2009-2010 Concert Season

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Tickets for all concerts sold at the door

General Admission $10 – Students/Seniors $8

June 13, 2pm

A Musical Bouquet

Double Reed Divas

Dagny Rask Regan, Victoria Racz, Ann van Bever

The final concert of the 2009-2010 season! The concert titled “A Musical Bouquet” features the Double Reed Divas. Victoria Racz, Dagny Rask Regan and Ann van Bever will play oboe, oboe d’amore, English horn and bassoon in a colorful kaleidoscope of diverse repertoire. They will be joined by Cahen Taylor in the Bach aria, Nun mögt ihr stolzen Feinde schrecken, for tenor, two oboes d’amore and bassoon. In addition to the Bach aria, the ensemble will perform music by Debussy, Woodbury and Powning. A highlight of the program is the performance of a Beethoven trio, Variations on “La ci darem la mano”, an aria from the Mozart opera Don Giovanni. The Divas will also play a set of variations by the Moravian composer Franz Krommer on a theme by Ignaz Pleyel.

May 23, 2pm

Organ Music for the Long Green Season of Pentecost

Paul Klemme, organ

Organist Paul Klemme will perform works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Dietrich Buxtehude, George Boehm, Andrew Carter and Paul Manz in a program of organ music written for the sacred and secular holidays of Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Reformation Sunday, All Saint’s Day and Thanksgiving. As a nod to Independence Day (Fourth of July), Klemme will also improvise on “America.” The concert features the 69-rank hand crafted tracker pipe organ built and installed by Dan Jaeckel of Duluth, MN in 2000.

Klemme is Director of Music/Organist at St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Salem. He also serves as an adjunct professor of music as Willamette University where he teaches organ and directs the Male Ensemble Willamette and the Willamette Master Chorus. A native of Missouri, his organ study was with Robert Glasgow at the University of Michigan and John Ditto at Central Methodist College.

April 18, 2pm

Schubert’s Winterreise

Kenneth Beare, tenor; Maria Choban, piano

Set to 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller, Die Winterreise (Winter Journey) explores in detail the pain and alienation of a spurned young lover who rages against his fate. Beare and Choban perform the music as an emotionally wracked journey into insanity. Captioned slides will be shown to provide an insight into the music’s rumination on a scorched heart and to illustrate the gloomy mood of the music.

Kenneth Beare is a tenor recently returned from Europe where he sang leading roles in opera houses and concert venues. He is a graduate of Eastman School of Music and the Hochschule für Köln. He created the title role in the world premier of “El Bon Senyor Karnak” by Carl Mansker in Spain and collaborated with Mstislav Rostropovich in the world premier of “Life with and Idiot” by Alfred Schnittke in Amsterdam.

Pianist Maria Choban has performed several times on the Celebration Works series as both a solo performer and as part of the Alder Street Sextet. She has released four CDs on her recording label, Alitisa, and promotes the music of contemporary Greek and American composers. Choban is well-known for her passionate playing and dedication to making classical music relevant in today’s world.

February 21, 2pm

Ordo Virtutum

FourScore, a classical manband

FourScore, the critically acclaimed classical “manband,” and a stellar cast of special guests will perform a rarely heard musical drama by 12th century mystic and composer, Hildegard of Bingen. “Ordo Virtutum” (Order of the Virtues) is believed to have premiered around the year 1152, performed by nuns to mark the dedication of a new convent in Rupertsburg, Germany – a convent founded by Hildegard herself. It depicts the ages old struggle as the heavenly virtues (Faith, Hope, Humility and Mercy) battle the devil for who owns the right to a human soul. FourScore brings a radical new interpretation of this ancient drama to First Presbyterian’s neo-gothic sanctuary along with a cast of Portland’s most esteemed singers and accompanied by modern instruments (banjo, trumpet, guitar, piano, recorder and more).

FourScore’s multi-talented members include Ben Kinkley, Ben Landsverk, Brian Francis and Stephen Marc Beaudoin. Special guests include soprano Elizabeth Bacon as the Soul, mezzo-soprano Tuesday Rupp as Humility, mezzo-soprano Kathy Fitzgibbon as Chastity, counter-tenor Tim Galloway as Charity, Patience and Celestial Love, tenor Scot Crandal as Victory, and bass David Krueger as the Knowledge of God.  Also featured are FPC’s organist Jon Stuber and members of Portland ensembles, including Roxy Consort, Portland Opera, Trinity Consort and Opera Theater Oregon plus a mega-chorus of 100+ local singers. Staged by Stephen Marc Beaudoin and with movement and dance by Kaj-anne Pepper, this concert promises a spectacle not to be missed!

January 24, 2pm

Encounters with Beethoven

Kenn Willson, piano

Pianist Kenn Willson performs a multi-media concert with slides and personal insights into Beethoven’s persona and music. The concert will include the famous “Moonlight” Sonata, Op. 27, #2, as well as Sonata Op. 31, #3, and an arrangement of the “Ode to Joy” from the final movement of the Ninth Symphony. Willson promises that this will not be a “typical” piano recital!

Kenn was born in the beautiful “Big Sky” state of Montana. He earned the Bachelor of Arts degree from George Fox University, the Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Portland, and the Doctor of Arts degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Northern Colorado. He studied piano with Lou Anna Braughton, Istvan Nadas, Robert Hallquist, and Errol Haun.  Kenn is a tenured Professor of Music at George Fox University teaching music theory, music history, keyboard literature, piano pedagogy, class piano and applied piano.

Willson has played the piano since he was 6 and began formal piano education at the age of 10.  He conceived and implemented an “Encounters with…” Series in 2000.  He was asked to teach the general music history course at George Fox and as he worked within that capacity, he thought, “Why not combine the ‘real’ composer’s thoughts and emotions with their music? Why must all the composer information be so dry? Let’s discuss the rock and roll-a-bility of Beethoven! What about the improvisatory jazz of Bach and the ’scat’ of Chopin!”  The result is endless fun and a concert series which is slightly off the beaten path each time it is presented.

November 22, 2pm

From Castello to Telemann: Changes Within the Baroque

La Stella Baroque

Irene Weldon, mezzo soprano

La Stella Baroque is Portland’s newest and only completely local Baroque ensemble. The group included Mary Rowell, violin; Zoe Tokar, recorders; Max Fuller, baroque cello and bass viola da gamba; and Hideki Yamaya, theorbo. As part of the Celebration Works concert series, they will perform “From Castello to Telemann: Changes within the Baroque.” Beginning the program with three sonatas from the early Baroque by Dario Castello, the concert will illustrate the development of music through the 17th century with works by Camilla di Rossi, Jacques Morel, Georg Philipp Telemann, and Antonio Vivaldi.  A feature work on the program is the Telemann Cantata “Entzuckende Lust” (O rapturous joy), a communion cantata celebrating repentance and the ability to “laugh at pain” which will be performed by mezzo-soprano Irene Weldon with Max Fuller on viola da gamba. The serious text is interestingly paired with music of a whimsical and playful nature.

This concert promised to be both entertaining and educational, as the ensemble shows the development of music from one of the earliest Baroque composers, Castello, to one of the latest, Telemann.

October 25, 2pm

The “O” Instruments

Jon Stuber, organ; Ann van Bever, oboe

with special guests Anita Lundgren, soprano and Janet Bebb, flute

The “O” Instruments opens the 8th season of FPC’s Celebration Works concert series with organist Jon Stuber and oboist Ann van Bever performing works by French organist/composer Jean Langlais, 20th century German composer Hermann Schroeder (known for writing chamber music for organ and other instruments), and Ludwig Krebs, a student of J. S. Bach.  Anita Lundgren will be featured in selections from “Ten Blake Songs” by Ralph Vaughan Williams for oboe and soprano. A trio for flute, oboe and piano is also planned with flutist Janet Bebb. The concert marks the 155th anniversary of the chartering of FPC, and in honor of the occasion, all four musicians will play a medley of tunes by Stephen Foster that were published and popular in 1854.