Inside the Orchestra
Visions of Sugar Plums
When it comes to the holiday season, Principal Percussionist Niel DePonte just may be the luckiest guy in Portland: He gets to conduct what just may be everyone’s favorite music of the season – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s glorious ballet score for The Nutcracker – during the Oregon Ballet Theatre's December run of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker at Keller Auditorium.
But that’s nothing new for Niel. This production marks DePonte's 23rd season conducting the holiday classic.
“My favorite thing about conducting The Nutcracker year after year is when I go out front at intermission, usually to sign CD recordings of the OBT Orchestra playing the score, and I get to visit with all the parents and children who come to the show each and every day,” DePonte tells us.
“To see the little ones, so wide-eyed and amazed at all that is going on in the theater, reminds me of when I was a child in New York. I would go down to the pit railing at the Metropolitan Opera and stare into the pit before the show and watch the musicians warming up. The instruments themselves were amazing to me. And later on in life, I got to know and work with some of those musicians. Being a kid in a theater is the coolest experience in the world to me.”
Now, of course, as conductor DePonte also gets the best view in the house of the dancers up on stage. How cool is that?
OBT’s Nutcracker plays Dec. 12-24. Tickets: obt.org.
And, for those who just can’t get enough of it, we hasten to point out that the best-of-the-best music from Act II of The Nutcracker is on the bill at the Oregon Symphony’s all-Tchaikovsky concerts Dec. 6-8 right here at the Schnitz. Music Director Carlos Kalmar leads those performances. Details on the web: orsymphony.org.
Let's Get to Know:
Alicia DiDonato Paulsen
Position: assistant principal flute
Joined the Oregon Symphony: fall 2008
All In The Family
Number of musicians in Paulsen’s family: 6
Number of cover bands: 2 (dad and brother)
“My dad’s band is called Tabasco Fiasco. They just played at my wedding. He’s actually a physicist during the day, but he does all sorts of great musical stuff all the time. He’s got a saxophone octet right now. When I was growing up, he had a wedding band; he’s like the real wedding singer. I would fall asleep to them rehearsing in our basement.”
Sing a Song
“I hear the karaoke in Portland is amazing, so I’m really looking forward to that – probably more than anything else. I like to do ’80s metal karaoke, like Guns N’ Roses. My music tastes are pretty eclectic. I like Neko Case, Arcade Fire, Lyle Lovett, Carmina Burana. I love “Hanalei Moon” by Don Ho. I have this thing for Hawaiian music.”
Roses Are Right
“We picked the city before anything else, because Portland is just one of the greatest places to live. It’s a walking city, and it’s a friendly city. We’re discovering that more and more as we’re here. We’re just so bowled over by the friendliness and openness of everyone.”
