Today's Birthdays

Francesco Antonio Bonporti (1672-1749)
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
George Frederick McKay (1899-1970)
Hazel Scott (1920-1981)
Shelly Manne (1920-1984)
Carlisle Floyd (1926-2021)
Antony Rooley (1944)
Douglas Bostock (1955)
Conrad Tao (1994)

and

Ben Jonson (1572-1637)
William Styron (1925-2006)
Athol Fugard (1932-2025)

Pianist and Birder Kai Frueh to Present a Unique Concert in West Linn June 20

Kai Frueh, a Corvallis native now based in Bowling Green, OH, is a pianist and birder who will bring a very unique concert to The Meteor Lounge in West Linn at 7pm on June 20. Describing himself as a "collaborative musician and interdisciplinary artist who blends new music, environmental themes and birdsong into chamber, ensemble, and immersive solo performances," Kai forms one half of the Frueh Brothers duo (along with his brother, violinist Ben Frueh).

In addition to being obsessed with music, he is obsessed with birds, and the West Linn concert is just the first in an ambitious summer program in NW Oregon this year. Not only is there the opportunity to hear Kai's music, in West Linn on June 21, as well as in Corvallis June 27 and in Lincoln City July 10, but he will also put his expert-level birding abilities to use and guide a birdsong walk at the incredibly birdy Powell Butte Nature Park in east Portland. Complete details are:

1. Summer Solstice Bird Concert with Kai Frueh

Meteor Lounge 

2015 8th Avenue West Linn, OR 97068

Saturday, June 20, 2026

Doors open: 6:45 p.m.
Concert begins: 7:15 p.m.

Sponsored by Bird Alliance of Oregon as part of their Bird Days of Summer.

Tickets required. All seating is General Admission.
Fee: $25 members / $35 non-members
Student/youth fee: $15

Proceeds will go to supporting Bird Alliance of Oregon’s programs.

2. The Bird Days of Summer: Intersection of Birdsong and Music — Birding at Powell Butte

Powell Butte Nature Park

16160 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR

Sunday, June 21, 2026

8am – ~ 10:30am

Sponsored by Bird Alliance of Oregon as part of their Bird Day’s of Summer.

Join musician and birder Kai Frueh for an exploration of the birds of Powell Butte Nature Park. This walk will focus on the songs of our feathered friends which Kai uses in his musical performances.

We will move at a relaxed pace with frequent stops to enjoy the musicality of birdsong and discuss intersections of birdsong and music. With a mixture of habitats including grassland and forest, we will get to experience a lot of birdsong and enjoy birding by ear. Participants of all experience levels are welcome!

Registration required

3. Kai’s Bird Concert sponsored by Mid Willamette Bird Alliance

Good Samaritan Episcopal Church

333 NW 35th St, Corvallis, OR 97330

Sunday, June 27, 2026, 7pm PDT

This will be a one-hour immersive bird-themed concert combining Kai’s two biggest passions: music and birds. In this concert Kai explores many different ways composers have drawn inspiration from birds in their piano works spanning from the early 1700s all the way through today. The concert will include works by Jean-Philippe Rameau, Amy Beach, and Olivier Messiaen, as well as pieces written specifically for this program by Brad Balliett, Julia Tchira, and Thomas Meinzen. The musical experience is enhanced with many of Kai’s field recordings, compiled to recreate a natural soundscape in the concert hall. This concert promises to be an unforgettable experience, delighting bird fanatics and music lovers alike.

Free Admission – donations appreciated

4. Kai’s Bird Concert as part of Seven Cape Bird Alliance Osprey Days

Lincoln City Cultural Center, Lincoln City, OR

540 NE Hwy 101, Lincoln City, OR

Friday, July 10, 2026 7pm PDT

Same program as #3

Concert tickets and registration for the bird outing are available at his website, linked to aboved. Watch NW Reverb in the weeks to come for an interview with Kai, which will be conducted as we bird some of his favorite spots in his hometown of Corvallis, as well as a review of the Lincoln City Concert.

Today's Birthdays

Heinrich von Herzogenberg (1843-1900)
Hariclea Darclée (1860-1939)
Frederick Loewe (1904-1988)
Ralph Kirkpatrick (1911-1984)
Tikhon Khrennikov (1913-2007)
Bruno Bartoletti (1925-2013)
Mark-Anthony Turnage (1960)

and

Gustave Courbet (1819-1877)
Terence Rattigan (1911-1977)
James Salter (1925-2015)
Maurice Sendak (1928-2012)

Review of Colin Currie and the Oregon Symphony playing Danny Elfman's 'Percussion Concerto' up at Classical Voice North America

 

In my first assignment for CVNA, I reviewed the June 4th concert at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. You can read the article here.

Today's Birthdays

Anton Weidinger (1766-1852)
Otto Nicolai (1810-1849)
Alberic Magnard (1865-1914)
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Cole Porter (1891-1964)
Dame Gracie Fields (1898-1979)
Ingolf Dahl (1912-1970)
Les Paul (1915-2009)
Franco Donatoni (1927-2000)
Charles Wuorinen (1938-2020)
Ileana Cotrubas (1939)

and

Baroness Bertha von Suttner (1843-1914)
George Axelrod (1922-2003)
Patricia Cornwell (1956)

and from the Composers Datebook:

On this day in 1840, Franz Liszt gives a solo performance at the Hanover Square Rooms in London billed as "Recitals." This was the first time the term "recital" was used to describe a public musical performance, and it caused much discussion and debate at the time. Liszt is credited with both inventing and naming the now-common solo piano "recital."

Today's Birthdays

Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1750)
Nicolas Dalayrac (1753-1809)
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942)
Reginald Kell (1906-1981)
Emanuel Ax (1949)
Harold Meltzer (1966-2024)

and

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
John W Campbell (1910-1970)

and from the Composers Datebook:

On this day in 1912, Ravel's ballet, "Daphnis et Chloé" was premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, by Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe, Pierre Monteux conducting.

Today's Birthdays

Leopold Auer (1845-1930)
George Szell (1897-1970)
Ilse Wolf (1921-1999)
Philippe Entremont (1934)
Neeme Järvi (1937)
Sir Tom Jones (1940)
Jaime Laredo (1941)
Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson) (1958-2015)
Roberto Alagna (1963)
Olli Mustonen (1967)

and

Paul Gaugin (1848-1903)
Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973)
Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)
Nikki Giovanni (1943-2024)
Orham Pamuk (1952)
Louise Erdrich (1954)

Today's Birthdays

Sir John Stainer (1840-1901)
Siegfried Wagner (1869-1930)
Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978)
Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987)
Iain Hamilton (1922-2000)
Serge Nigg (1924-2008)
Klaus Tennstedt (1926-1998)
Louis Andriessen (1939-2021)
Paul Esswood (1942)

and

Pierre Corneille (1606-1684)
Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837)
Thomas Mann (1875-1955)
Maxine Kumin (1925-2014)
Julian Mayfield (1928-1984)
Robert Pirsig (1928-2017)

and from the Composers Datebook:

On this day in 1931, Henry Cowell's "Synchrony" received its premiere in Paris, at the first of two concerts of modern American music with the Orchestre Straram conducted by Nicholas Slonimsky and funded anonymously by Charles Ives. On the same program, Slonimsky also conducted the Orchestre Straram in the European premieres of works by Adolph Weiss ("American Life"), Ives ("Three Places in England"), Carl Ruggles ("Men and Mountains"), and the Cuban composer Amadeo Roldan ("La Rehambatamba").

Today's Birthdays

Arthur Somervell (1863-1937)
Robert Mayer (1879-1985)
Eduard Tubin (1905-1982)
Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006)
Peter Schat (1935-2003)
James Dick (1940)
Martha Argerich (1941)
Bill Hopkins (1943-1981)

and

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946)
Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936)
Alfred Kazin (1915-1998)
David Wagoner (1926-2021)
Margaret Drabble (1939)
David Hare (1947)

Review: Vancouver Symphony delivers spirited Prokofiev, Adams, and Dvořák

Inés Issel Burzyrńska

A very full house lit up the Skyview Concert Hall on May 31 for the Vancouver Symphony’s season finale. Laughter added to the vibe during the introductory welcome when VSO Board Chair Carol Van Natta jokingly noted that she wakes up to All Classical’s Warren Black, who was emceeing the concert. Then an audience member shouted “You’re not the only one!”

Laughter from all corners of the hall erupted, and after things calmed down, Hal Abrams, the orchestra’s Director of Development, pitched the Vancouver Art and Music Festival (August 7 through 9), which will be adding quartet music at the waterfront to its schedule. With the addition of a sold-out concert on Sunday afternoon, things continue to look promising for the Vancouver Symphony.

Guest artist Inés Issel Burzyrńska highlighted the evening with an exceptional performance of Prokofiev’s “Concerto No. 2 in G minor for Violin and Orchestra. The 24-year-old Spanish violinist, who is pursuing studies at the New England Conservatory, coaxed a lovely singing tone from instrument. She executed numerous filigree passages with elan, and her final, high note at the end of the second movement shimmered enticingly. For the third movement, she dug in and exchanged dance-like passages with the orchestra, bringing the concerto to a fast, exciting finish.

The audience erupted into a standing ovation, and Burzyrńska responded with a wistful encore, “The Song of the Birds” by the great cellist and composer Pablo Casals.

Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, (From the New World) occupied the second half of the program, and it was conducted impressively from memory by Brotons. The first movement got off to a smashing start with crisp sforzandos and sharp attacks from the orchestra, although the trumpets entered too loudly. The lovely, melancholy melody in the second movement, enhanced through the English horn of Karen Strand, infused the hall with calmness and comfort. The horns struggled a bit in the third movement and that reduced the stirring quality of the music. The orchestra romped through the fourth with gusto, but again some intonation issues marred the impact of the finale. Overall, the spirit of the performance won out and the audience rewarded it with enthusiastic applause.

Brotons clearly loves the piece, conducting with great animation. But most of the dynamics were in the medium forte to double forte range. True pianissimos were few and far between. More dynamic contrast would have helped greatly.

John Adams “The Chairman Dances” (Foxtrot for Orchestra) opened the concert. It is an orchestral segment excerpted from Adams’ opera “Nixon in China” in which Richard and Pat Nixon reminisce with Mao and Madame Mao over earlier times. The minimalist style of the piece used a lot of repetition interrupted by shifting keys. The piece started fine with the strings fashioning a silky sound, but about halfway through it began to plod along rather than dance

When Brotons returned to the stage in the second half of the concert, he mentioned that he could have easily gotten lost in the score because of the repetitive style of the music; so that if he turned back two pages instead of one page on the repeat, he could have gotten easily get lost. The Vancouver Symphony is fortunate to have a top-notch conductor – who also composes fantastic music – who knows how to avoid such pitfalls.