November Portland Happenings
Wednesday's day off: view at the coast
Hannah and I (aka Duo Odéon) had a super productive week in Portland, November 5-14, 2016. It was my first visit to Portland, OR and it did not disappoint! Since I knew there would be at least one or two days with a lighter schedule, Daniel joined me, and we stayed at a lovely AirBnb near Reed college. Our host, Kate, was amazing - little did we know how dear of a friend she would become. The Duo schedule went like this:
Sunday November 6: lecture-recital at George Fox University
Monday November 7: composition class lecture at Willamette University
Tuesday November 8: performance at Pacific University
Thursday November 10: radio interview with Robert McBride at All-Classical Portland
Friday November 11: performance at Classic Pianos Portland (Including the world premiere of the Gebauer Waltzes from Specter of the Rose!)
Since Wednesday was an “off” day, Daniel and I headed to the coast to do a little bit of hiking. It was too foggy to see the ocean from our vantage point, but the view was still AMAZING! (See panorama.) We had time to briefly enjoy the sunset before having to book it back down the trail so we wouldn’t be hiking in the dark. On the way down, my hiking boot sole separated from the rest of the shoe, so it was a bit hilarious. Cascade Head Preserve was the area we visited - and I highly recommend it.
All the musical happenings were, of course, great. We had lots of great questions from faculty colleagues and students who were interested in Antheil’s music but also curious about what it was like to play such relentlessly rhythmic music. The most exciting event we had during the week was actually the public premiere of the Waltzes -- Werner Gebauer’s arrangement of Valses from Antheil’s film score “Specter of the Rose.” They are such a lovely set of waltzes and we can’t wait to add them to our regular concert repertoire!
Last off day we spent driving around, discovering a new favorite museum in the WAAAM (Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum) -- Whoa! The volunteers who were running the museum really knew their stuff, and they even took extra time to tell fun stories of when their friend flew this particular plane at the last meet, and how much more difficult this particular kind of linkage was to use than the other kind. 99% of the airplanes there still fly, and they DO fly them! So interesting.
Lots of exciting musical adventures coming up - stay tuned!