Clips & Articles: Music
I review the Seattle and Portland operas, and smaller opera companies, for Portland-based Oregon ArtsWatch and Artslandia, and for Classical Voice North America, the official web site of the Music Critics Association of North America, of which I am a member. I write about classical, chamber and jazz music for Oregon ArtsWatch, Classical Voice North America, and previously, for Oregon Music News, concertonet.com and Northwest Reverb. For more stories and music reviews, check the archives at www.columbian.com between 1995-2006. My 2005 National Endowment for the Arts and Columbia Journalism grant helped immensely in music coverage.
Now the opera is news: “Fellow Travelers” from Seattle Opera to Portland Opera
The 2016 “Lavender Scare” opera, now on a tenth anniversary tour, played in Seattle last month and opens in Portland for a four performance run this weekend.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch March 2026
Ten years ago, Fellow Travelers “was history; now the opera is news,” said author Thomas Mallon opening night Feb. 21 at Seattle Opera. His book, Fellow Travelers, was published in 2007, almost 20 years ago. The opera premiered in Cincinnati in 2016. Read More
What does blue mean to you?: Cécile McLorin Salvant at Alberta Rose
The powerhouse singer ranged from jazz and blues to folk songs and ballads in an early PDX Jazz Festival show with her trio.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch February 2026
Cécile McLorin Salvant, better known as Cécile, was back in Portland Feb. 10, this time at the fairly intimate (300-400 seats, depending on the concert configuration) Alberta Rose Theatre. PDX Jazz brought in the MacArthur Fellow, Grammy Award winner and utterly original jazz vocalist as an appetizer to the Biamp Portland Jazz Festival. Read More
“What is Your Hand in This?”: A powerful call for a better world
Davóne Tines and Ruckus present a rousing multi-genre program of music from Stephen Foster to George Frideric Handel and Sam Cooke.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch February 2026
“What is my hand in this?
While you listen to this song,
Will you try to right your wrong, asking,
What is my hand in this?” Read More
The story of the song: Jimmie Herrod with the Oregon Symphony
The singing phenom joined the orchestra, under the leadership of composer and arranger Jeff Tyzik, for an evening of jazz standards and originals that was part Las Vegas, part Old Hollywood, and part disco.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch January 2026
Jimmie Herrod’s dazzling concert with the Oregon Symphony this month wasn’t sold out but it should have been. “Divas: Jimmie Herrod Salutes Jazz” Jan. 24 and 25 at the 2,776-seat Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall starred the 35-year-old Tacoma-born singing phenom. It was thrilling to see him on such a big stage, backed by the orchestra, right at home and right in tune. He’s an original in a natty suit, and some say he has the voice of an angel. Read More
Like a prayer: Bassist Edgar Meyer’s trio with violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Joshua Roman
The string trio performed music by Bach and Meyer – without a page of sheet music – at The Reser for Chamber Music Northwest.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch January 2026
BEAVERTON – It’s no surprise that Edgar Meyer’s concert with his brilliant new touring partners, violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Joshua Roman, sold out Jan. 10 at the 550-seat Patricia Reser Center for the Arts. Chamber Music Northwest presented the concert, and has invited Meyer to play many times. He has performed 25 CMNW concerts since 1992. Six years have passed since his most recent visit in 2019. Read More
Shimmering voices: Trio Mediæval with guests Caroline Shaw & Danni Lee
The Norwegian-Swedish vocal trio invited the Oregonian duo to join them on their recent Friends of Chamber Music concert in Portland.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch December 2025
By this time of year, Christmas songs are already stale. “Jolly Old St. Nick” and “Silent Night”(mare) are on repeat in every store and restaurant. Don’t get discouraged. Trio Mediæval relieves any holiday music anguish with their crystal-clear voices. This group, from Norway and Sweden, sings new arrangements of Scandinavian tunes, English carols and German and Northern European folk songs, mostly in an a capella form. Read More
An amazing run: Portland State Opera’s production of “The Eleanors”
Composer/librettist Jodi Goble and co-librettist Michael Ching’s WWII-era opera celebrates the Greatest Generation.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch December 2025
“Carrying on in public like that? You’re just a bunch of Eleanor Roosevelts!” grumbles a curmudgeonly old guy performed by actor Paul Mortimer, who juggles several small roles. He has just entered Mr. Pete’s soda shop the last year of World War II when he begins carping at the vivacious women gathered around the table sipping their malts and milkshakes. Read More
A tragedy crackling with comedy: Portland Opera’s “La Bohème”
PO’s seasonal warhorse production at The Keller, running through November 23, hits all the marks.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch November 2025
Cara Consilvio, directing her second La Bohème this week since 2017 at Portland Opera, said she is thrilled if an operagoer leaves everyday life behind to travel to the world onstage. In La Bohème’s case, she loves it when audiences can immerse themselves for a couple of hours in Giacomo Puccini’s music, in the entire production. Read More
A sense of fragrance and bloom: Trio Afiori and composer Alex Ho
An interview with the British-Chinese composer — commissioned by the recently formed trio of pianist Gloria Chien, clarinetist Anthony McGill, and mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron — ahead of the trio's upcoming Chamber Music Northwest concert.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch November 2025
Trio Afiori is new on the music scene pursuing its national breakout “Heritage” tour. If recently formed, the trio packs personality, plenty of experience, and performance credibility. Read More
Local, local, local
As part of the “Sounds Like Portland” festival, OSO and Grant premiered Schiff’s new piano concerto, Large performed Kurt Weill’s “Seven Deadly Sins,” and the orchestra performed the young composer’s “Ostinato.”
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch November 2025
The Oregon Symphony’s three-week Sounds Like Portland festival in late October and early November brings home the truth: Portland is a hotbed of engaging and eclectic music, but too often the symphony has left its composers and performers out in the rain. Read More
