August 5, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Oregon Public Broadcasting presents Debussy’s “La Mer,” Barber’s Piano Concerto with pianist Peter Donohoe and the world premiere of the second half of Oregon composer Kevin Walczyk’s “Corps of Discovery,” a Lewis and Clark bicentennial musical celebration in an Oregon Symphony Classical concert with Music Director Carlos Kalmar on Friday, Sept. 5, from 9-11 p.m. This broadcast is the ninth in a series of classical Oregon Symphony concerts airing on OPB Radio the first Friday of each month.
Walczyk, an associate professor of music composition at Western Oregon State University, composed his two-part symphony as a co-commission by the St. Louis Symphony and the Oregon Symphony. The second half, “Discovery: Pacific Northwest Territory,” received its world premiere in this May 2005 concert. The work musically depicts the historic mission of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to map the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. “Discovery: Pacific Northwest Territory” is made up of five tableaux that narrate the expedition’s great portage, their crossing of the Continental Divide, their exploits in the uncharted west, and their arrival at the Pacific Ocean.
The concert also features an audience favorite, Debussy’s evocative tone poem, “La Mer,” which captures the various moods of the ocean, from calm murmurs to storm-tossed waves crashing on the shore. The musical exploration of the ocean continues with Mendelssohn’s overture, “ Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage,” inspired by two poems of Goethe.
Pianist Peter Donohoe, the 1982 winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, is known for his performances of 20 th century works. He joins the Symphony to perform Barber’s Piano Concerto, commissioned by his publisher G. Schirmer in honor of their 100 th anniversary.
In addition to the concerts, OPB and KBPS are collaborating to bring listeners interviews with musicians and conductors during the performance intermission. The September 5 broadcast features Kalmar discussing the music featured in the concert. For a list of OPB Radio frequencies, log on to www.opb.org. KBPS programs classical music all day, every day at 89.9 FM in the Portland region and 90.1 in the Columbia Gorge.
Oregon Public Broadcasting is a statewide network of community-supported learning resources, including OPB Television, an affiliate of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and OPB Radio, presenting local news coverage and the programs of National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Radio International (PRI). The OPB Web site is opb.org.
For more information, please contact Carol Howard at (503) 977-7751 or carol_howard@opb.org, or visit the Symphony’s website at www.orsymphony.org.
