THE GLORY DAYS BY SHARI TYLE HOUSE (PJS 1965)

Posted on November 20, 2019

This photo shows Shari with visiting Brazilian violist Fabiola, who is from Joao Pessoa, the city in Brazil where Shari and her husband played for 3 years. Fabiola now lives in Edmonton and came to perform recently with the Okanogan Symphony.

Once you have learned the myriad skills of an orchestral player, and have mastered the unrelated art of the audition, a symphonic career may be in the stars for you.

The symphonic world for me began in the Portland Junior Symphony (now Portland Youth Philharmonic). The training was intense and the guidance for orchestral playing was invaluable (Always look at the maestro for an entrance, tempo changes, and the end of a phrase. Watch, watch, watch!). My time in the PJS was significant, whether it was a Saturday morning sectional or, once, a rehearsal with Aaron Copland on the podium. The youth orchestra experience involved a shared fervor about musical standards, commitment to high performance goals, and the joy of working together on major repertoire. I learned discipline, concentration and focus… all skills for artistic integrity.

My professional career was launched in 1965 when I landed a position in the viola section of the Oregon (then Portland) Symphony.

There was no behind the screen audition, in fact, I played for Maestro Jacques Singer at his house in his living room.

Singer was an innovative programmer. We played works by such composers as Penderecki, Lutoslawski, Ginastera, and Lygeti. The soloists were an impressive line-up: Isaac Stern, Ruggiero Ricci, Mischa Elman, Philippe Entremont, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Benny Goodman, to name a few. The orchestra had many seasoned old-timers who shared stories and symphonic tips.

I left the Portland Orchestra to join the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in 1969. The orchestra was led by the fiery George Cleve, a student of Pierre Monteux. Concerts and programming were so exciting. Cleve did a series of student concerts with a Shakespearean theme: Tchaikowsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream were introduced by Cleve in French and English as per the Canadian schools.

In 1972 I began a one-season stint with the New Orleans Philharmonic. This was a special experience for me. My father and brother, Axel and Chris Tyle were both traditional jazz musicians (Chris played timpani in the PYP). I was then immersed in both classical and jazz idioms in New Orleans. I played chamber music with the conductor, Werner Torkanowsky, and marched in the second line at jazz funerals.

After three summers in the Aspen Music Festival orchestra (rooming with PYP alumna Nancy (Mathis) DiNovo), I joined the Miami Philharmonic led by the fabulous French conductor, Alain Lombard. By this time I had married Edmund House, horn player.

Our time in this orchestra was filled with incredible repertoire: Mahler and Bruckner symphonies, Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony, in-concert performances of Richard Strauss’s Elektra, Richard Wagner’s Siegfried and Die Walküre operas. We also performed the Verdi Requiem with José Carreras, Norman Treigle, Mady Mesplé, and Shirley Verrett.

These orchestra jobs were followed by studies and symphony positions in Germany (Munich) and Brazil. Here the work was well-paid and abundant. We did much free-lance work in Germany including Hollywood film scores directed by Jerry Goldsmith. In Brazil we had a 13-month salary!

By the time we returned to North America in 1982 the orchestra world had changed dramatically. Auditions were now behind the screen. In Germany, for an audition, we played in rehearsal in the orchestra—demonstrating the skills of playing with the section and following a conductor, i.e. doing the job.

I played four seasons in the ‘80’s in the Omaha Symphony and Lincoln Symphony (Principal viola). By then we had two children, a beautiful adopted Brazilian daughter, Lauren, and a busy boy of our own, Roland (joined later by another boy, André).

A move to Spokane in ’86 was by invitation of Bruce Ferden, then conductor of the Spokane Symphony and Nebraska Chamber Orchestra. We played one great season in the SSO which included a summer in the Sandpoint Idaho Festival orchestra under Gunther Schuller.

I could honestly say that Canada enticed us at this point. Free health care, a blossoming orchestra in the beautiful Okanagan Valley of B.C., vacancies in the viola section and a Principal Horn position, made this a place to “park.” Here we have enjoyed being “big fish in a little pond.” I created a music booking agency, Full House Presents, and founded a string quartet, Heartstrings. We have both played significant roles in the growth, and survival, of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra. I am currently on the board of our local arts council and recently produced a performance of works by Vivaldi with my group “The Baroque Bandits.”

In summary, the old glory days were glorious and full of potential. Even though salaries and budgets were low (some of the above orchestras even folded) opportunities were abundant; auditions were personalized and more pertinent to the job. We shared the stage with great artists, learned significant repertoire, and performed under exciting conductors. Older colleagues were a great source of musical advice. We learned from the journey that, rather than being a cog in the big wheel of a major orchestra, one can be a driving force in the musical life of a smaller center. Through all these years, and many orchestra jobs, the skills learned in the Portland Junior Symphony have remained relevant.

Shari studied viola with Stanley Ritchie, Alan Iglitzin (Philadelphia String Quartet), Samuel Rhodes (Julliard String Quartet), Rolf Persinger and Portland’s Leo Skipton and Glenn Reeves.