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Passing the Baton
Portland's orchestras are known for playing Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, but some of the people behind them appear to be playing musical chairs. The executive directors of two of the city's most prominent ensembles--Don Roth of the Oregon Symphony and Andrew Toney of the Portland Baroque Orchestra--are leaving their positions, and conductor and composer Salvador Brotons is packing his bags for Barcelona. |
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Roth, who has been president of the Oregon Symphony Association for eight years, is moving onward and upward to assume the directorship of the Saint Louis Symphony, one of the country's top orchestras. In a statement released by the Oregon Symphony, music director James DePreist and board chair Lynn Loacker praised Roth's administrative leadership, pointing to the organization's robust health. Since 1990, concert revenues have increased 97 percent, annual fund raising has risen 44 percent and the endowment has doubled to $21 million. The symphony has also issued three commercial recordings and initiated a number of new programs, including the Knight Foundation Nerve Endings concert series and the Oregon Symphony in the Neighborhoods concert and outreach activities. Roth's eight-year tenure is long by arts administration standards--virtually an eternity from the perspective of the Portland Baroque Orchestra, which has now gone through five executive directors in as many years. Toney's departure, a mutual agreement between him and the orchestra's board, leaves the PBO in the same fiscally moribund state it has known for some time, in marked contrast to the ensemble's thriving creative side. The boards of both orchestras are soon to be involved in full-scale searches for new directors. It's not only administrators who are leaving gaps in the area's classical music scene. Brotons, professor of music for 10 years at Portland State University and conductor of the Vancouver Symphony for seven, has taken conducting positions with both the Symphony Orchestra of the Balearic Islands in Palma, Majorca, and the Symphony Orchestra of Valles in Barcelona. The energetic and engaging Spaniard, easily one of the hardest-working men in Portland classical show business, is well-known to local audiences for his work at PSU, including the production last year of his opera Reverend Everyman. He also has some three dozens CDs to his credit. "These are two professional orchestras with good budgets," he days. "It's a move to professional conducting, which is exactly what I wanted to do." Though he is relocating to Barcelona in June, he will keep the baton of the Vancouver Symphony. Before he leaves, he will also put in another appearance with the Portland Opera, leading the orchestra in next month's production of Tosca. --James McQuillen |
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Fashion Phantom
Since no one's likely to forget a last name like hers, we're surprised that Jill Spitznass didn't put a byline on Style Sheet, "Portland's only fashion newsletter--offering you the latest on what's hot and where to get it." We were flattered to hear that Odessa owner Susan Tompkins thought WW was behind it, but the single hot-pink page borrows only our font. We wish we could take credit for the salient sass that forecasts a "western wave" (cowboy boots and apparel) and a braless--or at least sans padded push-up bra--look for spring. The former Nordstrom fashion director left her name out of Style Sheet for several reasons: the unwillingness to be associated with St. John knit suits when trying to act as a harbinger of trends; to add to the sheet's mystique; and, she says, "what if it bombed?" So far the mystique and limited-edition tactics have worked. To keep costs down (SS isn't backed by ads yet) Spitznass printed only 100 copies and dropped them off at various shops, salons, restaurants and fitness clubs around town. Style Sheet is being snatched up, and shops that the newsletter mentions (Matisse and Zelda's Shoe Bar) have had good responses. |
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Quitting Nordstrom to be a full-time mom has given Spitznass time to coach young girls' basketball and create the chic bulletin she's always wanted. She hopes to print bimonthly. Considering Portland's galaxy of second-hand emporiums and its vintage-laden look, it's surprising this upstart is the first local publication devoted to fashion. It's about time. --Christina Melander |
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What Jazz Is
When the editors of Jazziz magazine were going through the entries in their "Vocals on Fire" contest, they probably didn't expect a contemporary jazz setting of a Hebrew chant in 7/4 time, much less one coming from Portland. |
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But Rose City pianist and composer Jeffrey Kauffman and former Portlander Suzi Stern-Luna gave the magazine just such an intriguing combination of sounds, and the resulting song, "Wasn't It Spring Yesterday?," was selected as one of 14 songs honored in the February 1998 issue of the magazine. It will be included on a compilation CD put out by Jazziz.
Kauffman, pianist for the Portland Spirit, also won honors in the most recent Portland Songwriter's Association Songwriting Contest (Jazz Category). Stern-Luna, who relocated to New York City in 1996, will return to town to perform the winning song in concert, previewing an upcoming album with Kauffman. The concert takes place at 8 pm Saturday, Feb. 28, at Unity Church of Portland, 4525 SE Stark St., with Al Criado joining in on bass and Ron Leach playing drums. The group, called Aqabala, puts a slightly exotic twist on silky smooth jazz grooves. You can get into this rare Portland performance for $5; for $10 you can get a four-song CD as well. The multitude of Stern-Luna fans in town will show up, so get there early. --Dan DePrez |
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