The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. 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. Its home venue is the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland's Cultural District.
The precursor ensemble to the orchestra gave its first concert at the Marquam Grand Theatre on October 30, 1896, with W.H. Kinross conducting 33 performers. Included on the first program was Joseph Haydn's Surprise Symphony. By 1899, the orchestra was performing an annual concert series (with occasional lulls). In 1902, the orchestra made its first tour of the state. Orchestra members shared ticket revenues as a cooperative, and elected their conductors in the early years.
Royal Academy of Music-trained musician Carl Denton was a major force in helping the Portland Symphony Society enter a new era. The board of directors was elected and a manager hired. Orchestra members continued to elect their conductors for the 1911/1912 season. The order of conductor and concertmaster rotation was determined by drawing lots. Musicians were from the dance and theatre orchestras of Portland. Following fourteen rehearsals, the first concert of this new-era Portland Symphony Orchestra was held at 2:30p.m. November 12, 1911, at the newly opened Heilig Theater at SW Broadway and Taylor street. Mose Christensen conducted 54 performers in Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 in E minor and other works. Carl Denton conducted the second concert on December 17, 1911, followed by John Bayley on January 21, 1912, and Harold C. Bayley (the son of John Bayley) on March 3, 1912. Mose Christensen completed that season with the fifth concert on April 14, 1912. Harold Bayley, Carl Denton, and Mose Christensen also served as rotating concertmasters when they weren't conducting. The entire budget was made up of door receipts, which were divided equally except that the conductor received two shares. For the first concert, each musician received $1.45.
The Portland Public Auditorium (or Municipal Auditorium), circa 1918, shortly after opening
The orchestra continued to elect rotating conductors as leaders until the symphony board appointed Carl Denton as the first permanent conductor on August 18, 1918. The orchestra began holding its concerts at Municipal Auditorium, later renamed Civic Auditorium. Under Denton, ticket sales increased and the number of musicians were therefore increased.
Theodore Spiering, who had guest conducted the orchestra, was the next appointed conductor. Spiering was unable to begin his first season as conductor because of his untimely death in Munich (where he was searching for new scores for the orchestra). At the suggestion of artist manager Arthur Judson, the symphony board next appointed Dutch conductor Willem van Hoogstraten. Hoogstraten's first concert, on November 9, 1925, included Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, performed by 69 musicians. Some of van Hoogstraten's concerts were nationally broadcast on the radio. The orchestra was now recognized as one of the fifteen largest in the nation.
During the Great Depression, the Portland Symphony Society nearly closed in 1931.[1] A mimeographed letter to society members pleading for donations by Isabella Gauld kept the society open.[1] The threat of war and a budget deficit of nearly $20,000 caused the board to suspend operations in 1938. A farewell concert on February 28, 1938, featured van Hoogstraten conducting the symphony and chorus in Brahms' German Requiem.
There was no regular symphony season between 1938 and 1947, except for occasional concerts.b There was also a WPA Portland Federal Symphony Orchestra for one season of concerts held at the Neighbors of Woodcraft auditorium, beginning in January 1939. Misha Pelz, who had conducted the Portland Federal Symphony Band, was the regular conductor and Leslie Hodge guest conducted for two concerts.
An orchestra billed as the Portland Philharmonic, with 40 musicians provided by the federal music project, held its debut concert on January 16, 1940, with Hodge conducting. Hodge announced his resignation in September 1940 and Charles Lautrop succeeded him as conductor. Directors suspended operation of this orchestra on December 30, 1940.
Reorganization
The Portland Symphony orchestra was reorganized in 1947 as a permanent professional group. Werner Janssen was engaged for two seasons as principal conductor, from 1947 to 1949, followed by James Sample (1949–1953). Guest conductors were engaged for the 1953–1955 seasons (in lieu of a principal conductor), including Carlos Chávez, Enrique Jordá, Dimitri MitropoulosThomas Schippers, Boris Sirpo, Russell Stanger, and Igor Stravinsky. Theodore Bloomfield was one of these guest conductors, and he also became the next regular conductor (1955–1959). The Italian conductor Piero Bellugi (1959–1961) became only the second non-American principal conductor since Hoogstraten. Each of these early principal conductors in the reorganized symphony era left after only a few years because the orchestra lacked financial backing. Bellugi also refused to return for a scheduled guest conductor engagement in the spring of 1962, citing the programs lacked sufficient scope for his talents.
Jacques Singer was music director of the orchestra from 1962–1972.[2][3] During 1965–1967, the orchestra performed in a leased 1927 movie house, the Oriental Theatre on SE Grand Avenue between Morrison and Belmont Streets, while the Civic Auditorium was being rebuilt. In July 1966, a $1.25 million Ford Foundation grant was announced. In August 1967, the name was changed to the Oregon Symphony Society (and Orchestra) to reflect the wider scope of the orchestra.[4] In the fall of 1970, the symphony board and musicians' union successfully negotiated the first two-year contract. The musicians, seeking better wages, joined the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) in 1971.
In 1970, the Oregon Symphony Pops began a longstanding working relationship with conductor Norman Leyden, who was appointed associate conductor in January 1974. Leyden, who retired in May 2004, was honored with the lifetime title Laureate Associate Conductor.
In 1973, Lawrence Leighton Smith was selected as music director, the first conductor born in Portland to lead the orchestra. He led the orchestra until 1980.[2]
Entrance to the organization's ticket office, located in the Pittock Block, in 2013
James DePreist, one of the first African-American conductors,[5] became the orchestra's conductor in 1980. In 1984, the orchestra went from part-time to full-time status. Also in 1984, the orchestra moved from Civic (now Keller) Auditorium to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The orchestra was now able to rehearse in the same space where they performed their concerts. James DePreist's arrangement of the theme for The Cosby Show was recorded by the orchestra in May 1988 for use in the fifth season of that television program. The first out-of-state tour outside of the Pacific Northwest was made in September 1992, to the Hollywood Bowl at the invitation of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Although there were labor disagreements and brief lockouts by management in 1986 and 1989, in September 1996, the 86 musicians voted unanimously to strike for the first time. Money was the issue in negotiating a new contract. Five rehearsals and six concerts were canceled before a new four-year contract was negotiated before the end of September.[6][7]
The orchestra's first Grammy nomination came in 2003. Principal percussionist Niel DePonte was nominated for best instrumental soloist performance with orchestra for Oregon composer Tomas Svoboda's "Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra", recorded by Albany Records in January 2000.
A 90-minute television special from CBS affiliate KOIN Channel 6, produced by John Ray and directed by Richard Hammerstrom, in honor of the Symphony's centennial featured DePreist and the orchestra in a performance of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, and was awarded a Northwest Regional Emmy in June 1997.
DePreist remained as music director for 23 years, until 2003. His tenure saw the growth of the orchestra from a small, part-time group into a full-time nationally recognized orchestra.[5] During his tenure, the orchestra released 17 recordings. After the end of his tenure, DePriest held the title of music director laureate until his death in 2013.[2]
Since 2003, Carlos Kalmar has been the orchestra's music director. In April 2008, the orchestra announced the extension of Kalmar's contract as music director to the 2012–2013 season.[2] In February 2020, the orchestra announced that Kalmar is to conclude his music directorship of the orchestra at the close of the 2020–2021 season.[8][9]
In 2018, David Danzmayr first guest-conducted the orchestra. He returned in 2019 for an additional guest-conducting appearance. In February 2021, the orchestra announced the appointment of Danzmayr as its next music director, effective with the 2021–2022 season.[10]
The Oregon Symphony began recording for the Delos label in 1987. A collection entitled Bravura, includes works by Witold Lutosławski, Ottorino Respighi, and Richard Strauss. Recordings have continued, with releases also on the Koch and Albany labels. Sixteen compact discs were issued through 2005.
In November 2011, the orchestra released Music for a Time of War, on the Pentatone label. Recorded at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon, with Carlos Kalmar conducting, the album features the program played at the orchestra's May 2011 Spring into Music Festival concert at Carnegie Hall. December 5, 2012, this album received two Grammy nominations: one for Best Engineered Album, Classical; and one for Best Orchestral Performance.[11] Subsequent recordings were This England (2012), Spirit of the American Range (2015), Haydn Symphonies (2017), and Aspects of America (2018).
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas.
Moses "Mose" Christensen was an American musician, and founder and conductor of the Oregon Symphony.
Ferdinand Sorenson (1882–1966) was a prominent music educator in the U.S. state of Oregon as well as a conductor, composer, dance instructor and performer. Originally from Grenaa (Djursland), Denmark, Sorenson came to the United States as an infant with his parents, Lars and Matilda Sorenson.
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, Oregon. Dodge purchased instruments for the children and organized the orchestra, which would become known as the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra. After touring the state, 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.
James Anderson DePreist was an American conductor. DePreist was one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage. He was the director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at The Juilliard School and laureate music director of the Oregon Symphony at the time of his death.
Jacob Avshalomov was a composer and conductor.
Theodore Robert Bloomfield was an American conductor.
James Carlyle "Carl" Denton was an American conductor. He was the first permanent conductor of the Oregon Symphony, then known as the Portland Symphony Orchestra.
Jacques Singer was an American virtuoso violinist, symphony orchestra conductor, and music educator who flourished from about 1925 until a few months before his death in 1980.
Norman Fowler Leyden was an American conductor, composer, arranger, and clarinetist. He worked in film and television and is perhaps best known as the conductor of the Oregon Symphony Pops orchestra. He co-wrote with Glenn Miller the theme "I Sustain the Wings" in 1943, which was used to introduce the World War II radio series.
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 Northwest Grand Opera Company.
Huw Edwards is a Welsh conductor. Edwards' conducting career began at age seventeen when he became music director of the Maidstone Opera Company in England. He later attended the University of Surrey, where he conducted the college orchestra along with an ensemble that he formed himself. At age twenty-three, he won a conducting competition which sent him to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He then held a lecturer position at Northwestern University in Chicago, where he was also a doctoral candidate. Edwards was conductor and music director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic from 1995 to 2002 followed by the Seattle Youth Symphony from 2002 to 2005. He served as music director of the Portland Columbia Symphony from 2000 to 2012 and with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2020.
David Hattner is an American professional clarinetist and conductor currently serving as music director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic. Raised in Toledo, Ohio, Hattner attended the Interlochen Arts Camp and Arts Academy, experiences which inspired him to become a professional musician and conductor. He graduated from the Arts Academy in 1986 and enrolled in Northwestern University where he studied clarinet performance under Robert Marcellus. In 1988 he placed second in the International Clarinet Association's Young Artist Competition and was selected to join the American-Soviet Youth Orchestra. He earned a music degree with honors in 1990.
The Portland Columbia Symphony is a symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, founded in 1982 as the Palatine Hill Symphony by Jerry Luedders. Then director of the school of music at Lewis & Clark College and conductor of the school's orchestra, Luedders formed the ensemble by recruiting the "best" players from several community orchestras. Rehearsals were originally held at Evans Auditorium on the campus of Lewis & Clark. Luedders served as conductor and music director until 1986.
Music for a Time of War is a 2011 concert program and subsequent album by the Oregon Symphony under the artistic direction of Carlos Kalmar. The program consists of four compositions inspired by war: Charles Ives'The Unanswered Question (1906), John Adams'The Wound-Dresser (1989), Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem (1940) and Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 4 (1935). The program was performed on May 7, 2011, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon, and again the following day. Both concerts were recorded for album release. On May 12, the Oregon Symphony repeated the program at the inaugural Spring for Music Festival, at Carnegie Hall. The performance was broadcast live by KQAC and WQXR-FM, the classical radio stations serving Portland and the New York City metropolitan area, respectively. The concerts marked the Oregon Symphony's first performances of The Wound-Dresser as well as guest baritone Sanford Sylvan's debut with the company.
The Oregon Symphony, based in Portland, Oregon, was founded in 1896 as the Portland Symphony Society; it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and claims to be one of the largest arts organizations in the Pacific Northwest. The Symphony has released nineteen studio albums and one compilation album through the record labels Delos, Koch International Classics, Albany and PentaTone Classics. The first recording, Bravura (1987), was released under the artistic leadership of James DePreist. It received favorable reviews and was the first of three released through Delos. The next two recordings were collections of compositions by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
This England is a classical music album by the Oregon Symphony under the artistic direction of Carlos Kalmar, released by Dutch record label PentaTone Classics in November 2012. The album was recorded at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon, at five performances in February and May 2012. It contains works by three English 20th-century composers: Edward Elgar's Cockaigne , Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 5, and "Four Sea Interludes" and "Passacaglia" from Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes. The recording was the orchestra's second under Kalmar's leadership, following Music for a Time of War (2011), which also included works by Britten and Vaughan Williams. This England received positive critical reception but failed to chart.
Orchestral Works by Tomas Svoboda is a classical music album by the Oregon Symphony under the artistic direction of James DePreist, released by the record label Albany in 2003. The album was recorded at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon during three performances in January and June 2000. It contains three works by Tomáš Svoboda, a Czech-American composer who taught at Portland State University for more than 25 years: Overture of the Season, Op. 89; Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra, Op. 148; and Symphony No. 1, Op. 20. The album's executive producers were Peter Kermani, Susan Bush, and Mark B. Rulison; Blanton Alspaugh served as the recording producer.
Spirit of the American Range is a classical music album by the Oregon Symphony under the artistic direction of Carlos Kalmar, released by the Dutch record label Pentatone on February 10, 2015. The album was recorded at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon in April 2013 and January 2014. It contains works by three American 20th-century composers: Walter Piston's ballet suite from The Incredible Flutist, George Antheil's "A Jazz Symphony", and Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3. The recording was the third by the orchestra under Kalmar's leadership, following the highly successful Music for a Time of War (2011) and This England (2012). Spirit of the American Range received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Orchestral Performance, and its producer, Blanton Alspaugh, was nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical.
David Danzmayr is an Austrian conductor.
References
1 2 MacColl, E. Kimbark (1979). The Growth of a City: Power and Politics in Portland, Oregon 1915–1950. Portland, Oregon: The Georgian Press. ISBN0-9603408-1-5.
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