Introducing Oregon Viola Society’s New Leadership

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Welcome to the Oregon Viola Society (OVS) website!  We’d like to introduce OVS’ new leadership team: Co-Chairs Dr. Sharon Eng and Dorianne Reinhardt Paul, and Shelley Mathewson, Secretary-Treasurer. We also take this opportunity to thank past President, Dr. Miriam English Ward and Secretary-Treasurer, Shauna Keyes for their many years of selfless volunteer service to OVS.

Sharon Eng is a Portland native, alumnus of Portland Youth Philharmonic, PSU and Juilliard (BMus, MMus). She earned a Ph.D in Business and Management focusing in nonprofit organizations from the University of South Australia, led the strings program at the Jakarta (Indonesia) International School, and has an active teaching studio and solo career.

Dorianne Reinhardt Paul works in the field of energy efficiency evaluation. She studied at the Universität Salzburg, Austria, where she attended as many concerts as she possibly could. Originally from the New York City area, she has been a Portlander for over 30 years, and has been an impassioned violist since she picked up the instrument at the age of nine. She currently plays in two local community orchestras – the North Oregon Coast Symphony and the Marylhurst Symphony Orchestra, where she also serves as Music Librarian. She enjoys playing chamber music whenever possible.

Shelley Mathewson is an active freelance musician. She plays in the Portland Opera and Oregon Ballet Theatre Orchestras, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and founded the Delphinium String Quartet.  Native to California, she moved to Portland in the mid-1980s having served as principal violist of the Omaha Symphony. She is an alumnus of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (BMus, MMus).

We are excited to be leading OVS and look forward to organizing viola play-ins, sponsoring master classes, keeping the viola community informed of upcoming events, and eventually sponsoring an annual OVS Viola Scholarship competition. Feel free to email us at [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected], or leave us a note on the OVS Facebook page. We welcome your suggestions and involvement, and look forward to leading the organization onward!

XX Century Chamber Music for Viola and Diverse Instruments

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The Oregon Viola Society will sponsor a unique chamber music concert on Sunday, June 3, 2012, 7:00 p.m. at The Old Church at SW 11th and Clay, Portland. The concert will feature 20th century chamber music written for the viola and diverse instruments. Admission is free; donations will be accepted to help the Oregon Viola Society fund scholarships for young violists.

Twenty-six performers representing some of Portland’s finest professional musicians will be performing nine works. Among the compositions to be performed are Randall Thompson’s Suite for Oboe, Clarinet and Viola; a small work by Portland’s own Jacob Avshalomov entitled “Taking Leave of a Friend” scored for Mezzo Soprano, Flute, Viola and Piano; Seymour Barab’s “The Lovers” for Medium Voice, Clarinet, Viola, Cello and Piano; Vincent Persichetti’s Serenade for Trombone, Viola and Cello, and Luciano Berio’s “Naturale (Su melodie Siciliane)” scored for viola, marimba, gongs and tape showcasing Oregon Symphony’s principal violist, Joël Belgique, and Head of PSU’s percussion department, Dr. Joel Bluestone.

Performers include some of Portland’s most active freelance professional musicians and university music professors. Violist Dr. Miriam English Ward teaches viola and chamber music at Lewis and Clark College and the Rose City Music Academy, and Mr. Belgique and Dr. Bluestone teach their respective instruments at Portland State University. They will be joined by flautist Abby Mages and cellist Justin Kagan of the ensemble 45th Parallel; Shelley Mathewson, principal violist of the Oregon Ballet Theatre and the Portland Opera orchestras; Stephen Price, a long-time Oregon Symphony violist; Alicia Charlton, principal clarinetist with the Columbia Symphony; and Janet Coleman, one of the most sought-after collaborative pianists in the metropolitan area.

A wine and cheese reception follows the concert.

For more information about the concert, please contact
Sharon Eng, Concert Coordinator at [email protected]

For more information about the Oregon Viola Society, please contact
Dorianne Reinhardt-Paul, Co-Chair, Oregon Viola Society at [email protected]

Marylhurst Orchestra Concert, Loss.

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From Dorianne Reinhardt-Paul:

I’m sad to report that on Thursday, Oregon violists lost another wonderful member of our community. Anna Rapp – violist, teacher, former principal violist and my former stand partner at Maryhurst – lost her battle with cancer on Thursday morning and passed away quietly in her sleep. She was 72, as I discovered much to my shock last year – you wouldn’t have known it from looking at her or talking to her, she was so full of life and energy. Anna just exuded joy. She was one of the most positive, glass-half-full people I have ever met. I don’t think I ever saw her have a bad day. She absolutely LOVED the viola, loved playing the viola, and was so happy for every opportunity she got to play. She was a real inspiration to me – every time I think of her, I am challenged to grab hold of my life and live it to the fullest. She will be deeply missed, and will be yet another person I think of each time I open my viola case.

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The Marylhurst Orchestra has a concert tomorrow.