the meat in the orchestral sandwich

TAPESTRY STRING QUARTET

Special Guest, Harris Orem, English Horn

May 6, 2009

Old Church 12:00 Noon

Quartet No. 7 (1960) Opus 108* Dmitri Shostakovich

Allegretto

Lento

Allegro

Berceuse Armas Jarnefelt

Arr. Peggy J. Swafford

Guest, Harris Orem, English Horn

String Quartet No. 1 (1952) Einojuhani Rautavaara

Presto

Andante

Vivace Assai

TAPESTRY QUARTET

Catherine Noll, 1^st violin

Janet George, 2^nd violin

Peggy Swafford, viola

Gayle Budd O’grady, cello

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.

***
The Marylhurst Orchestra has a concert tomorrow.

VIOLA DAY 12-5pm this SATURDAY the 11th of April, 2009

Lewis & Clark College’s Evans Music Center

The masterclass with Charles Noble will be from 12-2 and we will hear Walton, Bartok, Bloch, Bach and some orchestral excerpts.

The memorial recital for Kjersten Oquist begins at 3pm and will include movements of a Mendelssohn quartet, a Schubert quintet, a performance by talented 13 year old singer-pianist-composer Ian Harris, works by Piazzola, Vieuxtemps and more. Friends and colleagues of Kjersten from the Oregon Symphony, Oregon Ballet Theater, Portland Opera and the freelance community will perform. We will conduct a raffle with prizes from Badbeards Coffee, Cupcake Jones, iTunes, and author Martin Goldman.

Oregon Symphony Principal and Fear No Music violist Joël Belgique will perform in the recital. “Please join us in celebrating the viola in Oregon and help us remember and recognize a true loss to our community of musicians in the passing of Kjersten Oquist. Hope you can be there.”

DIRECTIONS: Take Terwilliger Boulevard East from Barbur. Follow signs to stay straight for Lewis & Clark College. To get to the music complex & parking for Evans, take the second left after the roundabout. It will look like you are entering a parking lot and if you stay straight you’ll head down a steep hill past a running track. Keep straight all the way to the parking lot at the end there and you should be able to find a spot. From the last parking lot, when you turn to look back up the hill you’ll see a small square cream building on your left up a small driveway. That’s the back of Evans Music Center and the main hall is on the second floor. We’ll put up some signs to help you out.

Join us on Saturday April 11th, 2009 at Lewis & Clark College from 12-5 pm!

We’re organizing a ton of excellent events for our upcoming Viola Day.

The masterclass will be with Charles Noble, assistant principal violist of the Oregon Symphony. There are a few spots left so if you or your student would like to play, please contact Miriam.

The benefit recital for the family of Kjersten Oquist is turning into quite the event, with performers stepping forward and demonstrating the generosity of musician’s spirits. We have a few spots left there, too, if anyone would like to play. Excellent items have also been donated for the raffle, and we would be more than happy to have more. We’ll be selling $5 raffle tickets and announcing the winners at the recital, with all proceeds to benefit the Oquist fund.

Questions? Contact Miriam: miriamenglish@hotmail.com or 503-341-1071 during reasonable hours. Thanks!

Here are four clips from the masterclass in Salem in February of 2009.
Mara spoke about strategies for shifting accurately, developing great tone, practice strategies, phrasing and bow distribution. Performers here were playing Bach, Seitz, The Swan and a Reger suite.

We are happy to announce our next big event: the Portland Viola Day at Lewis & Clark’s Evans Music Center on Saturday April 11th from 12 to 5pm.

We’re planning a masterclass, luthier presentations, demos, play-in and a benefit recital for the family of Kjersten Oquist.

Please contact Miriam if you’d like to donate a raffle item, play in the master class or participate in any way.

We aim to interest a wide variety of skill levels and ages, and hope to see you there.

Thanks so much to all those who made the Viola Day a success:

Professor Dan Rouslin and Willamette University

Dr. Leslie Straka and her studio at University of Oregon

Luthiers Paul Schuback, Jon Franke and David Ravinus.

Weathers Music on SE Commercial in Salem

Our wonderful performers whose level of preparation and joy in playing made the class so worthwhile and enjoyable to the audience… and of course, Mara Gearman, our talented and helpful clinician.

Samuel Zacharia, a student of Cynthia Scott, performs Seitz

Luthier Paul Schuback spoke, brought instruments to demo and adjusted instruments.

Clinician Mara Gearman plays one of Paul's violas. In the foreground are two of David Ravinus' violas and several of Jon Frankes' as well.

There will be signs on campus to help, and feel free to call 503-341-1071 up to 1pm for directions!

1-4pm at Willamette University this Sunday.

THREE luthiers, SIX masterclass performers, TONS of fun and information.

Directions from I-5 to Willamette’s Music Dept.

• Take the first ramp off I-5 at Exit 253 (Mission St., Route 22–Willamette U) which is the 4th Salem exit southbound. This is about 47 miles southwest of Portland.

• Follow Mission street west through 5 traffic lights. The 5th one should be 17th St. after which the road curves left and rises over a street and the train tracks on a bridge. Be in the RIGHT LANE going over this bridge and take the ramp to the right just after the crest of the bridge (follow Willamette U. signs). As you descend the ramp be in the LEFT lane.

• At the bottom of the ramp is a traffic light (12th St.). Proceed through intersection, staying in the RIGHT lane. As soon as you are through the intersection, take your first right, then left into Willamette’s main parking lot. Park as close as you can to the eagle fountain at the far end of the lot.

• Once parked, walk toward the fountain, turning right into the campus and walk past the free-standing clock tower in front of the Hatfield Library. Just past the library is a bridge over the mill stream. As soon as you are over this bridge you will see the Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center on your right. Once inside, Hudson Hall is straight ahead and then on your right (four doors), Rogers Rehearsal Hall is all the way down the hall on the right.

The Salem Viola Day at Willamette University (click there for directions) on Sunday, February 22nd from 1-4pm is shaping up to be a fun and inspiring event. If you have questions or would like more information, contact Miriam.

There will be a masterclass at 1pm with performances from Brahms to Seitz and more, a talk about instrument set-up from Oregon luthier Paul Schuback, some demonstrations of instruments from more luthiers and alternative gear, plus of course a chamber jam-play-in! Rumor has it there will even be door prizes.

We are happy to announce the clinician for our masterclass will be violist Mara Gearman. 

Mara Gearman

While still early in her career, violist Mara Gearman is already an accomplished player with extensive experience in both orchestral and chamber music settings. She regularly performs with the chamber groups American String Project and Seattle Chamber Players, and has collaborated with such prestigious performers as Ani Kavafian, Peter Wiley, Vladimir Feltsman, and Dale Clevenger, the legendary principal horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She is also a founding member of the Barston String Quartet as well as Trio Tara with pianist Oksana Ezhokina and Laurie DeLuca, clarinet.

Gearman has held or been awarded a number of orchestral appointments, including principal viola (at age twenty) under maestro Rossen Milanov, and principal viola at the Kansas City Symphony and at the Oregon Symphony under music director James DePriest. Currently she is the second desk violist for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra under maestro Gerard Schwarz.

As a solo performer Gearman has won awards at the Primrose and Tertis International Viola Competitions, performing viola solos ranging from American composers Alan Shulman and Derek Bermel to Hungarian composer Miklos Rozca.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, her primary teachers included Roberto Diaz, Pinchas Zukerman, and Karen Tuttle, as well as additional study in Canada, Germany, Holland, and Switzerland with Nobuko Imai, Barbara Westphal, and Gerard Causse.

Gearman has just been appointed to the faculty at Cornish College of the Arts, in Seattle.

Hello Folks!

We’re coming up on our excellent Salem Viola Day at Willamette University from 1-4pm.

There will be luthiers, demos, a masterclass and more!

Save the date and email Miriam if you’d like to play in the class. Plan to participate in the play-in, and bring all your violist friends!

Looking forward to seeing all our Southern viola comrades!

We'll even have snacks!