Misplaced Pages

User:Another Believer/Sandbox

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
< User:Another Believer

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Another Believer (talk | contribs) at 18:37, 19 November 2010 (PYP). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 18:37, 19 November 2010 by Another Believer (talk | contribs) (PYP)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Reminder: Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Oregon/Graphics

---

The Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) is the oldest youth orchestra in the United States, established in 1924 as the Portland Junior Symphony. 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, Irvington School Orchestra members formed the Portland Junior Symphony. The ensemble's name was changed to the Portland Youth Philharmonic in 1978.

PYP has had five conductors and music directors throughout its history: Jacques Gershkovitch, Jacob Avshalomov, Huw Edwards, Mei-Ann Chen, and David Hattner. 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.

History

According to student Anne Shannon Monroe, music teacher and violinist Mary V. Dodge moved to Burns, Oregon around 1910 and began playing music for local children at her husband's engineering camp. With funds provided by rancher Bill Hanley, lawyer and artist Charles Erskine Scott Wood, and additional Burns businessmen, Dodge purchased musical instruments for the children and organized an orchestra of thirty to thirty-five members. The orchestra's first concert was held in 1912. By 1915, the orchestra was touring throughout Eastern Oregon on a Chautauqua circuit, and in September 1916 they visited Western Oregon. 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 for the opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink at the Portland Hotel. Schumann-Heink planned to support the orchestra's efforts to tour, but the nation's involvement in World War I interrupted plans for additional tours. The orchestra disbanded in 1918 when Dodge relocated to Portland. There, she opened a violin school and led the Irvington School Orchestra, which became known as the Portland Junior Symphony (PJS) beginning in 1924. Under conductor Jacques Gershkovitch's leadership, the group was founded as the first youth orchestra in the United States. PJS performed for the first time on Valentine's Day in 1925 at the Lincoln High School Auditorium (which later became Portland State University's Lincoln Hall. The orchestra became known as the Portland Youth Philharmonic in 1978.

Today the Portland Youth Philharmonic Association consists of four ensembles, including the Philharmonic Orchestra, Conservatory Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and the Young String Ensemble.

Conductors and music directors

The Portland Youth Philharmonic has had five conductors and music directors during its history: Jacques Gershkovitch (1924–1953), Jacob Avshalomov (1954–1995), Huw Edwards (1995–2002), Mei-Ann Chen (2002–2007), and professional clarinetist David Hattner (2008–present). 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. During Gershkovitch' tenure, PJS concerts were broadcast internationally on the CBS Radio Network and a Preparatory Orchestra (later renamed the Conservatory Orchestra) was added due to increased membership. Following Gershkovitch' 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).

Known for encouraging international tours, Jacob Avshalomov became the orchestra's second conductor in 1954. During his forty-year tenure, the Avshalomov produced several recordings, several including pieces commissioned by the orchestra, making PJS the first known recording orchestra in the Pacific Northwest. Avshalomov retired in 1995 after an estimated 640 concerts and 10,000 auditions.

Avshalomov was replaced by Welsh-born Huw Edwards, whose accomplishments with the orchestra included an award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1997, representing the United States at the Banff International Festival of Youth Orchestras in 1998, and an international tour to Australia and New Zealand in 2000. Edwards also established a peer mentoring program, partnering orchestra musicians with low-income students with little access to music education.

Taiwan native Mei-Ann Chen became PYP's fourth conductor in 2002. During Chen's five-year tenure with the organization, PYP debuted at Carnegie Hall, earned another ASCAP award in 2004, and began working with the Oregon Symphony (Chen was its assistant conductor from 2003 to 2005). Chen also won the Malko Competition in 2005 and accompanied to orchestra on a four-city Asian tour. Chen left the organization in 2007 to become the assistance conductor of the Atlanta Symphony. Guests conductors during the 2007–2008 season included Ken Selden, director of orchestral studies at Portland State University, former Seattle Symphony conductor Alastair Willis, as well as former PYP conductors Edwards and Chen.

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. Additional international tours occurred in 2000 when PYP traveled to Australia and New Zealand under the leadership of Huw Edwards, and in 2007 when the orchestra performed in six concerts throughout Taiwan (Kaohsiung, Tainan, and Taipei) and South Korea (Ulsan and Seoul).

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.

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".

Alumni

Notable alumni of the orchestra include Robert Mann, who helped found the Juilliard String Quartet... Other professional musicians that were once part of the orchestra include Glenn Reeves and Marion Fox, who became principal violist and violinist of the Oregon Symphony, respectively.

References

General
  • Avshalomov, Jacob (1979). Music Is Where You Make It/II: The Joyful Workings of America's First Youth Orchestra, The Portland Youth Philharmonic 1923–1979. The Portland Junior Symphony Association. LCC ML200.8.P82 J8.
Specific
  1. ^ "Portland Youth Philharmonic visits". The Observer. LaGrande, Oregon. October 2, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  2. ^ Tucker, Kathy. "Sage Brush Symphony". The Oregon Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  3. Bash, James (November 2, 2009). "Portland Youth Philharmonic's David Hattner: Demanding, tough to please... and the kids are loving it". Oregon Music News. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  4. "Sagebrush Symphony: About the Program". Oregon Public Broadcasting. 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  5. ^ Flores, Trudy; Griffith, Sarah (2002). "Portland Junior Symphony, 1927". Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  6. ^ McQuillen, James. "Portland Youth Philharmonic". The Oregon Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  7. ^ Cullivan, Rob (August 7, 2007). "East County musicians travel with youth orchestra to Taiwan and Korea". The Outlook. Gresham, Oregon: Pamplin Media Group. pp. 1–2. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  8. ^ Bartels, Eric (June 26, 2007). "Departing conductor is a rising star". Portland Tribune. Pamplin Media Group. pp. 1–2. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  9. Hughley, Marty (April 14, 2010). "Portland Youth Philharmonic's Diane Syrcle to move to Oregon Ballet Theatre as new executive director". The Oregonian. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  10. ^ "Portland Youth Philharmonic Wins 'Excellence in Music Education' Award". Oregon Symphony. April 15, 2010. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  11. Avshalomov 1979, p. 7, 13
  12. ^ "Mary's Method". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved October 22, 2010.

Further reading

  • Avshalomov, Jacob (1959). Music Is Where You Make It: A Panoramic View of the Portland Junior Symphony. Portland, Oregon: The Portland Junior Symphony Association. LCC ML200.8.P82 J8.
  • Avshalomov, Jacob (1991). The Concerts Reviewed: 65 Years of the Portland Youth Philharmonic. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-28-4.

External links