VSO Goes Back To The Movies

DETAILS

The Vancouver Symphony’s Chamber Music Series welcomes Rodney Sauer back to Vancouver for the showing of The Cameraman (1928) with live musical accompaniment at the historical Kiggins Theatre February 10th. The concert begins at 3 PM with a special viewing of the Laurel and Hardy short comedy, Wrong Again, followed by The Cameraman. The presentation of these classic 1920s silent films features new and spirited arrangements from score compiler and pianist Rodney Sauer.

Known for their riotous slapstick comedy that has earned them generations of fans, Englishman Stan Laurel and American Oliver Hardy fall (literally) from one gag to the next, running from problems they’d caused, always resulting in huge laughs from audiences. Rodney Sauer will perform solo piano accompaniment for the lively Wrong Again. The Cameraman, drawn from Buster Keaton’s extensive film repertoire, features Sauer’s dynamic arrangement for a string and winds quartet, to be performed by the VSO Chamber Music Ensemble.

In the film, Buster empties his bank account for a movie camera to impress the girl of his dreams, but breaking into the film business is trickier than it looks. With the help of a monkey, he happens to catch a major city grievance on camera! This excellent comedy features all the laughs, stunts, and heart of a timeless Buster Keaton classic.

About Rodney Sauerpianist 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, She moved to the northwest where 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 holds.

About Bruce Dunn – Now in his 20th year as the VSO’s principal trumpet, Bruce Dunn is an accomplished freelance trumpeter who holds performance degrees from both Washington State University and Portland State University. A recipient of the prestigious Presser Foundation Scholarship, he can be heard in venues across the Northwest. He has performed in groups across the region including the Portland Opera, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, the Big Horn Brass, the Portland Festival Symphony, the Beach Cantata Choir and many others. He is also a founding member of the Columbia Rover Brass Ensemble. In addition to performing, Bruce is a National Board-Certified Teacher and the Director of Bands at Covington Middle School, Sunset Elementary and Silver Star Elementary in the Evergreen School District. He has also taught at Evergreen High School, Mountain View High School and Pacific Middle School.

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.

About our Sponsors – The VSO is generously supported by individual donors, Morel Ink, All Classical Portland, Oregon Public Broadcasting, The Community Foundation of SW Washington, The Columbian, and Michelle’s Pianos.

The VSO-Kiggins Chamber Series is 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.