Portland Youth Philharmonic
Encyclopedia
The Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) is the oldest youth orchestra
in the United States, established in 1924 as the Portland Junior Symphony (PJS). Now based in Portland
, Oregon
, the orchestra's origin dates back to 1910 when music teacher Mary V. Dodge began playing music for local children in Burns
. Dodge purchased instruments for the children and organized the orchestra which would become known as the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra. After touring throughout the U.S. state
of Oregon, including a performance at the Oregon State Fair
in Salem
, the orchestra disbanded in 1918 when Dodge moved to Portland. There, Dodge opened a violin school and became music director of the Irvington School Orchestra. Hoping to create a permanent youth symphony, Dodge approached Jacques Gershkovitch
in 1924 to lead the orchestra as music director of the Portland Junior Symphony. The ensemble performed for the first time in 1925, and by the 1930s PJS concerts were being broadcast nationally. Following Gershkovitch's death in 1953, alumnus Jacob Avshalomov
became the orchestra's music director. The ensemble's name was changed to the Portland Youth Philharmonic in 1978.
PYP has had five conductors and music directors during its history: Gershkovitch (1924–1953), Avshalomov (1954–1995), Huw Edwards
(1995–2002), Mei-Ann Chen
(2002–2007), and professional clarinet
ist David Hattner (2008–present). Today the Portland Youth Philharmonic Association consists of four ensembles, including the Philharmonic Orchestra, Conservatory Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and the Young String Ensemble. Participating musicians range in age from seven to twenty-two years old and represent dozens of schools within the Portland metropolitan area
and other surrounding communities.
Mary B. Thompson) was born in Arkansas
in 1876. At five years old, her father died, causing her and her sisters to be placed in an orphanage
while her mother finished nursing school
. Dodge became interested in music while attending a Catholic
boarding school
, and later became a musician and teacher in Boston
and New York
. After Mary moved to Portland
, Oregon
, where her aunt owned a boarding house
, she met and married her husband, civil engineer
and double bass
player Mott Dodge. Soon after they married, Mott was transferred to Harney County
for a work project. In 1910, they settled in Burns
in an engineering camp known as the "Boston tents". Mary and Mott had one child, Glen, who learned from his mother how to play the fiddle
starting at a young age. A classically trained violinist with a "love of children and... a deeply democratic view about making music", Dodge began teaching local children how to play string instrument
s, first in resident tents then in a photography studio. With assistance from parents and a professional flautist
from Italy, who taught the children how to play wind instrument
s and conducted, Dodge assembled a small orchestra. According to former violin student Ruth Saunders, "All of the sighing, tooting and drumming soon made the citizens aware that something was going on, and due to her powers of persuasion, they found themselves devoting their time, talents, money and children to the creation of the Sagebrush Orchestra."
The orchestra's first concert was held in 1912 at Tonawama Hall in Burns. With funds provided by rancher Bill Hanley, lawyer and artist Charles Erskine Scott Wood
, and additional Burns businessmen, Dodge purchased musical instrument
s for the children and expanded the orchestra to thirty to thirty-five members. By 1915, the orchestra was touring throughout Eastern Oregon
on a Chautauqua
circuit. With $2,000 in funds raised by the aforementioned businessmen, the ensemble visited Western Oregon
in September 1916 and performed seven concerts within two days. Now known as the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra, the ensemble won $100 at the Oregon State Fair
in Salem
and performed several concerts in Portland, including one at the Imperial Hotel
and one for opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink
at the Portland Hotel
. During the symphony's week-long tour, one Oregonian reporter wrote: "The journey of the little people is considered one of the finest exhibitions of community spirit ever shown in this state." Schumann-Heink planned to support the orchestra's efforts to tour, and promised to host a benefit concert the following year. However, the nation's involvement
in World War I
interrupted plans for additional tours. The orchestra disbanded in 1918 when Dodge relocated to Portland.
in the United States at the time, Dodge knew that a professional male conductor would need to lead the orchestra.
Dodge approached Jacques Gershkovitch
, a Russian immigrant in Portland guest conducting the Portland Symphony (which would later become the Oregon Symphony
), about the orchestra after seeing him conduct. Though Gershkovitch first explained that he did not teach children, Dodge insisted that he come listen to the youth ensemble she had assembled. One orchestra member recalled: "I well remember the excitement of that night when Gershkovitch climbed the stairs to Mary Dodge's attic, where we had assembled to play for him. He listened as we played our hearts out. He applauded us and said that if we got the missing instruments, he would take us on." In an attempt to hand over the baton
to Gershkovitch, he simply stated "I take." Initially, Dodge remained as associate director of the orchestra; she also assisted with sectionals, appointed a board of directors
, and designated the ensemble as the Portland Junior Symphony Orchestra in 1924. The original board of directors established the mission of the orchestra: "to encourage appreciation and rendition of orchestral music by young people, to give public symphonic and popular concerts, to discover and develop latent talent among the children of Portland." Six years later, Dodge resigned while the orchestra was financially sound. She continued to teach and became increasingly dedicated to a scientific approach to bowing
. Dodge died in 1954.
family in Irkutsk
, Russia
, Gershkovitch grew up listening to chamber music
and was sent to Saint Petersburg
in his late teens to study at the Imperial Conservatory
. Gershkovitch arrived with "17 rubles in his pocket and his flute under his arm", where he auditioned and was awarded a scholarship. There he learned from respected Russian composers such as Alexander Glazunov
, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
and Nikolai Tcherepnin
, and completed coursework in opera and ballet production. In 1913 he graduated with honors in flute
and conducting, and was awarded the Schubert Scholarship for a year of study under German conductor Arthur Nikisch
in Berlin
. However, World War I
forced Gershkovitch to return to Irkutsk and enlist
in the military. Gershkovitch began his conducting career as head of the Imperial Russian Army
's military symphony orchestra, a position he held through the revolution. In 1918 Gershkovitch married in Irkutsk and established a successful fine arts conservatory and symphony orchestra, which continued under the Bolshevik regime. Gershkovitch and his wife left Russia for China in 1921, where they befriended composer Aaron Avshalomov
. Ballerina
Anna Pavlova offered Gershkovitch an assistant conductor position with her orchestra, which was touring throughout the Orient
. Gershkovitch settled in Tokyo
to undertake the newly-organized Tokyo Symphony Orchestra until the Great Kantō earthquake
of 1923 "disorganized all the business and musical interests of they city". The couple fled Japan and arrived in San Francisco in November 1923. The couple eventually made their way to Portland in 1924; it was here that Gershkovitch was approached by Dodge to lead the Portland Junior Symphony. Gershkovitch taught flute and conducted the Ellison-White Conservatory's student orchestra, at the time directed by Jacob Avshalomov
, until PJS duties required his full attention.
The symphony performed for the first time on February 14, 1925 at the Lincoln High School Auditorium (which later became Portland State University
's Lincoln Hall
), playing two movements
of Schubert
's Unfinished Symphony
. Legend says that at the ensemble's first rehearsal Gershkovitch introduced the composition and stated "You play, or I keel you" in his heavy Russian accent. Concert attendees reportedly surged the stage after the debut concert to congratulate the musicians, Gershkovitch and Dodge, who was present and called to the stage. One reviewer for the Oregon Sunday Journal wrote the following day that the "audience that almost filled the auditorium to capacity broke into storm upon storm of applause". According to Ronald Russell, author of A New West to Explore (1938), the audience "had experienced a new emotional thrill, and forthwith became strong advocates and supporters of the junior symphony cause."
In spring 1924 the orchestra gained national attention by performing at the National Federation of Music Clubs
convention in Portland. The Sunday Oregonian reported that convention attendees were "so deeply impressed that they declared it unhesitatingly the most wonderful organization of its kind in the entire country." The second season premiered to a capacity audience on November 25, 1925 with the 75-member strong ensemble performing Mozart's Symphony No. 40
in its entirety along with "In the Village" from Ippolitov-Ivanov
's Caucasian Sketches
, the waltz from Rebikov
's The Christmas Tree and the march from Wagner
's opera Tannhäuser
.
Early in the organization's history, the Portland Junior Symphony consisted of a full symphony orchestra, a chorus
, as well as a ballet
unit. According to Wither Youth (1935), approximately 350 young artists participated in these groups each season (around 100 in the orchestra, 150 in the chorus, and 100 in the ballet). Membership was granted on "merit, ability, seriousness and interest", and there were no tuition
fees for participation (this has since changed). Orchestra members were also encouraged to take private lessons. The minimum schedule for participants included two rehearsal
s during each week of the eight-month season along with dress rehearsals prior to performances. Three or four concerts were presented each season, many at Portland Public Auditorium (now known as Keller Auditorium
). The organization was sustained financially through concert admission and donations—instruments, funds towards scholarship
s and the general endowment, and music for the association's library were also accepted to ensure longevity.
Gershkovitch, known for his discipline and high performance standards, conducted the orchestra for twenty-nine years, gaining national attention for the ensemble and pioneering the youth orchestra movement. By the 1930s, PJS concerts were broadcast nationally on the CBS Radio Network
. In 1956 and 1958 both NBC and CBS transmitted broadcasts of the orchestra's programs across the United States, and three transcribed programs were broadcast overseas from Voice of America
in Washington, D.C. Gershkovitch was also responsible for adding a Preparatory Orchestra (later renamed the Conservatory Orchestra) due to increased membership. Gershkovitch tried to incorporate at least one American composition in each concert. He had a distinctive personality and way with words, using expressions such as "More nicely, can't you more?" and "Debussy is beauty, French beauty" (as recollected in one former student's diary). For twenty-five years, David Campbell served as Master of Ceremonies
for the Children's Concerts since Gershkovitch "never gained a command of English sufficient enough for public use". Gershkovitch's often-quoted philosophy was that he did "not teach music" but, but rather he taught "young people through music". Though there were times he desired to conduct professional ensembles, Gershkovitch's primary concern was educating the youth. Apart from music education, Gershkovitch stressed the importance of proper conduct, manners, and "values in life and art" in order to build character. Following Gershkovitch's death in 1953, guest conductors lead the orchestra for its thirtieth season—one conductor was Jacob Avshalomov, a Columbia University
teacher and PJS alumnus who had studied under Gershkovitch while a student at Reed College
(1939–1941).
was born on March 28, 1919 in Tsingtao
, China. His father was Aaron Avshalomov
, the Siberian-born composer known for "oriental musical materials cast in western forms and media", and mother was from San Francisco. Jacob received musical instruction from his father at a young age. At age eight, Avshalomov visited Portland from China with his parents, who were guests of Gershkovitch for several months in 1927. Aaron Avshalomov had become friends with Gershkovitch in the Orient (when Gershkovitch and his wife met Aaron, Jacob was three years old). However, because they did not hold permanent visas the family returned to China. Jacob graduated from British and American schools before age fifteen, then worked as a factory supervisor in Tientsin, Shanghai
and Beijing
over a span of four years. Avshalomov was also active in sports and won the diving
championship of North China. In 1937, Avshalomov assisted his father in Shanghai with ballet production and working on scores
. He then enlisted with a British volunteer corps following Japan's invasion of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War
, and eventually returned to the United States with his mother in December 1937. Avshalomov spent a year in Los Angeles, followed by two in Portland, Oregon, then two at the Eastman School of Music
. During World War II
he lived in London, where he conducted a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach
's St John Passion.
Known for encouraging international tours, Avshalomov became the orchestra's second conductor in 1954. During his forty-year tenure Avshalomov produced several recordings, several of which included pieces commissioned by the orchestra, making PJS the first known recording orchestra in the Pacific Northwest
. He led the ensemble on its first international tour in 1970. The orchestra became known as the Portland Youth Philharmonic in 1978. 1984 marked the orchestra's sixtieth anniversary as well as Avshalomov's thirtieth year as conductor. Avshalomov retired in 1995 after an estimated 640 concerts and 10,000 auditions.
, born in South Wales
, moved with his parents to England and sang in choirs as a child. He witnessed his first opera (Giuseppe Verdi
's Un ballo in maschera
) at eleven years old when his parents took him to the Royal Opera House
in Covent Garden
. Seven years later, he was on that same podium conducting W. S. Gilbert
and Arthur Sullivan
's operetta H.M.S. Pinafore
. Edwards has been conducting since age seventeen, when he became music director of the Maidstone Opera Company in England, a position he held for six years. Edwards attended the University of Surrey
, where he conducted the college orchestra along with an ensemble that he formed on his own. At twenty-three years old, he won a conducting competition which sent him to the University of Surrey
in England and Southern Methodist University
in Dallas, Texas
. Edwards moved to the Pacific Northwest after he held a lecturer position at Northwestern University
in Chicago
, where he was also a doctoral candidate.
Edwards become music director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic in 1995. In 1997 he was honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for his programming. Edwards also made five recordings during his tenure and led the orchestra on two international tours: Canada in 1998 and Australia/New Zealand in 2000. PYP represented the United States at the Banff International Festival of Youth Orchestras in 1998. Edwards established a peer mentoring
program which partnered orchestra musicians with low-income students with little access to music education
. From 1998 to 2005, he was a faculty member at the Marrowstone Music Festival. In 2002 Edwards left PYP for a position with the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, which he also held until 2005. Edwards was appointed music director of the Olympia Symphony Orchestra in 2003.
, Mei-Ann Chen
wanted to be a conductor since she was ten years old. She began playing violin and piano starting at a young age and collected batons
, believing that "different pieces needed different kinds of batons". In 1989 Chen attended a concert in Taipei
by the American Youth Orchestra, a touring ensemble of Boston
's New England Conservatory. The day following the concert, Chen played for conductor Benjamin Zander
in a closed basement hotel bar and was offered a scholarship immediately. She performed with the American Youth Orchestra before being invited to attend the Walnut Hill School
, a preparatory school linked to the New England Conservatory, two months later at age sixteen. For more than three years Chen lived with a couple in Boston she referred to as her "American parents" (Mark Churchill and Marylou Speaker Churchill, the latter of which was once a member of the Portland Junior Symphony). Chen continued her undergraduate and graduate work at the Conservatory, and became the first person to graduate from the institution with a double master's degree
in conducting and violin performance. Chen remained in Boston for nine years until she attended the University of Michigan
to obtain a Doctor of Musical Arts
degree in conducting.
Chen became PYP's fourth conductor in 2002 after being selected by a committee of "musically inclined" parents, a member of the orchestra, and representatives of the Oregon Symphony and Portland Opera
. She conducted both the Philharmonic ensemble as well as the Conservatory Orchestra. During her five-year tenure with the organization, PYP debuted at Carnegie Hall
, received its third ASCAP award in 2004 for innovating programming, and began collaborating with the Oregon Symphony (Chen was the ensemble's assistant conductor from 2003 to 2005) and Chamber Music Northwest
. In April 2005 Chen became the first woman to win the Malko Competition
, the "world's most prestigious prize" for young conductors. She also won the Taki Concordia Fellowship in 2007, an award established by Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
music director Marin Alsop
to support "promising" female conductors. Chen was presented the Sunburst Award from Young Audiences for her contribution to music education and was named "Educator of the Week" by KKCW
.
While conductor of the Philharmonic, Chen set up a box in her office so that students could leave notes for her about themselves. One musician of the orchestra felt that Chen was "kind of formal" during rehearsal but felt "like a big sister" once practice ended. Chen has been described as a "firecracker: small, bright and full of ka-boom", and her enthusiasm at times caused her to lose her breath. One board member of the organization praised Chen's attitude and felt that her lack of ego was a "rare quality in top symphony performers".
Chen turned down a position with the Oregon Symphony to continue work at PYP. In 2007 she accompanied the orchestra on an international tour to Asia, where her parents saw her conduct for the first time. The Philharmonic offered a total of six performances between June 29 and July 17 in Kaohsiung, Tainan
and Taipei, Taiwan as well as in Seoul
and Ulsan
, South Korea
. Though Chen initially thought she would remain with the Philharmonic for ten years, she left in 2007 to become assistant conductor of the Atlanta Symphony. She said of her departure: "The musicians at PYP have become my kids. When I look back, these five years will always be the most memorable time of my musical career." Guest conductors during the 2007–2008 season included Ken Selden, director of orchestral studies at Portland State University, former Seattle Symphony
conductor Alastair Willis, along with former PYP conductors Huw Edwards and Chen herself.
, Hattner was a clarinet
student of Robert Marcellus
. Before joining PYP, he had conducted Camerata Atlantica, the Garden State Philharmonic Orchestra and the Oklahoma Chamber Ensemble, and guest conducted the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra
, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Sospeso, International Contemporary Ensemble
, and the Massapequa Philharmonic Orchestra. Hattner also participated in the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen three times, where he studied with Murry Sidlin and David Zinman
. He has been the principal clarinet with the Cascade Music Festival Orchestra in Bend
, the Key West Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Opera Theater, and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. Hattner made his Oregon Symphony
debut in January 2011. In addition to conducting and clarinet performance, Hattner has participated in multi-media work with silent film
both nationally and internationally. PYP began offering Chamber Orchestra concerts during Hattner's tenure.
Today the Portland Youth Philharmonic consists of four ensembles: the Portland Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, the Portland Youth Conservatory Orchestra, the Portland Youth Wind Ensemble, and the Young String Ensemble. Each group is selected in open auditions in the spring and fall and is highly selective.
of the Portland Creative Theatre and School of Music, Drama, and Dance to collaborate. Gershkovitch suggested that the Portland Junior Symphony and the ballet studio perform portions of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker
as part of Portland's annual Rose Festival
. 5,000 spectators attended the Rose Queen coronation ceremony at Civic Auditorium to witness the production, which featured 100 ballerinas and dancers. The production was deemed a success for all involved and established Christensen as "Portland's leading ballet teacher". Gershkovitch and Christensen collaborated at the Rose Festival the following year (1935), performing Coppélia
twice to enthusiastic crowds.
In 1998, PYP was the sole representative of the United States at the Banff International Festival of Youth Orchestras in Canada. The orchestra's Carnegie Hall
debut was in 2004. In October 2010, PYP returned to Burns to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the establishment of the Sagebrush Symphony. A special performance honored Mary Dodge, the history of the organization, and music educators with music by Howard Hanson
and Charles Ives
.
in New York City
alongside the New York Philharmonic
. The concert consisted of three pieces performed by PYP under the conduction of Avshalomov ("Dance of the Clowns" from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
's opera The Maid of Orleans, the first movement of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, and the fourth movement of Avshalomov's own symphony, The Oregon), a performance by the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein
's leadership, and finally Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet
conducted by Bernstein with a combined ensemble 210 musicians strong. The orchestra traveled to Australia and New Zealand in 2000 under the leadership of Huw Edwards, performing Dmitri Shostakovich
's Symphony No. 10
. In 2007, PYP performed six concerts throughout Taiwan (Kaohsiung, Tainan, and Taipei) and South Korea (Ulsan and Seoul).
, who helped found the Juilliard String Quartet
, and Eugene Linden
, founder and conductor of the Tacoma
Philharmonic Orchestra. Additional students of Gershkovitch that later became professional musicians include Jesse Kregal, Barry Lamont, Beverly LeBeck, Frederic Rothchild, Warren Signor, and Jacob Avshalomov himself.
Other professional musicians that were once part of the orchestra include Glenn Reeves, later a principal violist for the Oregon Symphony, Brian Hamilton, who became a cellist player for the Tacoma Philharmonic Orchestra, and Marion Fox, who also later joined the Oregon Symphony as a violinist. Harp player Frances Pozzi and Earl Rankin later became staff artists for KOIN
and KGW
, respectively.
With Jacob Avshalomov
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
in the United States, established in 1924 as the Portland Junior Symphony (PJS). Now based in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, the orchestra's origin dates back to 1910 when music teacher Mary V. Dodge began playing music for local children in Burns
Burns, Oregon
Burns is a city in and the county seat of Harney County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 2,806.-History:Burns was established in the early 1880s and incorporated upon Harney county's creation in 1889...
. Dodge purchased instruments for the children and organized the orchestra which would become known as the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra. After touring throughout the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Oregon, including a performance at the Oregon State Fair
Oregon State Fair
-National Register of Historic Places:The state fairground is the site of two historic buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Oregon State Fair Stadium and Poultry Building Ensemble. The 1919 horse stadium and the 1921 poultry building were added to the register in 2002...
in Salem
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
, the orchestra disbanded in 1918 when Dodge moved to Portland. There, Dodge opened a violin school and became music director of the Irvington School Orchestra. Hoping to create a permanent youth symphony, Dodge approached Jacques Gershkovitch
Jacques Gershkovitch
Jacques Gershkovitch was a Russian conductor and musician who became the first music director of the Portland Junior Symphony...
in 1924 to lead the orchestra as music director of the Portland Junior Symphony. The ensemble performed for the first time in 1925, and by the 1930s PJS concerts were being broadcast nationally. Following Gershkovitch's death in 1953, alumnus Jacob Avshalomov
Jacob Avshalomov
Jacob Avshalomov is a Jewish American composer and conductor.-Early life and education:Jacob Avshalomov was born on March 28, 1919 in Tsingtao, China. His father was Aaron Avshalomov, the Siberian-born composer known for "oriental musical materials cast in western forms and media"; his mother was...
became the orchestra's music director. The ensemble's name was changed to the Portland Youth Philharmonic in 1978.
PYP has had five conductors and music directors during its history: Gershkovitch (1924–1953), Avshalomov (1954–1995), Huw Edwards
Huw Edwards (conductor)
Huw Edwards is a Welsh conductor and the current music director of Portland, Oregon's Columbia Symphony Orchestra and Olympia, Washington's Olympia Symphony Orchestra. Edwards' conducting career began at age seventeen when he became music director of the Maidstone Opera Company in England...
(1995–2002), Mei-Ann Chen
Mei-Ann Chen
Mei-Ann Chen is a Taiwanese American conductor currently serving as music director of the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. She has been described as "one of the most dynamic young conductors in America". Encouraged by her parents, Chen began playing violin and piano at a...
(2002–2007), and professional clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
ist David Hattner (2008–present). Today the Portland Youth Philharmonic Association consists of four ensembles, including the Philharmonic Orchestra, Conservatory Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and the Young String Ensemble. Participating musicians range in age from seven to twenty-two years old and represent dozens of schools within the Portland metropolitan area
Portland metropolitan area
The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area , also known as the Portland metropolitan area or Greater Portland, is an urban area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered around the city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S...
and other surrounding communities.
Mary V. Dodge and the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra
Mary V. Dodge (birth nameName at birth
The name at birth is the name a child is given by his or her parents, according to a generally universal custom, and legal requirement. What happens subsequently about this name has a substantial cultural component....
Mary B. Thompson) was born in Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
in 1876. At five years old, her father died, causing her and her sisters to be placed in an orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
while her mother finished nursing school
Nursing school
A nursing school is a type of educational institution, or part thereof, providing education and training to become a fully qualified nurse. The nature of nursing education and nursing qualifications varies considerably across the world.-United Kingdom:...
. Dodge became interested in music while attending a Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, and later became a musician and teacher in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. After Mary moved to Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, where her aunt owned a boarding house
Boarding house
A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...
, she met and married her husband, civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
and double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
player Mott Dodge. Soon after they married, Mott was transferred to Harney County
Harney County, Oregon
-National protected areas:*Malheur National Forest *Malheur National Wildlife Refuge*Ochoco National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 7,609 people, 3,036 households, and 2,094 families residing in the county. The population density was 1 people per square mile...
for a work project. In 1910, they settled in Burns
Burns, Oregon
Burns is a city in and the county seat of Harney County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 2,806.-History:Burns was established in the early 1880s and incorporated upon Harney county's creation in 1889...
in an engineering camp known as the "Boston tents". Mary and Mott had one child, Glen, who learned from his mother how to play the fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
starting at a young age. A classically trained violinist with a "love of children and... a deeply democratic view about making music", Dodge began teaching local children how to play string instrument
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
s, first in resident tents then in a photography studio. With assistance from parents and a professional flautist
Flautist
A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
from Italy, who taught the children how to play wind instrument
Wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
s and conducted, Dodge assembled a small orchestra. According to former violin student Ruth Saunders, "All of the sighing, tooting and drumming soon made the citizens aware that something was going on, and due to her powers of persuasion, they found themselves devoting their time, talents, money and children to the creation of the Sagebrush Orchestra."
The orchestra's first concert was held in 1912 at Tonawama Hall in Burns. With funds provided by rancher Bill Hanley, lawyer and artist Charles Erskine Scott Wood
Charles Erskine Scott Wood
Charles Erskine Scott Wood was an author, civil libertarian, soldier, and attorney. He is best known as the author of the 1927 satirical bestseller, Heavenly Discourse.-Early life:...
, and additional Burns businessmen, Dodge purchased musical instrument
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
s for the children and expanded the orchestra to thirty to thirty-five members. By 1915, the orchestra was touring throughout Eastern Oregon
Eastern Oregon
Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity, thus the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost counties in the state; in other contexts, it includes...
on a Chautauqua
Chautauqua
Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...
circuit. With $2,000 in funds raised by the aforementioned businessmen, the ensemble visited Western Oregon
Western Oregon
Western Oregon is a geographical term that is generally taken to mean the part of Oregon within 120 miles of the Oregon Coast, on the west side of the crest of the Cascade Range. The term is applied somewhat loosely however, and is sometimes taken to exclude the southwestern areas of the state,...
in September 1916 and performed seven concerts within two days. Now known as the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra, the ensemble won $100 at the Oregon State Fair
Oregon State Fair
-National Register of Historic Places:The state fairground is the site of two historic buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Oregon State Fair Stadium and Poultry Building Ensemble. The 1919 horse stadium and the 1921 poultry building were added to the register in 2002...
in Salem
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
and performed several concerts in Portland, including one at the Imperial Hotel
Imperial Hotel (Portland, Oregon)
The Hotel Vintage Plaza, formerly the Imperial Hotel and The Plaza Hotel, is a historic hotel building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. It was completed in 1894 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985....
and one for opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink
Ernestine Schumann-Heink
Ernestine Schumann-Heink was a celebrated Austrian, later American, operatic contralto, noted for the size, beauty, tonal richness, flexibility and wide range of her voice.- Early life:...
at the Portland Hotel
Portland Hotel
The Portland Hotel was a late-19th-century hotel in Portland, Oregon, United States that once occupied the city block on which Pioneer Courthouse Square now stands. It closed in 1951 after 61 years of operation.-History:...
. During the symphony's week-long tour, one Oregonian reporter wrote: "The journey of the little people is considered one of the finest exhibitions of community spirit ever shown in this state." Schumann-Heink planned to support the orchestra's efforts to tour, and promised to host a benefit concert the following year. However, the nation's involvement
United States in World War I
The United States was a formal participant in World War I from April 6, 1917 until the war's end in November 1918. Up to that point, the US had remained neutral, though the US had been an important supplier to Britain and other Allied powers...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
interrupted plans for additional tours. The orchestra disbanded in 1918 when Dodge relocated to Portland.
Establishment of the Portland Junior Symphony
Mary initially returned to Portland with Mott for a work transfer, but when the job fell through the couple separated and Mary remained in Portland. Now a single woman, Dodge changed her name to Mary V. Dodge, the "V" standing for "violin". She opened a violin school and became music director of the Irvington Grade School orchestra. With the hope of creating a permanent youth symphony, Dodge began hosting rehearsals in her attic. However, due to gender inequalityGender inequality
Gender inequality refers to disparity between individuals due to gender. Gender is constructed both socially through social interactions as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; binary gender...
in the United States at the time, Dodge knew that a professional male conductor would need to lead the orchestra.
Dodge approached Jacques Gershkovitch
Jacques Gershkovitch
Jacques Gershkovitch was a Russian conductor and musician who became the first music director of the Portland Junior Symphony...
, a Russian immigrant in Portland guest conducting the Portland Symphony (which would later become the Oregon Symphony
Oregon Symphony
The Oregon Symphony is an American orchestra based in Portland, Oregon. Founded as the Portland Symphony Society in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States...
), about the orchestra after seeing him conduct. Though Gershkovitch first explained that he did not teach children, Dodge insisted that he come listen to the youth ensemble she had assembled. One orchestra member recalled: "I well remember the excitement of that night when Gershkovitch climbed the stairs to Mary Dodge's attic, where we had assembled to play for him. He listened as we played our hearts out. He applauded us and said that if we got the missing instruments, he would take us on." In an attempt to hand over the baton
Baton (conducting)
A baton is a stick that is used by conductors primarily to exaggerate and enhance the manual and bodily movements associated with directing an ensemble of musicians. They are generally made of a light wood, fiberglass or carbon fiber which is tapered to a grip shaped like a pear, drop, cylinder...
to Gershkovitch, he simply stated "I take." Initially, Dodge remained as associate director of the orchestra; she also assisted with sectionals, appointed a board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
, and designated the ensemble as the Portland Junior Symphony Orchestra in 1924. The original board of directors established the mission of the orchestra: "to encourage appreciation and rendition of orchestral music by young people, to give public symphonic and popular concerts, to discover and develop latent talent among the children of Portland." Six years later, Dodge resigned while the orchestra was financially sound. She continued to teach and became increasingly dedicated to a scientific approach to bowing
Bow (music)
In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
. Dodge died in 1954.
Jacques Gershkovitch (1924–1953)
Born in 1884 to a JewishJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
family in Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Gershkovitch grew up listening to chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
and was sent to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in his late teens to study at the Imperial Conservatory
Saint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.-History:...
. Gershkovitch arrived with "17 rubles in his pocket and his flute under his arm", where he auditioned and was awarded a scholarship. There he learned from respected Russian composers such as Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...
, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
and Nikolai Tcherepnin
Nikolai Tcherepnin
Nikolai Nikolayevich Tcherepnin was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in Saint Petersburg and studied under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory...
, and completed coursework in opera and ballet production. In 1913 he graduated with honors in flute
Western concert flute
The Western concert flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, or flute player....
and conducting, and was awarded the Schubert Scholarship for a year of study under German conductor Arthur Nikisch
Arthur Nikisch
Arthur Nikisch ; 12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London and - most importantly - Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Liszt...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. However, World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
forced Gershkovitch to return to Irkutsk and enlist
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
in the military. Gershkovitch began his conducting career as head of the Imperial Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
's military symphony orchestra, a position he held through the revolution. In 1918 Gershkovitch married in Irkutsk and established a successful fine arts conservatory and symphony orchestra, which continued under the Bolshevik regime. Gershkovitch and his wife left Russia for China in 1921, where they befriended composer Aaron Avshalomov
Aaron Avshalomov
Aaron Avshalomov was a Russian-born Jewish composer.Born into a Mountain Jewish family, he was sent for medical studies to Zürich. After the October Revolution, in 1917, which made further studies in Europe impossible, his family sent him to the United States...
. Ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
Anna Pavlova offered Gershkovitch an assistant conductor position with her orchestra, which was touring throughout the Orient
Orient
The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...
. Gershkovitch settled in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
to undertake the newly-organized Tokyo Symphony Orchestra until the Great Kantō earthquake
1923 Great Kanto earthquake
The struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...
of 1923 "disorganized all the business and musical interests of they city". The couple fled Japan and arrived in San Francisco in November 1923. The couple eventually made their way to Portland in 1924; it was here that Gershkovitch was approached by Dodge to lead the Portland Junior Symphony. Gershkovitch taught flute and conducted the Ellison-White Conservatory's student orchestra, at the time directed by Jacob Avshalomov
Jacob Avshalomov
Jacob Avshalomov is a Jewish American composer and conductor.-Early life and education:Jacob Avshalomov was born on March 28, 1919 in Tsingtao, China. His father was Aaron Avshalomov, the Siberian-born composer known for "oriental musical materials cast in western forms and media"; his mother was...
, until PJS duties required his full attention.
The symphony performed for the first time on February 14, 1925 at the Lincoln High School Auditorium (which later became Portland State University
Portland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
's Lincoln Hall
Lincoln Hall (Portland, Oregon)
Lincoln Hall is a building containing a theatre and classrooms at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. It was originally home to Lincoln High School.-History:...
), playing two movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
of Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's Unfinished Symphony
Symphony No. 8 (Schubert)
Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor , commonly known as the "Unfinished Symphony" , D.759, was started in 1822 but left with only two movements known to be complete, even though Schubert would live for another six years. A scherzo, nearly completed in piano score but with only two pages...
. Legend says that at the ensemble's first rehearsal Gershkovitch introduced the composition and stated "You play, or I keel you" in his heavy Russian accent. Concert attendees reportedly surged the stage after the debut concert to congratulate the musicians, Gershkovitch and Dodge, who was present and called to the stage. One reviewer for the Oregon Sunday Journal wrote the following day that the "audience that almost filled the auditorium to capacity broke into storm upon storm of applause". According to Ronald Russell, author of A New West to Explore (1938), the audience "had experienced a new emotional thrill, and forthwith became strong advocates and supporters of the junior symphony cause."
In spring 1924 the orchestra gained national attention by performing at the National Federation of Music Clubs
National Federation of Music Clubs
The National Federation of Music Clubs was founded in 1898, became an NGO member of the United Nations in 1949, and was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1982. NFMC is a non-profit philanthropic music organization whose goal is to promote American music, performers, and composers through quality...
convention in Portland. The Sunday Oregonian reported that convention attendees were "so deeply impressed that they declared it unhesitatingly the most wonderful organization of its kind in the entire country." The second season premiered to a capacity audience on November 25, 1925 with the 75-member strong ensemble performing Mozart's Symphony No. 40
Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV. 550, in 1788. It is sometimes referred to as the "Great G minor symphony," to distinguish it from the "Little G minor symphony," No. 25. The two are the only minor key symphonies Mozart wrote....
in its entirety along with "In the Village" from Ippolitov-Ivanov
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov was a Russian composer, conductor and teacher.- Biography :...
's Caucasian Sketches
Caucasian Sketches
Caucasian Sketches is a pair of orchestral suites written in 1894 and 1896 by the Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov. The Caucasian Sketches is the most often performed of his compositions and can be heard frequently on classical radio stations. The final movement of the Caucasian Sketches,...
, the waltz from Rebikov
Vladimir Rebikov
Vladimir Ivanovich Rebikov was a late romantic 20th century Russian composer and pianist.-Biography:Rebikov began studying the piano with his mother. His sisters also were pianists. He graduated from the Moscow University faculty of philology. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory with N....
's The Christmas Tree and the march from Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's opera Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
.
Early in the organization's history, the Portland Junior Symphony consisted of a full symphony orchestra, a chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, as well as a ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
unit. According to Wither Youth (1935), approximately 350 young artists participated in these groups each season (around 100 in the orchestra, 150 in the chorus, and 100 in the ballet). Membership was granted on "merit, ability, seriousness and interest", and there were no tuition
Tuition
Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
fees for participation (this has since changed). Orchestra members were also encouraged to take private lessons. The minimum schedule for participants included two rehearsal
Rehearsal
For other uses, see Rehearsal or Dress rehearsal A rehearsal is a preparatory event in music and theatre that is performed before the official public performance, as a form of practice, and to ensure that all details of the performance are adequately prepared and coordinated for professional...
s during each week of the eight-month season along with dress rehearsals prior to performances. Three or four concerts were presented each season, many at Portland Public Auditorium (now known as Keller Auditorium
Keller Auditorium
Keller Auditorium, formerly known as the Portland Municipal Auditorium, the Portland Public Auditorium, and the Portland Civic Auditorium, is a performing arts center located on Clay Street in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts...
). The organization was sustained financially through concert admission and donations—instruments, funds towards scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
s and the general endowment, and music for the association's library were also accepted to ensure longevity.
Gershkovitch, known for his discipline and high performance standards, conducted the orchestra for twenty-nine years, gaining national attention for the ensemble and pioneering the youth orchestra movement. By the 1930s, PJS concerts were broadcast nationally on the CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
. In 1956 and 1958 both NBC and CBS transmitted broadcasts of the orchestra's programs across the United States, and three transcribed programs were broadcast overseas from Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
in Washington, D.C. Gershkovitch was also responsible for adding a Preparatory Orchestra (later renamed the Conservatory Orchestra) due to increased membership. Gershkovitch tried to incorporate at least one American composition in each concert. He had a distinctive personality and way with words, using expressions such as "More nicely, can't you more?" and "Debussy is beauty, French beauty" (as recollected in one former student's diary). For twenty-five years, David Campbell served as Master of Ceremonies
Master of Ceremonies
A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
for the Children's Concerts since Gershkovitch "never gained a command of English sufficient enough for public use". Gershkovitch's often-quoted philosophy was that he did "not teach music" but, but rather he taught "young people through music". Though there were times he desired to conduct professional ensembles, Gershkovitch's primary concern was educating the youth. Apart from music education, Gershkovitch stressed the importance of proper conduct, manners, and "values in life and art" in order to build character. Following Gershkovitch's death in 1953, guest conductors lead the orchestra for its thirtieth season—one conductor was Jacob Avshalomov, a Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
teacher and PJS alumnus who had studied under Gershkovitch while a student at Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
(1939–1941).
Jacob Avshalomov (1954–1995)
Jacob AvshalomovJacob Avshalomov
Jacob Avshalomov is a Jewish American composer and conductor.-Early life and education:Jacob Avshalomov was born on March 28, 1919 in Tsingtao, China. His father was Aaron Avshalomov, the Siberian-born composer known for "oriental musical materials cast in western forms and media"; his mother was...
was born on March 28, 1919 in Tsingtao
Qingdao
' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...
, China. His father was Aaron Avshalomov
Aaron Avshalomov
Aaron Avshalomov was a Russian-born Jewish composer.Born into a Mountain Jewish family, he was sent for medical studies to Zürich. After the October Revolution, in 1917, which made further studies in Europe impossible, his family sent him to the United States...
, the Siberian-born composer known for "oriental musical materials cast in western forms and media", and mother was from San Francisco. Jacob received musical instruction from his father at a young age. At age eight, Avshalomov visited Portland from China with his parents, who were guests of Gershkovitch for several months in 1927. Aaron Avshalomov had become friends with Gershkovitch in the Orient (when Gershkovitch and his wife met Aaron, Jacob was three years old). However, because they did not hold permanent visas the family returned to China. Jacob graduated from British and American schools before age fifteen, then worked as a factory supervisor in Tientsin, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
over a span of four years. Avshalomov was also active in sports and won the diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
championship of North China. In 1937, Avshalomov assisted his father in Shanghai with ballet production and working on scores
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
. He then enlisted with a British volunteer corps following Japan's invasion of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, and eventually returned to the United States with his mother in December 1937. Avshalomov spent a year in Los Angeles, followed by two in Portland, Oregon, then two at the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he lived in London, where he conducted a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's St John Passion.
Known for encouraging international tours, Avshalomov became the orchestra's second conductor in 1954. During his forty-year tenure Avshalomov produced several recordings, several of which included pieces commissioned by the orchestra, making PJS the first known recording orchestra in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. He led the ensemble on its first international tour in 1970. The orchestra became known as the Portland Youth Philharmonic in 1978. 1984 marked the orchestra's sixtieth anniversary as well as Avshalomov's thirtieth year as conductor. Avshalomov retired in 1995 after an estimated 640 concerts and 10,000 auditions.
Huw Edwards (1995–2002)
Huw EdwardsHuw Edwards (conductor)
Huw Edwards is a Welsh conductor and the current music director of Portland, Oregon's Columbia Symphony Orchestra and Olympia, Washington's Olympia Symphony Orchestra. Edwards' conducting career began at age seventeen when he became music director of the Maidstone Opera Company in England...
, born in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
, moved with his parents to England and sang in choirs as a child. He witnessed his first opera (Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
) at eleven years old when his parents took him to the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
. Seven years later, he was on that same podium conducting W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
and Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
's operetta H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
. Edwards has been conducting since age seventeen, when he became music director of the Maidstone Opera Company in England, a position he held for six years. Edwards attended the University of Surrey
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...
, where he conducted the college orchestra along with an ensemble that he formed on his own. At twenty-three years old, he won a conducting competition which sent him to the University of Surrey
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...
in England and Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
in Dallas, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Edwards moved to the Pacific Northwest after he held a lecturer position at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where he was also a doctoral candidate.
Edwards become music director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic in 1995. In 1997 he was honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for his programming. Edwards also made five recordings during his tenure and led the orchestra on two international tours: Canada in 1998 and Australia/New Zealand in 2000. PYP represented the United States at the Banff International Festival of Youth Orchestras in 1998. Edwards established a peer mentoring
Peer mentoring
Peer mentoring is a form of mentorship that takes place in learning environments such as schools, usually between an older more experienced student and a new student. Peer mentors should not be confused with prefects...
program which partnered orchestra musicians with low-income students with little access to music education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
. From 1998 to 2005, he was a faculty member at the Marrowstone Music Festival. In 2002 Edwards left PYP for a position with the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, which he also held until 2005. Edwards was appointed music director of the Olympia Symphony Orchestra in 2003.
Mei-Ann Chen (2002–2007)
Native to TaiwanTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Mei-Ann Chen
Mei-Ann Chen
Mei-Ann Chen is a Taiwanese American conductor currently serving as music director of the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. She has been described as "one of the most dynamic young conductors in America". Encouraged by her parents, Chen began playing violin and piano at a...
wanted to be a conductor since she was ten years old. She began playing violin and piano starting at a young age and collected batons
Baton (conducting)
A baton is a stick that is used by conductors primarily to exaggerate and enhance the manual and bodily movements associated with directing an ensemble of musicians. They are generally made of a light wood, fiberglass or carbon fiber which is tapered to a grip shaped like a pear, drop, cylinder...
, believing that "different pieces needed different kinds of batons". In 1989 Chen attended a concert in Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
by the American Youth Orchestra, a touring ensemble of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
's New England Conservatory. The day following the concert, Chen played for conductor Benjamin Zander
Benjamin Zander
Benjamin Zander is an American conductor from the United Kingdom.-External links:* *-Interviews:* * * *...
in a closed basement hotel bar and was offered a scholarship immediately. She performed with the American Youth Orchestra before being invited to attend the Walnut Hill School
Walnut Hill School
Walnut Hill School for the Arts is a private boarding school for the arts located in Natick, Massachusetts.-Boarding School:Walnut Hill was founded in 1893 as a college preparatory school for women and a feeder school to Wellesley College. It became coeducational and arts-focused in the late 1970s...
, a preparatory school linked to the New England Conservatory, two months later at age sixteen. For more than three years Chen lived with a couple in Boston she referred to as her "American parents" (Mark Churchill and Marylou Speaker Churchill, the latter of which was once a member of the Portland Junior Symphony). Chen continued her undergraduate and graduate work at the Conservatory, and became the first person to graduate from the institution with a double master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in conducting and violin performance. Chen remained in Boston for nine years until she attended the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
to obtain a Doctor of Musical Arts
Doctor of Musical Arts
The Doctor of Musical Arts degree is a doctoral academic degree in music. The D.M.A. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy. The D.M.A...
degree in conducting.
Chen became PYP's fourth conductor in 2002 after being selected by a committee of "musically inclined" parents, a member of the orchestra, and representatives of the Oregon Symphony and Portland Opera
Portland Opera
Portland Opera is an American opera company based at The Hampton Opera Center in Portland, Oregon. Its mainstage performances take place in the Keller Auditorium, while the Portland Opera Studio Theater at the Hampton center is used for performances of chamber operas...
. She conducted both the Philharmonic ensemble as well as the Conservatory Orchestra. During her five-year tenure with the organization, PYP debuted at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, received its third ASCAP award in 2004 for innovating programming, and began collaborating with the Oregon Symphony (Chen was the ensemble's assistant conductor from 2003 to 2005) and Chamber Music Northwest
Chamber Music Northwest
Chamber Music Northwest is an American non-profit organization in Portland, Oregon that is dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. The organization's main presentation is an annual five-week summer festival that occurs during the months of June and July...
. In April 2005 Chen became the first woman to win the Malko Competition
Malko Competition
-Recipients:...
, the "world's most prestigious prize" for young conductors. She also won the Taki Concordia Fellowship in 2007, an award established by Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is a professional American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland.In September 2007, Maestra Marin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the Orchestra’s twelfth music director, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra.The BSO Board...
music director Marin Alsop
Marin Alsop
Marin Alsop is an American conductor and violinist. She is the music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.In 2012, Alsop will replace Yan Pascal Tortelier as principal conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra....
to support "promising" female conductors. Chen was presented the Sunburst Award from Young Audiences for her contribution to music education and was named "Educator of the Week" by KKCW
KKCW
KKCW is a commercial broadcast radio station licensed to Beaverton, Oregon and serves the greater Portland metropolitan area. The transmitter is located in Portland's west hills. The station's format is adult contemporary music. KKCW airs Christmas music from mid-November through Christmas...
.
While conductor of the Philharmonic, Chen set up a box in her office so that students could leave notes for her about themselves. One musician of the orchestra felt that Chen was "kind of formal" during rehearsal but felt "like a big sister" once practice ended. Chen has been described as a "firecracker: small, bright and full of ka-boom", and her enthusiasm at times caused her to lose her breath. One board member of the organization praised Chen's attitude and felt that her lack of ego was a "rare quality in top symphony performers".
Chen turned down a position with the Oregon Symphony to continue work at PYP. In 2007 she accompanied the orchestra on an international tour to Asia, where her parents saw her conduct for the first time. The Philharmonic offered a total of six performances between June 29 and July 17 in Kaohsiung, Tainan
Tainan
Tainan City is a city in southern Taiwan. It is the fifth largest after New Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, and Taipei. It was formerly a provincial city, and in 2010, the provincial city merged with the adjacent Tainan County to form a single special municipality. Tainan faces the Taiwan Strait in...
and Taipei, Taiwan as well as in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
and Ulsan
Ulsan
Ulsan , officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh largest metropolis with a population of over 1.1 million. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring Busan to the south and facing Gyeongju to the north and the Sea of Japan to the east.Ulsan is the...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. Though Chen initially thought she would remain with the Philharmonic for ten years, she left in 2007 to become assistant conductor of the Atlanta Symphony. She said of her departure: "The musicians at PYP have become my kids. When I look back, these five years will always be the most memorable time of my musical career." Guest conductors during the 2007–2008 season included Ken Selden, director of orchestral studies at Portland State University, former Seattle Symphony
Seattle Symphony
The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra's season runs from September through July, and serves as the pit orchestra for most productions of the Seattle Opera in addition to its own concerts...
conductor Alastair Willis, along with former PYP conductors Huw Edwards and Chen herself.
David Hattner (2008–present)
David Hattner was chosen from a field of candidates to be the conductor and music director of PYP in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, Hattner was a clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
student of Robert Marcellus
Robert Marcellus
Robert Marcellus was an American classical clarinetist and teacher. Marcellus is best known for his long tenure as principal clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra.-Biography:...
. Before joining PYP, he had conducted Camerata Atlantica, the Garden State Philharmonic Orchestra and the Oklahoma Chamber Ensemble, and guest conducted the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra
Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra
The Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra is a community orchestra group in the New York City metropolitan area.Founded in 1973, the orchestra consists of a mix of amateur, semi-professional, and professional musicians who play concerts throughout the year at the Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity in the...
, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Sospeso, International Contemporary Ensemble
International Contemporary Ensemble
The International Contemporary Ensemble is a contemporary classical music ensemble of thirty chamber musicians, including strings, woodwinds, piano, percussion, voice and composers, which enables great flexibility of programming...
, and the Massapequa Philharmonic Orchestra. Hattner also participated in the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen three times, where he studied with Murry Sidlin and David Zinman
David Zinman
David Zinman is an American conductor and violinist.After early violin studies at the Oberlin Conservatory, Zinman studied theory and composition at the University of Minnesota and took up conducting at Tanglewood...
. He has been the principal clarinet with the Cascade Music Festival Orchestra in Bend
Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...
, the Key West Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Opera Theater, and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. Hattner made his Oregon Symphony
Oregon Symphony
The Oregon Symphony is an American orchestra based in Portland, Oregon. Founded as the Portland Symphony Society in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States...
debut in January 2011. In addition to conducting and clarinet performance, Hattner has participated in multi-media work with silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
both nationally and internationally. PYP began offering Chamber Orchestra concerts during Hattner's tenure.
Today the Portland Youth Philharmonic consists of four ensembles: the Portland Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, the Portland Youth Conservatory Orchestra, the Portland Youth Wind Ensemble, and the Young String Ensemble. Each group is selected in open auditions in the spring and fall and is highly selective.
Performances
Having conducted ballet repertory previously, in 1934 Gershkovitch was approached by Willam ChristensenWillam Christensen
Willam Farr Christensen was an American ballet dancer, choreographer and founder of the San Francisco Ballet and Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is known for bringing the complete version of the Russian ballet The Nutcracker to the United States, as well as staging the first American...
of the Portland Creative Theatre and School of Music, Drama, and Dance to collaborate. Gershkovitch suggested that the Portland Junior Symphony and the ballet studio perform portions of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
as part of Portland's annual Rose Festival
Portland Rose Festival
The Portland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held during the month of June in Portland, Oregon. It is organized by the volunteer non-profit Portland Rose Festival Association with the purpose of promoting the Portland region...
. 5,000 spectators attended the Rose Queen coronation ceremony at Civic Auditorium to witness the production, which featured 100 ballerinas and dancers. The production was deemed a success for all involved and established Christensen as "Portland's leading ballet teacher". Gershkovitch and Christensen collaborated at the Rose Festival the following year (1935), performing Coppélia
Coppélia
Coppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann , and Die Puppe...
twice to enthusiastic crowds.
In 1998, PYP was the sole representative of the United States at the Banff International Festival of Youth Orchestras in Canada. The orchestra's Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
debut was in 2004. In October 2010, PYP returned to Burns to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the establishment of the Sagebrush Symphony. A special performance honored Mary Dodge, the history of the organization, and music educators with music by Howard Hanson
Howard Hanson
Howard Harold Hanson was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American classical music. As director for 40 years of the Eastman School of Music, he built a high-quality school and provided opportunities for commissioning and performing American music...
and Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
.
International tours
PJS made its first international tour to England, Italy and Portugal in 1970. Subsequent international tours included Japan in 1979, Austria and Yugoslavia in 1984, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany and Hungary in 1989, Japan and South Korea in 1992, and Germany in 1994. Prior to the 1984 visit to Europe, the orchestra celebrated its sixtieth anniversary by performing at Avery Fisher HallAvery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
alongside the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
. The concert consisted of three pieces performed by PYP under the conduction of Avshalomov ("Dance of the Clowns" from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's opera The Maid of Orleans, the first movement of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, and the fourth movement of Avshalomov's own symphony, The Oregon), a performance by the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
's leadership, and finally Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet (Tchaikovsky)
Romeo and Juliet is an orchestral work composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It is styled an Overture-Fantasy, and is based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. Like other composers such as Berlioz and Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky was deeply inspired by Shakespeare and wrote works based on The...
conducted by Bernstein with a combined ensemble 210 musicians strong. The orchestra traveled to Australia and New Zealand in 2000 under the leadership of Huw Edwards, performing Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
's Symphony No. 10
Symphony No. 10 (Shostakovich)
The Symphony No. 10 in E minor by Dmitri Shostakovich was premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under Yevgeny Mravinsky on 17 December 1953, following the death of Joseph Stalin in March that year...
. In 2007, PYP performed six concerts throughout Taiwan (Kaohsiung, Tainan, and Taipei) and South Korea (Ulsan and Seoul).
Awards and recognitions
In 1993, ASCAP honored PYP with its award for "Adventuresome Programming of Contemporary Music". ASCAP awarded PYP with second and third awards in 1997 and 2004, respectively. In 2010, PYP received the Oregon Symphony's Patty Vemer Excellence in Music Education Award. Created in memory of Patty Vemer, once the director of music education at the Oregon Symphony, the award "honors those who have made significant contributions to music education and their community and who have served as an inspiration to their students". This marked the first year the award went to an organization.Alumni
Notable alumni of the orchestra include Robert MannRobert Mann
Robert Mann is a musician, composer, and conductor.He was a founding member and first violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet for 52 years, and mentor to younger generations of string musicians....
, who helped found the Juilliard String Quartet
Juilliard String Quartet
The Juilliard String Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York. The original members were violinists Robert Mann and Robert Koff, violist Raphael Hillyer, and cellist Arthur Winograd; Current members are Joseph Lin and Ronald Copes violinists,...
, and Eugene Linden
Eugene Linden (conductor)
Eugene Linden was an American conductor. He conducted the first public performance of the Tacoma Philharmonic Orchestra in March 1934 and directed the Seattle Symphony from 1948 to 1950. He is also credited as founder of the now defunct Pacific Northwest Grand Opera Company.-Background:Eugene...
, founder and conductor of the Tacoma
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
Philharmonic Orchestra. Additional students of Gershkovitch that later became professional musicians include Jesse Kregal, Barry Lamont, Beverly LeBeck, Frederic Rothchild, Warren Signor, and Jacob Avshalomov himself.
Other professional musicians that were once part of the orchestra include Glenn Reeves, later a principal violist for the Oregon Symphony, Brian Hamilton, who became a cellist player for the Tacoma Philharmonic Orchestra, and Marion Fox, who also later joined the Oregon Symphony as a violinist. Harp player Frances Pozzi and Earl Rankin later became staff artists for KOIN
KOIN
KOIN is the CBS affiliate television station serving the Portland metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located in Portland, Oregon, United States; it broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 40...
and KGW
KGW
KGW is an NBC affiliate television station serving the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. The station broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 8, from its transmitter in Portland. It also produces segments and serves as the Portland bureau for Northwest Cable News , which is also owned by...
, respectively.
Recordings
- Oregon Composers (1994, AlbanyAlbany RecordsAlbany Records is an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987, and is based in Albany, New York.-External links:**...
), conducted by Jacob Avshalomov - Portland Youth Philharmonic: Live in Concert (1996, Portland Youth Philharmonic), conducted by Huw Edwards
- Fountain of Youth (March 27, 1998, Portland Youth Philharmonic), conducted by Edwards, recorded live at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
- The Territory Beyond (2000, Portland Youth Philharmonic), conducted by Edwards
- Reaching New Heights (2002, Portland Youth Philharmonic), conducted by Edwards
With Jacob Avshalomov
- Portland Youth Philharmonic (1992, CRIComposers Recordings, Inc.Composers Recordings, Inc. was an American record label dedicated to the recording of contemporary classical music by American composers. It was founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore, and Oliver Daniel, and based in New York City....
) - Music by Avshalomov, Harris & Ward (1994, CRI)
- Jacob Avshalomov: Symphony of Songs, etc. (1995, Albany)
- Avshalomov: Fabled Cities (1998, Albany)
See also
- American classical musicAmerican classical musicAmerican classical music is music written in the United States but in the European classical music tradition. In many cases, beginning in the 18th century, it has been influenced by American folk music styles; and from the 20th century to the present day it has often been influenced by folk, jazz,...
- List of symphony orchestras in the United States
- List of youth orchestras in the United States
- Music education for young childrenMusic education for young childrenMusic education for young children is an educational program introducing children in a playful manner to singing, speech, music, motion and organology. It is a subarea of music education.- Forms and activities :...
- Music education in the United StatesMusic education in the United StatesMusic education in the United States can be traced through historical documentation to the colonial era. Among the Native Americans prior to European and African settlement, music education was entirely oral.- History :...