Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra
Our mission is to entertain, inspire and engage our community through musical excellence and affordable concerts.
December 7 – The Grand Finale
Radetzky March by Strauss with Phil Andrus conducting.
Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky.
Violin Concerto in E minor by Mendelssohn
with soloist Myroslava Khomik.
Chimacum High School Auditorium, 7:30 pm.
Click “Continue Reading” for access to the program notes by Miles Vokurka.
Continue reading “CONCERT: Dec. 7, 2019 – The Grand Finale”
Ukrainian-born violinist Myroslava Khomik is a top prize winner of international competitions and awards, including the Remember Enescu Competition in Romania, and the New Names of Ukraine .
She has appeared as a soloist and as a chamber music collaborator in concerts and festivals throughout the US, Europe, South America and Asia, and her performances were broadcast on National TV and Radio in Ukraine, Spain, the US, Japan, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. In May of 2019 she was named a New Artist 2018 by the Classical Music Critics Association of Argentina after her successful debut in Buenos Aires with the Orquesta de Cámara del Congreso de la Nación.
Based in Los Angeles, Ms. Khomik is an avid promoter of contemporary composers, educational outreach, and regularly participates in premieres of new works. Most recent highlights include two new commissions for solo violin and an upcoming release of her debut album; performances with Orquestra Sinfonica EAFIT i n Medellin, Colombia, Orquesta Filarmónica de Zacatecas, Sinfonica Orquestra de Barra Mansa, Orquestra de la Societat de Concerts de Barcelona, Kyiv Kamerata, as well as residencies in Brazil and Argentina with music programs for underprivileged children.
A devoted chamber music advocate, Ms. Khomik had the privilege of collaborating and performing alongside many distinguished artists, such as members of the Borromeo, Jerusalem, Ysaye and Tokyo String Quartets, Midori Goto, Oleh Krysa, Carol Wincec, Fred Sherry, Ronald Leonard, Robert Davidovici, Michelle Zukovsky, Antonio Lysy, Guillaume Sutre, Movses Pogossian, among others. She frequently appears in chamber music series in Los Angeles (LACMA Sundays Live, Broad Stage Series, Redcat Series, among others), in New York and throughout Europe.
Ms. Khomik received her Performance Diploma from Lviv Krushelnytska School of Music in Ukraine, and after continuing her education in the US she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she also held a position of the Teaching Associate of Chamber Music in the string department.
Ms. Khomik regularly performs with several orchestras in Los Angeles, including the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. She can be heard on various recordings for film and television, and is a member of the Las Vegas Philharmonic. Ms. Khomik served as an adjunct professor at Fullerton College and is currently on faculty as a violin and chamber music teaching artist at Biola University and at the Montecito International Music Festival.
PTSO violinist Tom Berg, age 97, has played violin for almost 90 years.
A life of music is the music of life.
Here he is 1943 and 1961.
Dave Krabill performs on a vintage Heckel bassoon made in 1928. He practices for at least a couple of hours each day.
https://www.ptleader.com/stories/port-townsend-symphony-orchestra-2019-2020-season-opens,65760Leader photo by Chris McDaniel Leader photo by Chris McDaniel Posted Thursday, October 24, 2019 1:49 pm
Chris McDaniel
cmcdaniel@ptleader.com
When Dave Krabill was just a wee lad growing up on an Ohio farm, he gladly traded a pair of udders for ivory keys.
“I practiced the piano an hour a day when I was a kid, and the basson half an hour a day,” Krabill said. “My dad told me I didn’t have to come out and milk the cows in the morning if I practiced the hour of piano. After school, it was in the barn.”
Krabill, 68, of Port Townsend, is principal bassoonist with the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra and co-principal bassoonist with the Port Angeles Symphony and the Port Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Even though he has been performing bassoon for about most of his life,Krabill still practices his chops for hours a day. His goal now is to perform “Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major,” by Mozart without errors during the season opening show of the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra.
Continue reading “The Leader: Practicing perfection Bassoonist Dave Krabill featured during PT Symphony Orchestra opener”
David Krabill is principal bassoonist with the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra and co-principal bassoonist with the Port Angeles Symphony and the Port Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Originally from Ohio, Dave studied at Kent State University and had further studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He spent several summers at the Blossom Festival of Music studying with members of the Cleveland Orchestra.
He moved to Canada in the early 1970s to play principal bassoon with the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He also performed frequently for CBC Radio and Television. Along with his wife, Anne, he was a member of the East Coast Woodwind Trio and the Scotia Winds quintet, and taught bassoon and chamber music at Dalhousie University.
Dave plays on a vintage Heckel bassoon made in 1928.
Dave and Anne raised their four children in Port Townsend and they are delighted that their two grandsons also call Port Townsend home.
by Stephen R. Ricketts, Orchestra Historian
September 2019
It was February of 1987. An article in the Port Townsend Leader proclaimed, “Cellist Launches Solo Effort to Create County Orchestra”. Michael Ann Burnett, organizer and director of a new Port Townsend amateur orchestra said, “I really want to hear from people who are using the barrels of their clarinets as match holders”. The call went out to closet musicians to bring your instrument to the Port Townsend High School orchestra room on Thursday evening, February 19. It was off the ground. The orchestra was put together as a non-profit organization, with tuition from participants and a promise that concerts would always be free.
The first concert of the Port Townsend Community Orchestra was during the Port Townsend Rhododendron Festival on May 14, 1987, at the Fort Worden Theater. The orchestra was composed of 46 performers being directed by Michael-Ann Burnett. The music was high school level arrangements.
To be honest, we did sound like some of us had been using our instruments for match holders over the years. Some of us had last played 20 years before in school. A few had started learning an instrument as an adult and had never played in a concert, and the timpanist had never played one before. We were held together by a few much more accomplished musicians, including local band teachers and retired and professional musicians. We also didn’t have a very balanced instrumentation as our 9 flutes could attest. Much of the first audience was made up of our families and friends…but we had an orchestra.
Continue reading “Port Townsend Community Orchestra History”by Carl Hanson July 2019
The Port Townsend Community Orchestra began when an Advertisement was placed in the local Port Townsend Leader urging area musicians to pull their instruments out of the attic, dust them off, and come together on Tuesday evenings to begin rehearsing music to be shared with the community. To support the orchestra, players were asked to pay a tuition fee of $25 per concert. The continued generous support of our area communities has eliminated the tuition though members are still encouraged to donate. The original board members behind this effort were Sandy Barker, Helen Bonny, Janel Carlson, Kathy Hill, Dott Kelly, and Bob Marriott. The orchestra began in the Spring of 1987 under the direction of Michael-Ann Burnett — a cello player who offered cello lessons at her local music studio — with the premiere performance held at the Wheeler Theater at Fort Worden State Park, May 24, 1987.
Once rehearsals began preparatory to the premier performance, I was asked to serve on the board as a representative for the playing members. Among the first to respond to my request for volunteers to assist with various tasks was Joanie Hendricks who began serving for many years as Orchestra Librarian and Historian. By the time we entered our first full season, I began serving as Vice President of the board.
With rehearsals held at Port Townsend High School, performances continued at the Wheeler Theater at Fort Worden State Park until the audience seating was surpassed in 1991. Performances then moved to Port Townsend High School and then eventually to Chimacum High School with some alternating between the two schools.
Continue reading “The Port Townsend Community Orchestra’s Humble Beginnings”
By Anne Midgette Classical music critic October 1
Classical music isn’t always welcoming to newcomers. People who dare to ask questions about the genre tend to preface them with a lot of apologies for their own ignorance and for how stupid they assume their question is going to sound. But once we get past that, there’s one question I hear again and again.
Why does an orchestra need a conductor? And what, exactly, does a conductor do?
It’s not a stupid question. Plenty of people ask it. Whole books have been written on the topic, such as John Mauceri’s recent “Maestros and Their Music,” one conductor’s smart and engaging view of the art. Musicians joke about it — warning colleagues not to look at a conductor they dislike, since his podium antics may prove a distraction to playing the music. Then there are orchestras that play without conductors, including the New York-based Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Such groups sound very good, but when I hear them play with a soloist, I often come away feeling that something is missing.
Click on link to read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/what-does-a-conductor-do-anyway-a-music-critic-lays-it-out/2019/10/01/5205df24-decb-11e9-be96-6adb81821e90_story.html
The Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra board shows off an enlarged version of the group’s new logo. Pictured in front row, from left, are Kristin Smith, Tigran Arakelyan and Robert Nathan; standing, from left, are Denise Sample, Miles Vokurka, Vicki Mansfield, Tom Berg, Lesa Barnes, Arianna Golden, Nan Toby Tyrrell, Pat Yearian, Nancy Miskimins and graphic artist James Sample.
The Port Townsend
Symphony Orchestra (PTSO) has announced the schedule for its
2019-2020 concert season with a new name, mission statement, logo and
website.
Formed in 1987 and known for 32 years as the Port
Townsend Community Orchestra, the orchestra board and its members
recently decided to change the name to Port Townsend Symphony
Orchestra to reflect the important strides they have made since their
inception. The orchestra now performs a wide range of works,
including symphonies, works by minority and living composers, as well
as scores from movies, television, and operas. Featured soloists,
both local and visiting artists, further enhance the symphonic
experience.