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.
We started up again in September with renewed energy. The orchestra was open to any musician at least 13 years old. There was a tuition charged of $30 per member each quarter. We had a get-acquainted party with rehearsals starting a week later. We headed for our December Christmas program with 35 instrumentalists.
In March 1988, Michael-Ann was our first soloist. We were directed by guest conductor, Mark Adamo, the Port Townsend High School band director who also played with us. Michael-Ann played Kol Nidrei by Bruch.
In an attempt to enliven the programs and appeal to a larger audience, the May, 1988, program brought in special guests “Swing Set”, a “big band” directed by Gus Lindquist. The free concert presented a program of jazz and popular songs.
The Christmas, 1988, concert included an 18-voice community choir organized by Marilyn Sterbick Hammond.
In January of 1989, we received a letter from Michael-Ann that she had decided to resign as director of the orchestra. We were all in shock. Would we be able to continue?
The board was ahead of us and had located Dick Ballou and asked him to be the new conductor. He was a retired director of bands at Brigham Young University and had founded their marching band. His expertise was in the French horn and trumpet.
Our first concert with Dick brought in some talented artists in a quartet…Jaclyn LaRue on oboe, Richard Call on clarinet, Allan Bennett on bassoon, and Aubrey J. Bouck on French horn. A. J. Bouck in particular was a world class musician, playing French horn with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Liza Minelli on their “Ultimate Event World Tour”. It was quite a thrill for the orchestra members to have musicians of this caliber coaxing us to do our best.
The Fort Worden Theater was getting to be a snug fit, so in the fall of 1989 we tried the Port Townsend High School Auditorium. Then in May of 1991 we moved the concerts to the Chimacum High School Auditorium for more space.
At the Christmas concert in 1989, back at Fort Worden, the last piece we played was White Christmas. That was a piece we really were able to get into and some in the audience started saying that maybe there really was something to this orchestra after all. There was real potential. We all felt good about it and that piece became an annual orchestra tradition at the December concert.
In February 1990, under leadership of President David Speck we finally incorporated and adopted Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation. We now had some rules to live by.
We tried different types of music with more challenging fare such as Phantom of the Opera, Light Cavalry Overture and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. We brought in Gail Phillips as trumpet soloist who also performed on the piccolo trumpet for “Concerto for Trumpet, Strings and Continuo” by Torelli. We were up to 51 musicians.
In the winter concert of 1991, we had an Orchestral Solo Night. It featured our orchestra violinists, recorders, harpsichord, a soprano, and then featured every section of the orchestra.
For the spring concert, pianist John Ranney performed the Chopin First Piano Concerto. He was a professional pianist who had lived in Los Angeles, writing and performing scores for films and commercials as well as being on the staff of the University of Southern California and Marymount University in Los Angeles. After 25 years of teaching, he switched careers and became the innkeeper in Port Townsend at the Ravenscroft Inn. In this performance we moved back to the Chimacum High School Auditorium. We just couldn’t have standing room only for our audiences and the Chimacum Auditorium was the biggest place around with capacity for 500.
We continued to perform with some marvelous soloists, including: Chuck Easton, guitar; Kristen Smith, violin; Lisa Lanza, piano; and Dr. Irene Bowling, piano. We also had some marvelous small instrumental and vocal groups perform with us.
The November 1989 concert was a special one. It was our first “premier performance’ of an author’s work. Nick Dallett of Port Townsend composed and conducted “Northwest Cowboys” in partial fulfillment of an orchestration and conducting class at Regis University in Colorado.
In May 1994, Dick Ballou directed his final concert with the Port Townsend orchestra. He had decided to move to Utah and begin a second retirement. With Dick, the orchestra had expanded to over 50 musicians and expanded our repertoire. During his tenure he had introduced the orchestra to a variety of music. Now we were all left with “What now?”
The orchestra board contacted Ed Grier, Nico Snell, Dewey Ehling, and A.J. Bouck asking for interest in becoming the new P.T. Community Orchestra conductor and artistic director. In order to meet the orchestra and understand our skills, they were each invited to be a guest conductor and conduct one concert through the performance year of 1994-95. It was a challenging but rewarding time as they each had their own styles and expectations. After the experience on both sides, Nico and A.J. withdrew as candidates. After the orchestra members considered the candidates, submitted comments, and voted, the final choice was Dewey Ehling.
Dewey had received a degree in music in his native state of Kansas and served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He then moved to Alaska where he conducted the Anchorage Youth Symphony, the Anchorage Community Chorus, the New Madrigal Singers, and numerous operas and musicals. He also was the president of the Alaska Festival of Music. In 1986 he moved to Port Angeles where he was director and conductor of the Port Angeles Light Opera Association, played oboe in the Port Angeles Symphony, the Port Angeles Symphony Chamber Orchestra, and the Turtle Bluff Chamber Orchestra. He also conducted the Peninsula Chamber Singers and was director of worship and music at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
Dewey started taking the orchestra to a new level. At the end of his first year we played our first full-length symphony with “Reformation Symphony” by Felix Mendelssohn. Dewey discussed it with the audience and then had the orchestra demonstrate the major themes. The audience was getting an education along with the orchestra members.
In November 1996, Richard Call brought a new instrument to the orchestra, a basset horn. He described it for the audience and then played “Concerto in F Major for Basset Horn and Orchestra” by Alessandro Rolla.
We continued with skilled soloists including Lisa Lanza, piano; Otto Eifert, bassoon; orchestra member Otto Smith, concertina; Jaclyn La Rue, oboe and English horn; Kurt Reeser, French horn; Bill Peters, trombone; Chris Cox, trumpet; and Marilyn Sterbick, soprano.
In 1997, we took part in a special fund-raising program to benefit United Good Neighbors. It was called “Celebration of the Best of Jefferson County” to be held at the Fort Worden McCurdy Pavilion. The concert included the Port Townsend Community Orchestra, the Chuck Easton Quartet, the Wild Rose Chorale, and Gwendolyn Moore of Turtle Bluff.
Our planned soloist for the February 1999 concert, Larry Curtis, died the previous October. This changed the direction of the concert. The planned solo was played on clarinet by Dave Hargrove, normally the orchestra’s principle bassoonist. He played Mozart’s “Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra” in honor of Curtis. We also played “It’s a Wonderful World” with Mary Lou Montgomery, vocalist, and Chris Cox, trumpet, in memorial. This brought cards and letters to the orchestra exclaiming that it was a wonderful performance and the orchestra was remarkable in its improvement.
The May 1999, concert was dedicated to Bob Polishuk. He was an orchestra member who had died in January. It featured Pat Spaeth, piano, in a Scott Joplin ragtime “Suite for Piano and Orchestra”. Then Kristin Smith played several moving pieces from the movie “Schindler’s List”. It sent shivers up your spine.
The 1999 Holiday Concert started a new challenge for the audience in “Name that tune”. Bits of motion picture title songs were played and the audience was asked to identify them.
The spring 2000 concert included a performance of “Artist’s Life” by Johann Strauss II, dedicated to the memory of Wendell Tietsworth, orchestra violinist who had passed away. The concert also brought a performance of the concert version of H.M.S. Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan. A cast of vocal soloists familiar to local audiences performed it.
In February 2001, we again had an opportunity to debut a work by a local composer. Michael Thomsett of Port Townsend wrote the “Brighton Symphony” which celebrated his birthplace of Brighton, England.
In the new century we continued with soloists at each concert: Judy Johnson, flute; JoAnne Young, Cello; Vidya Speck, clarinet; Hillary Nordwell, piano; Zachary Nordwell, cello; Kim Clarke, piccolo trumpet; Stefan Pulchalski, tuba; Mark Duffin vocalist; Lisa Lanza, piano.
We started to get a flurry of world premier performances. Following Michael Thomsett’s 2001 debut, Karl Bach came in with “Sea Chanty Voyage” and then “Fort Worden Centennial March”. Michael Thomsett countered with “The Heritage Suite”. Karl came back with “Petite Suite for Orchestra” and “The Red Hat Triptych”. Oh, what talented people we have in Port Townsend.
In our October 2005, concert we had another memorial for orchestra member Valerie Harris, cello, who died in June. We played four pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach in her memory.
In June of 2005 something new was tried. We had a fund raiser Pops Concert. This was held at Fort Worden Commons with $15 admission. Dewey asked Carol Swarbrick Dries, a Broadway star who lives in Sequim, to join us. She was a smash hit and we were sold out.
We tried again in June of 2006. Carol was so popular in 2005 that we brought her back. This time the theme was the Big Band and the Hit Parade of the 1940’s. We put together a big band from members of the orchestra and others as needed. Again, it was a smashing success.
Soloists in 2006 included: Roger Crook, French Horn; Alan Rawson, violin; Kristin Smith, viola; and Barbara Henry, violin.
In October 2006, Dewey began delivering a preconcert director’s lecture. He discussed the composer, the history leading up to it and things to listen for in the music as it was performed. He could spend more time and go into more depth than what he could between pieces during the concert. It was well received by the audience as well as orchestra members who slipped in to listen.
The Holiday Concert in 2006 was special in that we honored orchestra member and orchestra board member and treasurer, Tom Berg. Tom was a survivor of Pearl Harbor; he was serving on the USS Tennessee when the Japanese attacked. He selected a concert program of the National Anthem, Mozart, and various marches. Tom displayed his violin that was with him on the Tennessee and is also a survivor. He described his experience to an audience that was silent and attentive to every word. The orchestra put together a scrapbook to honor him.
Beethoven was the theme to start off 2007. We were joined by the Peninsula Singers chorus of Port Angeles which Dewey also conducted. They added a special dimension to the concert. It was topped off by an incredible performance by Sandy Rawson on the piano, who was accompanied by chorus and orchestra in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in c minor, op. 80. The spring concert theme featured works of Richard Wagner.
On the start of our 21st year we had a theme for the year of “Celebrating, 20-year “Reflections”. We had a new glossy colored program with the orchestra picture on it. We created a board with all the orchestra member’s pictures and names for the audience to identify with the players. We also had two history boards with newspaper articles and programs from the last 20 years to indicate our growth. The fall concert brought back Michael-Ann Burnett, our first director repeating her March, 1988, performance of Kol Nidrei, op 47.
The winter concert of February 23, 2008, brought Port Townsend High School senior Ben Krabill as soloist playing the marimba. He played the Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra by Paul Creston and then without accompaniment he played Petals in the Wind by Yasutaki Inamori. He brought down the house! He had recently won top honors at regional high school contests. The orchestra also played Academic Festival Overture by Brahms and Symphony No 2 in E minor by Amy Beach which was also well received by the audience.
The spring concert on May 3 had Dennis Crabb playing recorder with the orchestra strings. We played Victory at Sea in memory of Murray Ritland. He was a local supporter and upon his death funds were donated to the orchestra which were used to purchase music. One of his favorite pieces was Victory at Sea. Ruffin LeBrane narrated The Plow that Broke the Plains which came from a documentary documenting the dust bowl in the 1930’s. We concluded the concert with a rousing Stars and Stripes Forever.
The fall season began with the Star Spangled Banner, a new version which has been used at the Olympic Games. It’s beautiful, but we could hardly hear it with the audience lustily singing along. The Egyptian by Luigini was the first piece and everyone loved it. We played it well and it was crisp and dynamic. The Jupiter Symphony by Mozart was amazing. He wrote that along with two others in a period of six weeks. The Egmont Overture is always a crowd pleaser and had Dewey jumping off his feet a couple of times in directing the music. Then Soloist Matthew Daline, who started his career as our Concertmaster at age of 15, returned as Assistant Professor of Viola, Louisiana State University with a 17th Century Viola to play Concerto in D major for Viola and Orchestra by Carl Stamitz. It was definitely a crowd pleaser and then when he received the customary bouquet of flowers he turned and gave them to Orchestra member, Pat Yearian, his first violin teacher. He was very popular with the audience for that!
Our 2009 season began when our concert fell on Halloween night. All orchestra members dressed in costumes. The “prize” went to Paul Shepherd who became a very ugly woman. The audience also had people who dressed up for the day. The theme was “fright night”. The concert was very successful, one of our best, and we had a full house.
April 2010 focused on local musician and Scotland native, Andy Mackie. Andy had spent many hours in creating string instruments for children and teaching how to play them in local schools. With a popular community draw like Andy and his students we had a full house. After a rousing start with Poet and Peasant and Colonel Bogey March, Andy Mackie and the Chimacum School alternative education (Pi) program joined the orchestra. Andy played harmonica and sang several Scottish pieces with the orchestra and the students played several pieces. One was a student written piece, “Shine”, which the audience enjoyed. Following the presentation by Andy and his friends, the orchestra had a special presentation for him. Conductor Dewey Ehling handed the baton to percussionist, Karl Bach, who handed a bass drum stick to Dewey, and then conducted the world premiere of a piece he had written and dedicated to Andy Mackie, “Scottish Schottische”. Then Karl handed a signed copy of the music to Andy. The rest of the concert was also well received. Dave Speck was a special announcer during the concert which was enjoyed by all.
October 2010 was an all-Beethoven concert. With a full house we started with The Ruins of Athens. It was short; then we got to what everyone was waiting for. Lisa Lanza of Port Townsend playing the Piano Concerto No. 3. Lisa is a world class pianist and didn’t disappoint anyone. It was a standing ovation after a great performance. After the intermission the orchestra played Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F Major. It seemed like an after-thought following the Concerto but went very well. Dewey told us at the dress rehearsal that the orchestra had come a long way. We’d stepped up another notch. He didn’t think that we would have been able to pull this off three years ago. It was a great concert, and everyone felt good about it. While playing, I could only think of the early concerts when we had just started, and we felt embarrassed. This time I felt like I was in a “real” orchestra. Huzzah!
February 2011, after 6” of snow a couple of days before, bitter cold following, missing a regular rehearsal due to weather, a dress rehearsal with no heat, a smaller than usual audience, the orchestra pulled it together for a wonderful performance. We felt like a team in touch with each other. We all felt it. The dynamics and timing worked. Some of the pieces we had played in past years, yet I truly heard, felt, and enjoyed them for the first time. It worked! Anne Krabill demonstrated and played a flawless performance on the rare d’amore oboe. This is an oboe larger than the normal oboe, yet smaller than an English horn. Dewey told the audience and orchestra that he was very impressed that we all came through and pulled it off. A great performance!
April 2011 was the day before Easter and there was some concern that an audience might not come out for a concert. However, it was almost a full house. While it was designated a pops concert, Dewey had done Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Gondoliers” with the Peninsula Singers the previous summer and thought it would be fun for them to do it with the orchestra since they had already done all the work for preparing it. It was said by audience members that it sure was a different concert. It was well done, and the audience showed their love with a standing ovation. Dewey asked if they liked this type of concert and they all shouted, “Yes!”.
In December 2011 we had a full house to honor our Olympic Peninsula Pearl Harbor Survivors on their 70th anniversary. There was music to honor our country and also a Song of Norway selection to honor Tom Berg’s heritage. Tom is a member of the orchestra and Pearl Harbor survivor along with his violin, also a Pearl Harbor survivor. There were also four other survivors who were honored. Following several pieces, Director Dewey Ehling, spoke of each of the guests and then presented Tom with a personal letter from President Barack Obama and a copy of a proclamation by the U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama designating Dec 7, 2010 as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Copies of each of these are in the orchestra archives.
Following the Stars and Stripes Forever March and an intermission, the orchestra moved into more holiday music including a sing-along. The audience loved the program.
In January 2012, we played an afternoon concert at Chimacum High School auditorium as a fund raiser for our orchestra member, Linda Lou Marshall, who had been diagnosed with Stage 3 Lung Cancer. She was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation and acquiring significant medical bills. She lived alone, worked out of her home and had a mortgage. We thought we could help. All proceeds from the concert went to Linda Lou. The Port Townsend Summer Band played first; then the Chuck Easton Jazz Ensemble; then a Quodliped for Oboe and English horn, a mixture of classical and modern tunes, played by Anne Krabill and Johanna Jacobsen which was a crowd pleaser. Then the orchestra played. It was snowing which kept some people home, yet there was a full complement of both band and orchestra members, and while the audience was smaller than usual, we still raised $5,000.
December 2012 had a full house and an enthusiastic audience. The Peninsula Singers joined the orchestra along with soloists, Vicki Helwick, mezzo-soprano, and Joel Yelland, baritone. We increased prices for cookies at intermission, the first-time price increase, at $1 for coffee and $1.50 to $2.00 for cookies. Some were concerned that it would slow cookie sales, but there were few complaints and the orchestra increased donations by $250 over previous sales.
October 2013 was not quite a full house, but a nice audience. Our soloist was Chinese student, Anson Ka Lik Sin, who had been a student at Peninsula College in Port Angeles and had played violin with us in the spring of 2013. He graduated from Peninsula College and returned to his native Hong Kong studying for a BA in music. He made the return trip to the United States specifically to solo for our fall concert on both the piano and violin. It was his first concert other than playing in contests. He was told that he played well beyond his years…he turned twenty just before the concert. It was a magnificent performance and standing ovation by the audience. He used no written music in either piece; it was all memorized.
The past year we had played a portion of Borodin’s Symphony No 2 in B minor at each concert. At this concert we put it all together and played the whole piece. The audience loved it! One comment from an orchestra player’s spouse was that this was the best concert they had heard us play. Enough said!
December 2013, as usual, saw a full house for the Christmas concert. This concert featured several soloists from the orchestra. Dewey had said anyone who wanted to was welcome to solo and he would write the orchestra accompaniment. Otto Smith played “Shepherds Hey” on concertina. He brought some dancers to demonstrate the dances which are done with this music. Barbara McColgan Pastore played a gorgeous harp solo of “What Child is This”. Anne Krabill played “Gabriel’s Oboe”, the main theme from the movie “The Mission”. It was a hauntingly beautiful piece. Steve Ricketts played the Welsh folk song “All Through the Night” on the recorder. The orchestra accompanied, but on the last time through dropped out and audience and orchestra hummed along with the solo recorder. The audience loves participation pieces and along with this they sang a number of carols. It was a very popular concert.
October 2014
This is new. We decided to have our concerts on Sunday afternoons rather than Saturday evenings so people wouldn’t have to drive after dark. It might bring in new audience members. Some people and orchestra members appreciated this and others said they wanted to come but preferred Saturday evening. There were new people who showed up and we had a mostly full auditorium. They were very appreciative. We did get $480 in cookie sales which was much better, but only half the donations at the door, a little over $700. Our soloist was Michael Helwick, Port Angeles High School Senior on the double base. He showed us the range of the instrument which we’d never heard before. He did an excellent job and received a standing ovation. His proud mother was Vicki Helwick, who has sung with us. The theme for this year was “Thank You to Dewey” in his 20th year as director. Hollie Kaufman also directed two pieces as Dewey had been having health problems. Hollie did a superb job conducting. Karl Hanson at the end of the first half of the concert told the audience about the orchestra history and how Dewey had played a part for twenty years in bringing the orchestra to new levels.
In November 2014, the orchestra accompanied the Peninsula Singers of Port Angeles in their fall performance of Hodie. They will join us for our December concert to play the same piece. The performance was at the Port Angeles High School Auditorium. The Hodie is the most difficult piece we have ever played, and we had less than a month to perfect it. The music was hand written and difficult to read and in all kinds of keys and tempos. However, the Peninsula Singers were great, and the audience seemed to enjoy it.
January 2015 saw a surprise reception/party for Dewey to celebrate 20 years as conductor sponsored by the orchestra board. It was also to be a social gathering for the orchestra members. The reception was at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Sequim. Dewey was told it was a board meeting to cover some items that needed additional discussion. He was met by about 70 people with kazoos playing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”. Luncheon food and cake followed. After lunch, orchestra members were treated to a variety of different instruments that they could try to play to see what others were doing. It was a great social time and Dewey seemed very pleased with the recognition.
September 7, 2016: Our beloved Dewey passed away in Seattle!In October we had a Tribute Concert for him at Port Angeles High School. All musicians who had played under, for, or with Dewey were invited to participate. There were about 250 people in the audience plus the orchestra and chorus. It was very nice. There were only two rehearsals for the program. It was a very nice tribute with musicians coming from as far as Graham, WA (near Puyallup).
In November 2016, the orchestra was stunned at rehearsal when our acting conductor, Hollie Kaufman, announced that she had developed serious hearing problems and would have to stop being our conductor. She said she could get us through this coming concert but couldn’t continue. The situation developed in October and she had serious tones that change and mask outside sounds. She could determine tempo but couldn’t tell tones. She had seen a variety of doctors and specialists and they didn’t know the cause or treatment. They suggested she could use hearing aids but that doesn’t change the tones. Gil Seeley has been asked to conduct the rest of the concert year.
December 2016: Hollie’s last concert was very nice. There were some very tough pieces in Swan Lake, which were the best we’ve played them. Hollie got a standing ovation from both the audience and the orchestra.
February 26, 2017
We started in February 2017 with conductor auditions. It was a good concert with auditioning conductor, Gil Seeley. The community chorus joined us on the stage and we sure filled it. There were very cramped conditions. Anne Krabill started the concert with an oboe solo which was well received. The combined orchestra and chorus seemed very powerful. The orchestra joined us in Frostiana, music set to Robert Frost’s poetry. Then the chorus sang a Mozart piece with the orchestra. Finally, the orchestra finished the concert with Copelands “Outdoor Overture”.
April 30, 2017
Our second auditioning conductor, Tigran Arakelyan, produced an excellent concert. Tigran told about himself at the preconcert talk and spoke more to the audience about the pieces. He had an excellent rapport with the audience, even throwing in a few jokes. It was one of our best concerts in a long time. Tigran turned 30 in June, so the orchestra was older than he was. However, he brought an energy that we hadn’t had in a long time. Audience members were heard to say, if he’s going to conduct, I’m going to attend more concerts. Loretta Ehling, Dewey Ehling’s wife, said he reminded her of a young Dewey. She approved of him. Following the concert, the orchestra members gathered and were given a ballot to fill out. In a small ceremony in the chorus room we thanked each of our candidates and it was announced that Tigran had won the election.
In October 2017, we had the dress rehearsal at the Chimacum High School Auditorium. It went well, and at break Tigran was seen down talking to a violin member’s son (about 4 years old) on his level. At the end of rehearsal, Tigran told the orchestra how going to school you didn’t get to practice much with a real orchestra, and he liked to get his students involved. Then he invited the four-year-old to conduct the orchestra and helped him do it. He has rapport with the kids, too! It was great!
Wow, this was an excellent concert. It was Tigran’s first as the regular conductor. The audience mostly filled the auditorium with scattered empty seats… and we were competing with a Sunday afternoon Seahawks football game. Tigran added incredible energy and had a great rapport with the audience. He changed plans from Dewey’s preconcert lectures and instead described the music between pieces to the whole audience. I heard good comments about that. The comments seemed long, but at one point he asked the audience if they were tired of the comments and was encouraged to continue. The Adagio from Spartacus seemed especially powerful. As we were playing, I could see and feel extra energy coming from Tigran. The power of the orchestra seemed to swell, and I felt consumed and transported. This doesn’t often happen. The audience responded to each piece with applause, shouts, whistles, and a standing ovation at the end. They were a very enthusiastic audience feeding on Tigran’s energy!
In December, Katie Penhallagen soloed in the “Theme from Shindler’s List” and did a magnificent job. This piece, which we have played once before, has to be one of the most beautiful pieces of music that we have played.
In February 2018 we had a wonderful afternoon of music. There was a standing room only audience. The Port Townsend High School orchestra joined us and played a couple of pieces at the beginning of the concert. It was very impressive! Seeing all those high school string players was thrilling. They did an excellent job! They are trying to get funds together for the orchestra to make a trip to Los Angeles. They were taking donations. The Community Orchestra then played, and it was an excellent concert and was well appreciated. It was perfect to have the high school students open for us. We did a good thing and it was fun. It felt like our audience was happy to be there and valued both the high school kids and what we presented. It is thrilling to have the good fortune to have this great team of people…audience, orchestra, board, conductor and volunteers.
December 2018: Our viola soloist, Gwen Franz, played a west coast premiere of “Bridge of Light”, and then an encore of “Qu’en reste-t-il”. The auditorium was an enthusiastic full house. The orchestra also played Emperor Waltz, Festive Sounds of Hanukah, Russian Christmas Music and Christmas at the Movies. The orchestra really came together for “Russian Christmas Music” and was far more powerful and engaging than at any time in any rehearsal including dress rehearsal. It brought chills.
February 2019, the concert hall was standing room only. The concert went very well. The soloist was Saro Babikian, a concert guitarist. He did a very nice job and added a solo he wrote, called “I Lost I Found”. At intermission, the cookies were sold out. The concert ended with Carmen Suite no. 1, which was very popular and ended with Les Toreadors. That was a favorite!
March 12, 2019
The orchestra voted and approved a proposal to change the name of the Port Townsend Community Orchestra to the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra.
The orchestra voted and approved a proposal to change the objectives of the orchestra from:
“The Purpose of the Port Townsend Community Orchestra is to provide an opportunity for volunteer musicians of all ages and levels of experience to play music in a local orchestra under the direction of a professional conductor, presenting concert performances free to the public”
To:
“The mission of the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra is to entertain, inspire and engage our community through musical excellence and affordable programs”.
April 28, 2019
It was a beautiful day, and we gathered a moderate sized appreciative audience. The concert went well. There was a special event during the concert with The Sea Hawk (Suite for Orchestra). The piece had been written for the motion picture of that name from 1940. Our Harp player, Barbara McColgan-Pastor, arranged a video bringing scenes from the film to be shown on a screen during the playing of the piece. It was very popular with the audience. The Afro-American Symphony was a very challenging piece but brought a standing ovation from the audience. Poet Gary Copeland Lilley read Paul Laurence Dunbar for the Afro-American Symphony.
This was the final concert of the Port Townsend Community Orchestra. Next fall we will return as the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra. Oh, and in 32 years I missed one performance.
Special Event Notice! August 28, 2019. Tigran and his wife welcomed their first son, Arshak Arakelyan.