James Bash

1 week ago | classicalvoiceamerica.org | James Bash

SALT LAKE CITY — Marin Alsop, music director laureate of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and chief conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival, and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, was named recipient of the Gold Baton Award at the League of American Orchestras’ 80th National Conference held here June 11-13. Established in 1948 and presented annually since 1958, the Gold Baton Award is the highest accolade conferred by the League of American Orchestras.

3 weeks ago | oregonlive.com | James Bash

“Timelessness is a huge theme,” said Nancy Ives in describing her music for orchestra and spoken voice, “Celilo Falls.” “Native peoples have lived in the Columbia River Gorge for 18,000 years.”The Oregon Symphony will perform Ives’ “Celilo Falls,” accompanied by the photography of Joe Cantrell and text by Ed Edmo, this weekend at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

1 month ago | oregonlive.com | James Bash

When he was five years old, George Takei was incarcerated with his family in a camp with thousands of other Japanese Americans. “I’ve told this story many, many times. It is an important chapter of American history,” said Takei during a Zoom call. “But it always takes me by surprise whenever I talk about my childhood imprisonment. People are shocked that this actually happened.”Takei was referring to the incarceration of Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

1 month ago | orartswatch.org | James Bash

It’s hard to believe that Classical Up Close has just finished its twelfth season, but it’s true. What began as a response to the cancellation of the Oregon Symphony’s return to Carnegie Hall in 2013 has blossomed into an annual event of free chamber music that puts the artists up close and personal with listeners.

1 month ago | classicalvoiceamerica.org | James Bash

PORTLAND, Ore. – Pianist Makato Ozone made a splashy debut with the Oregon Symphony on May17 with a jazz-infused and invigorating performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Ozone’s fans, including a large contingent of young Japanese men, flooded the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and almost filled it for the first time in quite a while (the Schnitz, as it is locally known, accommodates 2,700 people).