Contact: Allison Griffin
Public Relations Associate
503-416-6347
February 23, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … A line-up of some of Portland’s most talented performers and national Grammy award-winning artists with special local connections will be featured during the Oregon Symphony’s 2007-2008 Pops season.
The season opens on Oct. 6-8, 2007, with Portland saxophonist Patrick Lamb and his 23 member band paying tribute to Ray Charles. Praised as “bringing together the very best of a rich and vibrant Portland music scene” by internetjock Bob “The Big B.A.” Ancheta,Lamb debuted his NW Tribute to Ray Charles album at the 2005 Waterfront Blues Festival. Lamb’s all-star band joins Guest Conductor Charles Floyd and the Oregon Symphony to perform hits from his album including “I’ve Got a Woman,” “Georgia On My Mind” and “Let The Good Times Roll.”
Harold Lloyd’s classic silent film Safety Last will be featured Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 24-26), complete with live accompaniment by the Symphony and led by Guest Conductor Jeff Tyzik. Portland performance troupe MarchFourth Marching Band will open the show with its unique brand of lively music, dancing, stilt-walking and colorful costumes. Voted “Best Local Band” by the Willamette Week, they have appeared at numerous events, including Portland Institute of Contemporary Art’s (PICA) TBA Festival and the Waterfront Blues Festival. The band was described as “Oregon’s favorite marching band” when featured on Oregon Art Beat, “They’ve captured the hearts of thousands of Oregonians who have seen their spectacular fun-filled performances.”
The 2007-2008 Holiday Pops Concert on Dec. 15-17 features the return of Yuletide Spectacular with Guest Conductor John Morris Russell. This Portland holiday tradition is an all-local production, and will once again include local actor Scott Coopwood’s retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, in addition to festive sets, lavish costumes, show-stopping choreography, traditional holiday music and talented soloists.
“Legends of Swing” on January 26-28, 2008, will showcase some of Nelson Riddle’s most memorable orchestral arrangements of the ’40s and ’50s for greats like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and more. Under the baton of Guest Conductor Michael Berkowitz, the Symphony will pay tribute to Riddle with songs like “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “Unforgettable.”
On February 23-25, 2008, Grammy-Award winning group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones will take the stage with the Symphony under the direction of Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda for an evening of virtuoso musicianship and improvisational mastery in the style of bluegrass, fusion and jazz. A Portland favorite, the group has performed twice at the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival, the Oregon Zoo Summer Concert Series, and will perform in conjuction with the 2008 Portland Jazz Festival. They have won eight Grammy Awards, and their most recent album, The Hidden Land, recently won for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
Blues divas Marcia Ball, a “triple threat as formidable musician,
singer and entertainer” (Pulse!); Shemekia Copeland, an “extraordinary
talent… and true Blues diva (Billboard); and Bettye LaVette,
a “voice overflowing with passion (NY Times), will share
their unique blends of the blues with Portland audiences on March 15-17,
2008, for “Women in Blues.”
On April 19-21, 2008, the Pops series concludes with the return of Laureate
Associate Conductor Norman Leyden. Clarinet in hand, Leyden will conduct
a dazzling program of unforgettable songs from Broadway and Hollywood with
music of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein and more.
Portland vocalist Susannah Mars will reunite with Leyden for the program.
Mars has been honored with five Portland Drama Critics Awards, four of
which are for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical. According to Oregonian columnist
Margie Boulé, “Mars is one of the best singers in the Northwest;
it’s the emotional presence she brings to every note and every word.”
The Oregon Symphony Pops series presents some of the best songs written over the past century with an emphasis on jazz, blues and classic pop music performed by the brightest stars from both yesterday and today. The series is comprised of seven subscription concerts running from October 2007 through April 2008. Performance times are Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. and Mondays at 7:30 p.m. in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, located in downtown Portland at the corner of S.W. Main and Broadway.
Subscriptions for the Pops series (seven concerts) range from $126 to $511 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office in downtown Portland at 923 S.W. Washington, or charged by phone at (503) 228-1353, (800) 228-7343 weekdays (and Saturdays from September through May) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Subscription orders may also be placed online at www.OrSymphony.org. Pops subscribers receive full subscription benefits, including flexible ticket exchange and advance purchase for Special Events concerts at a 10 percent discount.
Single tickets for Pops and other Symphony concerts will be available to the general public at 9 a.m. on Aug. 17, 2007.
On September 22, 2007, at 7:30 p.m., legendary pianist Van Cliburn will perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, the piece that propelled him to international fame when he won the First International Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto Competition in Russia in 1958.
Laureate Associate Conductor Norman Leyden will celebrate his 90th birthday on October 17 at 7:30 p.m. as he joins his big band to perform the swinging sounds of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and more.
On December 7-9 at 7:30 p.m., the passionate and powerful Northwest Community Gospel Chorus will return for its ninth year of expressive, soul-stirring Christmas music at the Symphony’s Gospel Christmas program. Under the baton of Guest Conductor Charles Floyd, the performance will once again celebrate the joyful sounds of Christmas.
On December 15 at 3 p.m., the Symphony will offer a special Saturday matinee performance of the Yuletide Spectacular program. A wonderful opportunity for families, this Portland holiday tradition will celebrate the wealth of talent found here in Portland, from vocalists to actors—all with the sounds of the Symphony.
Tickets to Special Events concerts go on sale first to Symphony subscribers, who receive first-choice seating and discounts on all Special Events tickets. Tickets for Van Cliburn range from $27 to $106 for subscribers. Tickets for Norman Leyden’s Big Band Birthday range from $23 to $78 for subscribers. Tickets for Gospel Christmas range from $23 to $78 for subscribers. Tickets for the Yuletide Spectacular range from $23 to $79 for subscribers. Additional information on subscriber benefits may be obtained by calling the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office at 503-228-1353, (800) 228-7343 or by visiting the Symphony’s Web site at www.OrSymphony.org.
Single tickets for Special Events and other Symphony concerts will be available to the general public beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 17, 2007.