VSO Goes Back To The Movies

DETAILS

The Vancouver Symphony’s Chamber Music Series continues its 2018-2019 season at the Kiggins Theatre with two silent comedies, the 1918 short film, Bell Boy and the 1919 film The Oyster Princess on Sunday, November 18th at 3:00 PM.

Short films The Oyster Princess and Bell Boy come to the Kiggins screen with a compiled score by music arranger and pianist Rodney Saur, featuring four members of The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Sauer, on piano, joins Eva Richey; violin, Logan Brown; trumpet, Dieter Ratzlaf; cello and Igor Shakhman; clarinet in the quartet accompanying the classic silent film.

The two-reel film Bell Boy, lasting just over 30 minutes, will feature Rodney Sauer in an improvisational piano score. The four VSO players will join in for the 60-minute German film The Oyster Princess with difficult and unique music.

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Now in its seventh season, the series was co-created by Dr. Michael C. Liu, the VSO pianist and board member, and Dr. Igor Shakhman, VSO Executive Director and Principal Clarinet, to present great musicians playing in a very intimate setting. The content of each concert is unique, and most of the participating musicians are members of The Vancouver Symphony.
Prices are $25 for adults and $10 for students. Save money with one of the ticket packages!

ABOUT RODNEY SAUER

Pianist and score compiler, studied at the Oberlin Conservatory while majoring in Chemistry at Oberlin College, and has appeared as piano soloist with the Boulder Sinfonia. He is an avid student of silent film music, and his article on the history and use of “photoplay music” was published in the American Music Research Center Journal. He is a frequent performer in various participatory dance genres from early 20th century ballroom dance to morris and contra dance. He also plays solo improvised silent film scores, although the Mont Alto Orchestra is his major musical endeavor. In 2001 he won a Musical grant from the Arts and Humanities Assembly of Boulder.

ABOUT EVA RICHEY

Eva began her career playing regularly with several orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony, Columbus Symphony, West Virginia Symphony and Kentucky Symphony. She toured South America with the New World Symphony and played briefly with the Cape Town Symphony in South Africa. She attended the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals, learning from such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and Eiji Oue. Eva has also enjoyed playing popular music in concert events with The Moody Blues, Yes, Harry Connick Jr. and Rod Stewart. In 2001, Eva moved to the Northwest. She began working with the Oregon Symphony as Associate Music Librarian, as well as holding two one-year positions in the second violin section. Currently, Eva is on the adjunct faculty at Clark College as violin instructor and concertmaster of the Clark College Orchestra. She plays regularly with the Portland Opera, Portland Chamber Orchestra and Oregon Ballet Theatre.

ABOUT DIETER RATZLAF

Dieter began cello studies at the age of seven and performed with the Portland Youth Philharmonic for six years, touring Europe with the orchestra in 1989. He went on to receive his Master of Arts in Cello Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has performed with the Oregon Symphony, Eugene Symphony, Portland Opera Orchestra (18 seasons) and the Oregon Ballet Theater Orchestra (10 seasons). Dieter was appointed principal cello of the VSO in 2005 and the Hood River Philharmonic in 2012, positions he currently still holds.

ABOUT LOGAN BROWN

Logan Thane Brown moved to Portland in the summer of 2010 to begin working for renowned trumpet maker David G. Monette. There Mr. Brown learned the skills to build hand-made trumpets for some of the most well-known trumpet players of this era, such as Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Ron Miles and many more. Logan studied trumpet at UW-Madison WI under John Aley and is now pursuing a Bachelor of Music in performance from Portland State University under the study of Oregon Symphony’s assistant principal trumpet, Dave Bamonte. Logan has been an active performer and freelancer in the Portland area. He currently plays second trumpet in the Portland Colombia Symphony and third trumpet in the Vancouver WA Symphony. Logan plans to continue his performance career and education with a Master of Music in the next few years.

ABOUT IGOR SHAKHMAN

Dr. Shakhman has been heard in recitals, chamber music concerts and concert appearances throughout Europe and the US. As an orchestral clarinetist, he has performed with the Colorado and Oregon Symphony Orchestras, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Colorado Opera Orchestra, Russian State Symphony Orchestra and the chamber orchestras of Moscow Virtuosi and Moscow Stars. As a chamber musician and soloist, he has played in international music festivals in Oregon, Colorado, France, Greece, Russia and Switzerland. Dr. Shakhman has participated in two critically acclaimed Broadway tours: the first national tour of Oklahoma! as principal clarinetist and on-stage soloist in the North American tour of Fiddler on the Roof. He received his B.A. in Music from Kharkov Music College, his Master’s from the Moscow Conservatory and his Doctorate from the University of Colorado. He teaches at the University of Portland and is the Oregon state chair for the International Clarinet Association. In addition to being principal clarinet for the Vancouver Symphony, he’s also the orchestra’s Executive Director.

ABOUT THE VSO CHAMBER CONCERT SERIES

Founded in 2011 by Dr. Michael C. Liu and his wife Nien-Wei Hsiao in collaboration with VSO executive director Dr. Igor Shakhman, the VSO Chamber Series started in the Trinity Lutheran Church in Vancouver and moved to the Kiggins Theater in 2013. The series primary goals are to highlight the musicians of the VSO in different settings, bring more awareness to the public about the great symphony orchestra we have in the community, provide additional monetary support for the VSO, and of course to entertain and inspire its audiences! Performances have ranged from traditional chamber music concerts to live music and film presentations as well as the 2-piano extravaganza and legacy young artists recitals, as well as concerts that highlight guest artists and other great musician collaborators.

This coming 2018-2019 Season the VSO-Kiggins Chamber Series is being sponsored by Leonard and Betsy Liu who would like to help expand and further develop this series so it can reach an even wider audience. We invite others interested in supporting the VSO-Kiggins Chamber Series and the Vancouver Symphony to come forward anytime and come talk with us.

ABOUT THE VENUE

Primarily known as a movie theater, the Kiggins Theatre was designed in the Art Deco style by architect Day Walter Hilborn and named for former Vancouver mayor and businessman John P. Kiggins. Opened in 1936, the theater was renovated and reopened in September 2011. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. The theatre is owned and operated by Dan Wyatt.

Date

Sunday November 18, 2018 @ 3:00 pm (add to calendar)

About our Sponsors

The VSO is generously supported by All Classical Portland, Oregon Public Broadcasting, The Community Foundation of SW Washington, The Columbian, and Michelle’s Pianos.