March 3, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Members of the Oregon Historical Society’s Young Historians group will join with the Oregon Symphony for an evening of pre-and post-concert parties and classical music at the next event hosted by Soirée, the Oregon Symphony’s group for young professionals, on Friday, March 31 at the Miller Pavilion in the Oregon Historical Society and the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Corporate sponsorship for Soirée is provided by the American Express Company and Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, Attorneys at Law, with further support from Portland Monthly.
“This is a first-time collaboration between two young professionals groups with similar objectives,” says Director of Corporate Relations Jennifer Schlobohm. “Partnering with the Oregon Historical Society’s “Young Historians” is appropriate, as we are both targeting a younger demographic interested in arts and culture. We see a natural overlap between both groups and believe the participants will have a lot in common.”
The evening begins with a 5:30 p.m. reception at the Miller Pavilion in the Oregon Historical Society’s building, located at 1200 S.W. Park Avenue. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and happy hour priced cocktails will be available. At 6:15, Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda will give an informal lecture about the four different versions of “Romeo and Juliet” that will be featured in the concert. “Gregory is approachable, has a high energy-level and is enthusiastic about getting young people involved with arts and culture,” says Schlobohm. Soirée participants will then attend the 7:30 p.m. concert and an exclusive intermission party on the mezzanine with complimentary wine. After the concert, Symphony musicians will join concertgoers at a post-concert reception at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts’ Art Bar, across Main Street from the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
Soirée, designed for young professionals aged 21 to 39, includes exclusive parties, discounted concert tickets and the opportunity to meet others interested in arts and culture.
Tickets for the Front Row Center Soirée are $32 and include admission to both pre- and post-concert parties as well as the concert itself. Participants who only wish to attend the Soirée pre-and post-concert receptions can do so for $12, while concert tickets alone are available for $20. For more information, call (503) 228-1353 or visit the Symphony’s Web site at www.orsymphony.org/soiree.
Gregory Vajda has been appointed to serve as the Oregon Symphony’s second Resident Conductor in its 109-year history beginning in summer 2005. Vajda conducted a Sundays at Two concert during the 2003-2004 season to great acclaim from both the orchestra and the audience. During the 2005-2006 season, he will conduct a Classical and a Pops concert, in addition to serving as the primary conductor for Youth Concertsand Kids Concerts.
Gregory Vajda has fast become one of the most brilliant conductors on the international scene. He was called a “young titan” by a Montreal Symphony Orchestra member during the 2003-2004 season run of Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” and Schönberg’s “Erwartung” with L’Opera de Montreal. Recognized for his strength and intensity in conducting 19th century, 20th century and contemporary repertoire, Vajda has just concluded his third and final season as assistant conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Prior to his appointment with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, he served as music director to the New Theater Budapest, and artistic director of the Forras (Source) Chamber Music Workshop, founder and artistic advisor of the Valley of the Arts Summer Festival in Hungary, permanent guest conductor of the Hungarian State Opera (1998-2003), artistic leader of the Brass in Five Ensemble, principal conductor of the Ernö Dohnányi Symphony Orchestra in Budapest, and was a member of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra. When appointed assistant conductor in Milwaukee, he resigned all permanent European posts to focus completely on his full time job as well as guest engagements.
Highlights of the 2004-2005 season for Vajda included a third appearance at the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris and appearances with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Round Top Festival in Texas, and the Grant Park Festival in Chicago. Vajda also led the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in a subscription concert series, and was commissioned to compose and conduct a piece for the Making New Waves Festival in Budapest.
In the 2003-2004 season, Vajda’s schedule included the Oregon Symphony, Naumburg Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris and the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra. All this in addition to the New Year’s Gala Performance and a classical subscription series with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Vajda also conducted at the Woodstock Mozart Festival and Mostly Mozart Festival in Lincoln Center to great critical acclaim.
As assistant conductor with the Milwaukee Symphony, he led several regional tours, conducted the Milwaukee Symphony in a classical subscription concert as well as performances with Canadian Brass, Maureen McGovern, Peter, Paul and Mary and the King Singers. In past seasons, Vajda appeared with St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Ensemble Intercontemporain at Cité de la Musique, led performances at the Vienna Klangforum of Péter Eötvös’s “As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams” and “Three Sisters”(as part of theVienna Festwochen), gave the premiere of his chamber opera “The Giantbaby” at the New Theatre in Budapest, and the premiere of Hungarian composer György Ránki’s opera “King Pomade’s New Clothes” at the Hungarian State Opera. He has also conducted at the festivals of Avignon and Strassbourg.
In addition to conducting, Vajda is also a clarinetist and composer. Recently, he conducted his own composition for the silent film “The Crowd” at the Auditorium of the Louvre with American pianist Jay Gottlieb. He has also recorded his own orchestral piece entitled “Duevoe” with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was honored with the Zoltán Kodály State Scholarship for composers for the year 2000, and the Annie Fischer State Scholarship for music performers in the year 1999.
Born in 1973 in Budapest, Hungary, the son of renowned soprano Veronika Kincses, Gregory Vajda studied clarinet and composition at Béla Bartók secondary school. He then studied conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music under Professor Ervin Lukács. He recently completed a half-year study session with the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris with Jonathan Nott. He has also been a conducting pupil of the well-known twentieth century composer and conductor, Péter Eötvös.
