Happy 99th birthday, Mr A!

Posted on March 27, 2018

March 28, 2018 would have been the 99th birthday of Jacob Avshalomov! “Mr. A,” as he was affectionately called, conducted the Portland Junior Symphony (now Portland Youth Philharmonic) from 1953 to 1994. For a summary of the orchestra’s history continue reading this section of our website.

In 2009, OPB’s Nadine Jelsing interviewed Mr. A about his life, his passion for music, and PYP’s early beginnings.

PJS and PYP alumni who played under Mr. A: Leave your favorite memory of playing in the orchestra in the comment section of this blog to be entered to win a PJS/PYP alumni mug, and a copy of one of Mr. A’s books, Music Is Where You Make It. Three (3) winners will be selected at random from the alumni who respond below.

Winners may pick up their prizes at PYP’s Pictures at an Exhibition concert on Sunday, May 6, 2018, at 4:00 PM in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

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7 Comments :

Comments

1. Two favorite memories: (1) At the annual auditions, as a sight-reading test Jacob Avshalomov would put on the music stand in front of me an obscure violin part that I never would have seen before, probably from the Russian repertoire. (2) Mr. Avshalomov always respected us young musicians. He asked for our best, and he got it.
George Alderson|March 2018|Catonsville, MD

2. I recall something Mr. A said more than once to us, and I specifically recall him saying it -- with gravitas and a twinkle in his eye -- at a Wednesday full-orchestra rehearsal around 1990 or 1991: "Some of you will go on to become professional musicians, but the rest of you will be music-appreciating members of society." A simple statement, but it was an "ah ha" moment for me because he was explaining why PYP was so important for those of us who were not headed to careers in music. To this day, I am one of those "music-appreciating members of society" who appreciates and supports the relatively few who took what they learned in PYP and elsewhere and now make music for a vocation. And I often think back (and reference) that simple statement by Mr. A. Thank you for posting this blog...it's good to see him again!
Chris Young|March 2018|Camarillo, CA

3. So many great memories and great friends from that time (1980-84).

One quick story:

In 1984, the PYP was on tour in Yugoslavia(!) and we were to play a joint concert with a youth orchestra in Belgrade. It was a fairly impromptu, last minute affair. The piece that was chosen, perhaps on that very day was...Bolero! Unfortunately, the trombone parts were nowhere to be found so we played as best we could from memory for the rehearsal. I stumbled through the solo (playing from memory) and Mr. A, in his characteristic manner looked back with a furrowed brow and a look of quizzical concern. During the afternoon at the hotel, I wrote out the part as best I could from memory and the concert went very much better than the rehearsal but still not note perfect. In recalling the event later, Mr. A would tell the story as: "There we were in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, rehearsing a very familiar piece: Ravel's Bolero. It came to the trombone solo and something was amiss. Our usually reliable principal trombone, Peter Ellefson, sounded just awful. Not like him at all. Come to find out, he did not have any music in front of him and was playing what he remembered from the excerpt books. Well, he took it to heart and wrote a part by hand that afternoon and when it came to the trombone solo in the concert, his performance was just splendid."

The great part and endearing aspect of the story is that the rehearsal wasn't that *bad* and the performance wasn't that *good*. It was Mr. A's way of spinning a story to make a point...study the excerpts!

What a profoundly significant time for so many.
Peter Ellefson|March 2018|Bloomington, IN

4. So many great memories as Mr. A and I got along so well; he even took to heart some of my suggestions for PYP (PJS) repertoire (Nielsen, Dvorak, Vaughan Williams for example). The Dvorak 6 of 1974 (as I recall) was certainly a highlight. In the finale in particular (after letter H in the score) the low brass really shined and we really had a go of it like I've never heard in professional recordings. When we got to the "Presto" at letter I in the finale, the tempo, initiated by the celli, took an unprecedentedly fast tempo, and I recall Mr. A turning to then Principal Cellist Martin Hansen (a friend of mine) backstage after the performance happily commenting on how brisk a tempo they took! Such great fun and a thrill. By then I had commenced a professional career as a trombonist which continued on. Thanks to Mr. A for helping inspire my passion for music.

Dvorak 6 recording of our performance Mr. A loaned me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqJbjUrpfz8

Randall Malmstrom|March 2018|Portland, Oregon

5. Even though I was terrified at yearly audition time, I looked forward to it b/c Mr.A always had his unique way of putting me at ease. He'd discuss my work with Raphael Spiro, and of the season upcoming.
BEST memories have to be Milan, the repeated encores at LaScala, Brahms 2nd, and him leading us at the Washington Cathedral.
Gary Hurst|April 2018|Columbus

6. It's hard to imagine a greater highlight than playing under both Mr. A. and Leonard Bernstein, alongside the New York Philharmonic, in 1984. I remember thinking, "This day will be a highlight of my entire life," and indeed it has been!

I also remember, when I got to New England Conservatory, thinking, "This student orchestra is pretty good...but it's no PYP!"
Fred Morgenstern|April 2018|Charlotte, NC

7. This is not my favorite memory but one that has served me well over the years.
Mr. A had some tricks for watching out for the good of the Orchestra which many may not know.

After the first two weeks with new music, he tried never to scold the principal players. That was because he did not want the rest of the Orchestra to worry that some one was not going to make their entrance. We all had enough to worry about in our own part, not about some other section. So he never scolded the principal player by name. Instead, he would aim his disappointment at the entire section!

There was nothing more motivating than to listen to him voice his disappointment of everyone in your section when you knew he was really talking about a solo entrance that only YOU were supposed to make and that you missed it!

The only thing worse was the aside of "Not good enough" with the accompanying shaking of his head when he could catch you alone.

I spent my high school years with Eugene Kaza at Grant who could rage with the best of them but that little clicking of the tongue and the shaking of the head did more to motivate me to practice than any amount of yelling. I've used that tactic with my own family and students and I think it's the best tip I have ever gotten.

Just for the record, all four years as principal, I never did miss an entrance in a concert, but I guess I should apologize to my section for the pain I caused while trying to get the part learned! Thanks guys!
Rae Louise Kalk - Siemssen|November 2018|Gig Harbor, WA

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Happy 99th birthday, Mr A!

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