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.
The appalling miscarriage of justice: ‘Central Park Five’ at Portland Opera
PO’s dramatic, harrowing staging of the Pulitzer-winning opera.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch March 2022
Absolutely stunning. Riveting. The best and most ambitious production Portland Opera has presented in my 31 years of reviewing. PO continues to up the ante.
I’m referring to the 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning The Central Park Five, which has two more performances March 24 and March 26 at the Newmark Theatre. Read More
The power of words: Darius Wallace and Jasnam Daya Singh with Portland Chamber Orchestra
PCO commission ‘My Words Are My Sword’ pulls together poetry and music.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch March 2022
Music drama? Collage? Spoken-word piece? One-man show? Multi-media chamber collaboration?
My Words Are My Sword is all of those. Read More
A fun-loving give-and-take connection: PDX Jazz Fest 2022
Ten days and nights of live music with Diane Schuur, Domo Branch, Mel Brown B-3 Organ Group, Brandee Younger, and more.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch March 2022
The PDX Jazz Festival, in its 19th year, brought the Rose City 10 days and nights of live music from Feb. 17 through Feb. 26. This time, real performances and real audiences replaced the last two years’ virtual ones. Read More
Closing the loop: Jeremy Denk’s acrobatic dexterity
Virtuoso pianist performs the complete J.S. Bach ‘Well-Tempered Clavier’ for CMNW at The Old Church.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch February 2022
The most beautiful moments of Chamber Music Northwest’s evening with virtuoso pianist Jeremy Denk and his masterful presentation of the almost two-hour long J.S. Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 were the end — and the beginning. Read More
The Jazz Scene, part one: Boy, has it changed
A brief overview of jazz in Portland
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch February 2022
“Boy, has it changed.”
Rita Rega is talking about Portland jazz, which she has watched, nurtured and promoted since 1985. “I have a pretty long view of this scene.” Read More
The Jazz Scene, part two: It comes alive at the 1905
When Jimmy Mak's disappeared, NoPo's 1905 arrived – and it's still Portland's only all-jazz spot.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch February 2022
One night, pianist Tom Grant is taming the Yamaha C3 with “Nice Work if You Can Get It.” And the next, it’s multi-instrumentalist —though primarily pianist and Portland State University Jazz Studies professor — George Colligan pulling another tune out one of his many musical hats. Read More
The Jazz Scene, part three: The ones who got away
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch February 2022
Young, talented and the future of jazz, they were mentored by Portland music royalty. They learned to bang out “Back at the Chicken Shack,” “Green Dolphin Street” and “Autumn Leaves,” to listen carefully to the jazz greats, to practice diligently and often, and to master the mysterious art of improvisation. Read More
Let us love: The ‘Sun Comes Out’ at Portland Opera
Queer-themed Canadian opera makes U.S. premiere at Hampton Opera Center.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch February 2022
When the Sun Comes Out opened in 2013 in Canada, commissioned by the Vancouver Queer Arts Festival. Now, a long eight years later, the new-music opera by Japanese-Canadian Leslie Uyeda with a gorgeous libretto by Canadian poet Rachel Rose, finally premieres in the United States. Read More
Other worlds beyond Earth: Seattle Opera’s ‘Orpheus’
A stunning staging with top-notch design and choreography brings Gluck's 1762 music into a thoroughly contemporary Underworld.
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch January 2022
Since the 1600s, countless Orpheus and Eurydice operas have been staged. Today, several have been making the rounds, including Matthew Aucoin’s (with playwright Sarah Ruhl’s libretto) Eurydice, written from Eurydice’s point of view. Read More
It always works out: A joyful journey with David Krakauer and Portland Chamber Orchestra
Rock star clarinetist and PCO celebrate Hanukkah with klezmer improvisations and a Wlad Marhulets concerto
Originally Published in Oregon ArtsWatch December 2021
Hanukkah, klezmer music, and David Krakauer united in Portland Chamber Orchestra’s “Joyful Journey” Dec. 4 at northwest Portland’s Trinity Episcopal Church. The exuberant musical trip through celebratory and revived Eastern European Jewish (Ashkenazi) music lived up to its billing. Read More