Disaster is not a word that I use lightly, but in this case it is the only word that can be used. There are others that come to mind also. Hubris, malfeasance, poor planning, shirking of fiduciary duty. The NSO was the beneficiary of a longtime 'angel' donor ( Martha Ingram) who basically kept the orchestra afloat until her passing. Angel donors are amazing - until for whatever reason their pocketbook dries up. But how can an organization just operate business as usual with this sort of sword of Damocles hanging overhead?

We did our Opening Night concert a couple nights ago (I'm always puzzled as it isn't the first concert of the season, nor is it the first of our classical subscription series, but I digress). Also, since it's been a while since I've posted, in the spirit of full disclosure, can I just say right now that I've always been a fan of and frequent user of em dashes? But sadly, the rise of the AI use of em dashes has made me leary of using them. God help me if AI agents become advocates of the Oxford comma...

As the end of my 31st season with the Oregon Symphony draws closer, I've thought about how I've answered the question "What kind of job is it, to be in the symphony? Is it full-time? Do you have to supplement your income?" Lately, I've answered that, yes, it is a full-time job during the season. Some of us teach and do outside gigs to make ends meet or to save money. But we don't play for about nine weeks during the summer months, so we have a schedule similar to what public school teachers have.

This past weekend the Oregon Symphony debuted a new Naked Classics series, which is not a brand new thing here. Back in the late 90's and early 00's, then OS Resident Conductor Murry Sidlin created the Nerve Endings series that looked at music through the lens of its historical context, reenactments, and historically informed speculative 'fiction'. Here's what Gemini AI dug up about it:

I attended an amazing concert here in Portland last night. It was Trio Mediæval1 with Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee Parpan. It was much of the trio's recent holiday album sung live with Shaw and Parpan providing folksong adjacent atmospheric accompaniments. That description is utter s**t because this was a magical concert in many ways. First of all, Trio Mediæval.

A day off gets one of these. In case you're new here, I'll give a tl;dr thumbnail sketch. I have been Assistant principal violist of the Oregon Symphony for the past 30 years. During those 30 years I also have played in two nearly full-time string quartets, a new music ensemble, and whatever else came along. This season, my 31st, I decided to hit the pause button on everything but the symphony work.

This past Saturday at the Oregon Symphony's Music Box space downtown I attended an introduction of our new 'class' of musicians that have recently joined the orchestra to a select group of donors and supporters. This may have been something that the orchestra has done before – it's entirely possible that I missed it in the past – but it sure was a great idea to get to know these wonderful additions to the orchestra and have them answer questions from the audience.

Note: I've been drafting this post for close to two weeks. This was NOT due to being a recovering perfectionist! There is a insidious and prevalent trope of artistic life that boils down to this: to create (great) art, one must suffer. I don't think that this is true – but I only make pretty good art. But the notion that art requires suffering in order to be good has been around for a long time.

Sunset at the J. Christopher at Appassionata Estate vineyards. Just a week or so after my wonderful time at the Chintimini festival, it was time to begin rehearsals for what is truly the highlight of my year, the Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival. The founders and co-artistic directors - husband and wife team Sasha Callahan (violin) and Leo Eguchi (cellos) - are now dear friends after 8 years of making music together - as is their fellow Bostonian, violinist Megumi Stohs Lewis.

Summers are an interesting time for musicians - whether they are in a full 52 week orchestra, freelance performers, or members of orchestras that play less than 52 weeks each season. The Oregon Symphony plays 40 weeks a year - leaving 12 weeks where we find work where we can. 52 week orchestras often have brief vacation periods before and after their summer seasons (which they get paid for).

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February energy is the NEA falling apart, a story about my mother, and learning to tell the difference between being trapped and just being scared.

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