Oregon Symphony concert update

Last week I talked with John Kroninger, the Oregon Symphony's director of customer services (and a former professional tuba player), who said that tickets are selling very well for the opening night series that features Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Vaughan Williams'"Serenade to Music." He mentioned that available seats for the Saturday evening performance are become scarce, but there are some good seats to be had for the Sunday and Monday performance.

I'll be singing with the Portland Symphonic Choir in both works and am looking forward to it. Featured soloists in the Beethoven include two of the very best Portland Opera Studio singers tenor Brendan Tuohy and mezzo-soprano Hannah Penn. Also, Kelly Nassief, a Portland State University-trained soprano will also be front and center. Back in 1995 Nassief won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions - the whole enchilada. She has since sung several times with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic and the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, and with many opera companies, including Chicago Lyric and Portland Opera.

Kroninger also said that the special Lang Lang concert on October 3rd is selling well, but there are good seats still available. Lang Lang recently helped to open the Olympics and he is featured in a New Yorker article (page 52 in the August 4th issue), which was written by David Remnick. The article is still available on The New Yorker's web site here.