2009-2010 SEASON
The Good, The Bard & The Pathetique
(Click On Links To Scroll)
Awesome Openings
October 16 & 18, 2009
Purchase tickets now
The Portland Columbia Symphony launches its season with two masterpieces that share similar openings-softly repeated notes hovering in a step-wise motion. Beethoven's G major Piano Concerto ranks among his most lyrical creations and possesses a magical beginning-opening with the piano alone and not the customary orchestral gambit. Local legend, Barbara Roberts is our soloist in this poetic and lofty Concerto. Sibelius' Second Symphony materializes with mesmerizing repeated notes, rising in three steps. A convincing fourth step is added at the end of its famous finale to crown the Symphony with an overwhelming conclusion.
Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
Barbara Roberts, piano
Sibelius
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43
Friday, Oct 16, 7:30 pm
(6:45 preconcert talk)
1838 SW Jefferson St, Portland, Oregon
Sunday, Oct 18, 3:00 pm
Mt. Hood Community College Theater
26000 SE Stark St., Gresham, Oregon
Brush Up Your Shakespeare
November 20 & 22, 2009
Purchase tickets now
Shakespeare's plays and sonnets have inspired numerous musical creations--especially during the Romantic era across Europe, when the Bard's work was being discovered via newly-available translations. Weber's opera Oberon (after A Midsummer Night's Dream) was his last work before he died in London. The ravishing Serenade to Music by Vaughan Williams is based on a passage from The Merchant of Venice and was written as a plea for peace during World War II. Verdi was drawn to Shakespeare's understanding of the vulnerable human condition and Otello illustrates his mastery of dramatic theater. Coral Walterman joins CSO for Desdemona's famous Act IV aria ("Salce, salce") and the moving "Ave Maria." Elgar's Falstaff is a virtuosic symphonic portrayal of Shakespeare's burley rogue as outlined in Henry IV Parts 1 & 2. Local actors Josh Fuhrer and Christy Bigelow recites salient passages from Shakespeare's originals before we perform the musical works that were inspired by these ageless texts.
Weber
Overture to Oberon
Vaughan-Williams
Serenade to Music
Verdi
Scene & Aria from Act IV of Otello
Coral Walterman, soprano
Elgar
Falstaff, study in C minor, Op. 68
Friday, Nov 20, 7:30 pm
(6:45 preconcert talk)
1838 SW Jefferson St, Portland, Oregon
Sunday, Nov 22, 3:00 pm
Mt. Hood Community College Theater
26000 SE Stark St., Gresham, Oregon
Holiday Gift of Music
December 6, 2009
Tickets Available Here
Guest Conductor Travis Hatton leads the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra in its annual Holiday Concert. Special ticket prices for these two performances only: adults/seniors $10 and children are FREE. Reserve your tickets today - these concerts will sell out! An instrument petting zoo is available one hour before each concert.
Prokofiev
Peter & The Wolf
Puppets by Tears of Joy
Kid Favorites
Rudolph, Sleigh Ride, Frosty
Finnegan
Christmas Singalong
The Sleigh by Kountz and Selections from Nursery Rhyme Cantata by Nick Page
Portland Symphonic Encore Girlchoir
Sunday, Dec 6, 1:00pm
Mt. Hood Community College Theater Gresham, Oregon
Sunday, Dec 6, 4:00 pm
Mt. Hood Community College Theater Gresham, Oregon
The Boys of 1810
February 19, 2010
Purchase tickets now
Nicolai, Chopin, and Schumann were all born 200 years ago in 1810 though their music is very different on many levels. Nicolai's most famous claim-to-fame may well be as the founder of the fabled Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Like Johann Strauss, he fostered light opera and The Merry Wives of Windsor is Nicolai's most well-known work, with its catchy and chimerical overture. Chopin's piano music is a benchmark of the early Romantic era and his Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise is rarely performed these days. This concert marks a wonderful homecoming for Angie Zhang, who currently studies at the Juilliard Preparatory School. Schumann's Second Symphony is earthy and genuine music, a work brim full of song-like melodies and a Scherzo movement to make the string players sweat!
Nicolai
Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor
Chopin
Andante Spianato & Grand Polonaise Brilliante
Angie Zhang, piano
Schumann
Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61
Friday, Feb 19, 7:30 pm
(6:45 preconcert talk)
1838 SW Jefferson St, Portland, Oregon
No repeat concert
Closing Statements
March 19 & 21, 2010
Purchase tickets now
This concert pairs the very last works by Bartok and Tchaikovsky,though they are very different in outlook and tone. Bartok's Third Piano Concerto was written while the Hungarian composer was living in New York City and it followed on the heels of his lauded Concerto for Orchestra. Bartok died just before he finished the orchestration of the Concerto's finale but only the second movement hints that this is an essay in final things. Judy Park makes a welcome return to Portland from the Rice University to play this 20th century gem. Tchaikovsky, it seems, was at his happiest when sad! The composer died-in mysterious fashion, just days after the premiere of his melancholic Pathetique Symphony, of which he stated: "It is the best thing I have I ever done and I love it as I have never loved any of my musical offspring."
Bartok
Piano Concerto No. 3
Judy Park, piano
Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 "Pathetique"
Friday, Mar 19, 7:30 pm
(6:45 preconcert talk)
1838 SW Jefferson St, Portland, Oregon
Sunday, Mar 21, 3:00 pm
Mt. Hood Community College Theater
26000 SE Stark St., Gresham, Oregon
Viennese Migrations
April 30, 2010
Purchase tickets now
Composers were drawn to the cultural epicenter of Vienna during the late 18th and 19th centuries. Mozart was desperate to flee the clutches of provincial Salzburg (as well as his suffocating father) and his brilliant Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola was penned just before he made the bold move to Vienna. Oregon Symphony musicians Ines Voglar and Joel Belgique will dazzle you in their CSO solo debuts. Brahms migrated from his native Hamburg -via the Schumann household in Dusseldorf-to Vienna and his Second Symphony premiered there in 1877. It is a sunny and warm work and shows Brahms in holiday mood, the work's finale being the most exuberant and happy movement of any of his four symphonies and a great way to conclude CSO's 28th season.
Mozart
Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major, K. 364
Ines Voglar and Joel Belgique, violin & viola
Brahms
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
Friday, April 30, 7:30 pm
(6:45 preconcert talk)
1838 SW Jefferson St, Portland, Oregon
Tickets
You may purchase tickets through CSO at (503) 234-4077 or cso@pacifier.com
Tickets are also available at the door one hour before each performance.
Purchase and print tickets online from our partner
An additional fee may apply.
Single Tickets:
Adult: $30
Senior (60 and over): $25
Student (13 and over): $10
Child (12 and under): $5
Family Pass: $65 (good for 2 adults and all children in the family)
Season Ticket Package:
Includes five tickets good for any subscription concert at either location.
Purchase Season Ticket Package now.
Adult: $120
Senior (60+): $100
Student (13 and over): $40
Child (12 and under): $20
Wild Card Ticket Package:
Use these three-ticket packages in any combination for subscription concerts at either location. Purchase Wild Card Ticket Package now.
Adult: $81
Senior (60 and over): $66
Student (13 and over): $21
Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra
PO Box 6559
Portland, Oregon 97228