Oregon Symphony Awaiting Grammy Awards Honoring Music for a Time of War

Carlos Kalmar, Oregon Symphony Music Director, Elaine Calder, President

Portland, February 6th, 2013. The GRAMMYs are almost here and The Oregon Symphony was nominated for two Awards – Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Album – for its 2011 recording of “Music for a Time of War.” The CD was recorded live during the May 2011 performance at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The GRAMMY Awards will be officially announced on February 10th. These are photos of the release party October 30th, 2011. Raising flutes of champagne, supporters crowded The Nines Hotel to celebrate the release of Music for a Time of War.

Pam Erickson and Terrence R. Pancoast, President of the Board of Directors

Immediately following its release, the CD hit the classical Billboard charts and amassed an international collection of positive reviews, including being named among the year’s best classical recordings by The New Yorker’s Alex Ross. The nomination for Best Orchestral Performance was shared with recordings from the San Francisco Symphony, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra.

Last month the Symphony released its second CD under the musical direction of Carlos Kalmar—“This England”—also on the PentaTone label, featuring works by Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Britten.

Jerry Giesy, Bill Bennett, Elaine Calder, Barbara Giesy and Laura Fay

Neil DePonte, Principal Percussion and Jonathan Greeney, Principal Timpani

Christa Wessel and Robert McBride, from KQAC, All Classical 89.9 FM, the 24-hour classical music station in Portland

The Oregon Symphony orchestra recorded the CD here, then went on to perform it live, to triumphant reviews, at New York’s legendary Carnegie Hall last May.

From September through May each year, the Oregon Symphony presents a full range of concerts – in Portland, Salem and elsewhere.

Ginny Wheeler and Alix Goodman

Peter Frajola, Associate Concertmaster, Nancy Weyler and Walter Weyler, Board of Directors Vice Chair

Ken Marks and Laura Fay

It’s the first recording of the Oregon Symphony under Music Director, Carlos Kalmar. Kalmar is in his ninth season with the orchestra. The Music for a Time of War is available at Amazon. On the site, you can also listen to a sample of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra.

Works by composers: Ives, Adams, Britten, and Vaughan Williams.

Garnering two nominations is something of a first. In 2003, Principal Percussionist Niel DePonte was nominated for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with an Orchestra, for his exceptional performance of Tomas Svoboda’s Percussion Concerto.

The album, released on the PentaTone label, includes Ives’ “Unanswered Question,” Adams’ “The Wound-Dresser,” Britten’s “Sinfonia da Requiem,” and Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 4. It was recorded in hybrid multichannel Super Audio CD format live in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in May, 2011 by Boston-based Soundmirror. CD recording was engineered by Jesse Lewis and John Newton, with master engineer Jesse Brayman.

The CD was also included in the Grammy nomination of Blanton Alspaugh for Producer of the Year, Classical.

Elisa Klein

I’ve been a professional journalist and writer since 1987, (and long-time reporter for KOIN-TV.) As a nationally published reporter, with a Master’s Degree in Journalism, I love to report positive news and information. Journalism has also connected me with another non-profit where I served as a leader; the Northwest’s biggest writer’s organization: The Willamette Writers.