February 11, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Musicians from the Oregon Symphony continue a monthly series of chamber music concerts and school residencies on Feb. 15 and 16 in Coos County, Ore., as part of the Symphony’s two-year-long Community Music Partnership (CMP) with the North Bend School District 13 and the Oregon Coast Music Association. CMP funding is provided by the Ford Family Foundation, the JELD-WEN Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oregon Cultural Trust, the Oregon Arts Commission, the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation and Pacificorp Foundation for Learning.
The second of four chamber music concerts presented by the Oregon Coast Music Association will feature members of the Symphony’s brass section on Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, located at 400 Highland Ave. in Coos Bay. Trumpets David Bamonte and Steve Conrow, Assistant Principal Horn Larry Johnson, Principal Trombone Aaron LaVere and Principal Tuba JáTtik Clark will perform a combination of solo brass repertoire and works for brass quintet. Tickets are $5 per person or $10 per family (parents with minor children). For tickets or further information, contact the Oregon Coast Music Association at 541-267-0938, (877) 897-9350 or email info@oregoncoastmusic.com. Future chamber music concerts are scheduled for March 8 and April 29.
Members of the Symphony’s string sections, including Principal Viola Joël Belgique, violins Inés Voglar and Gregory Ewer, cello Adam Esbensen and bass Paul DeNola will be in residence at North Bay Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary and North Bend Middle School while Symphony woodwind musicians Karen Wagner, oboe; Martha Herby, flute; Mary Grant, horn; Todd Kuhns, clarinet and Leon Chodos, bassoon will visit North Bend High School on Feb. 15 and 16. “Every school in the district will benefit from these visits,” said Symphony Vice President of Education and Community Engagement Michael Kosmala. These residencies, customized to meet each individual school’s needs in an interactive age-appropriate format, will include ensemble performances, instrument clinics, coachings, master classes, informances and “instrument petting zoos,” in which younger children will learn how individual instruments “work” through hands-on demonstrations.
In addition to the school residencies, musicians from the string section will conduct instrument clinics on Feb. 15 and 16 with students in the string program at Southwestern Oregon Community College, directed by Christian Rosman. This program, the only string program offered in Coos County, gives both students and adults the opportunity to learn how to play string instruments and perform in orchestral and chamber ensembles.
Last month, the Oregon Coast Music Association’s chamber music concert featuring the Oregon Symphony String Quartet sold out, according to Jan Hooper, President of the OCMA. “We had over 100 people in the audience,” she said. “The music was wonderful, the musicians were gracious, and the audience loved it all. We appreciate the gift of this music the Symphony has brought to our community and we eagerly anticipate the remaining concerts.”
In addition, the three days of residencies in January resulted in over 70 different events in Coos County, which brought students, educators and community members together with the Symphony’s musicians and staff to strengthen existing programs while integrating new arts programming into the curriculum and community. Other CMP concerts, residencies and collaborative projects will continue monthly in Coos County through May, 2005, culminating with two full-orchestra youth concerts and a community concert. Year two of the partnership features the implementation of a sustainability plan to ensure the impact of the partnership continues into the future.
The Community Music Partnership, the Symphony’s largest and most significant education and community initiative, is a music residency program that focuses Symphony resources on rural or remote Oregon communities of 30,000 people or less. Symphony staff works with a local steering committee to craft the orchestra’s presence to meet community needs over a two-year period. “The CMP’s community-centric approach creates local ‘ownership’ and the sustained interaction needed to ensure its success and produce enduring outcomes,” said Kosmala. The partnership is designed to challenge communities’ understandings of how the arts enrich schools and the broader community, he added.
For more information about the Symphony’s Community Music Partnership, visit the Symphony’s Web site at www.orsymphony.org.
