Applied Tuba Instructor at Portland State University. He holds a Master of Music degree in Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor’s of Music (cum laude) from the University of South Carolina. Mr. Clark has been a soloist and participant in several music festivals including the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Ernest Bloch Summer Music Festival, Cascade Music Festival, Brevard Music Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival, Eastern Music Festival and Chamber Music Northwest. Mr. Clark is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity, Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Music Fraternity and the International Tuba-Euphonium Society.
