TCHAIKOVSKY’S 4TH PROGRAM NOTES: PAUL CRESTON’S CONCERTINO FOR MARIMBA & ORCHESTRA

Posted on February 5, 2018

Nathan Coffman, winner of the 2017-18 PYP Concerto Competition, will perform Paul Creston‘s Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra with PYP on Saturday, March 3, 2018 in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Paul Creston was a self-taught composer who wrote many different works, from symphonies to film scores. Frédérique Petrides, the founder and conductor of Orchestrette Classique (an all-women orchestra), asked Creston to... Read More ›

BEETHOVEN’S 5TH PROGRAM NOTES: LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN’S SYMPHONY NO. 5

Posted on November 8, 2017

PYP will perform Ludwig van Beethoven‘s Symphony No. 5 on Saturday, November 11, 2017 in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Program notes written by Carolyn Talarr

Premiered in 1808 and celebrated during his lifetime, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony has become the most easily identifiable work of ‘classical music’ in the entire canon.  This timeless masterpiece has been endlessly analyzed and claimed for multiple cultural contexts over... Read More ›

BEETHOVEN’S 5TH PROGRAM NOTES: ANTONÍN DVOŘÁk’S HUSSITE OVERTURE

Posted on November 8, 2017

PYP will perform Antonín Dvořák‘s Hussite Overture on Saturday, November 11, 2017 in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Program notes written by Carolyn Talarr

Few people today outside of Eastern Europe know of Jan Hus.  Burned at the stake in 1415 for challenging the Roman Catholic Church’s authority, he is still revered today as the greatest hero of the Czech nation.  After Hus’s death, the Bohemian... Read More ›

BEETHOVEN’S 5TH PROGRAM NOTES: FRÉDÉRICK CHOPIN’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2

Posted on November 8, 2017

Natalie Tan and PYP will present Frédéric Chopin‘s delightful Piano Concerto No. 2 on Saturday, November 11, 2017 in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Program notes written by Carolyn Talarr

Frédéric Chopin’s two piano concertos were published in reverse order of their composition; No. 2 in F minor, Opus 21, is actually his first.  He wrote it at the astounding age of 19, while still in... Read More ›

Fall Concert Program Notes: Svoboda’s never-before-heard Symphony No. 2

Posted on November 3, 2016

Portland Youth Philharmonic will present Portland’s Czech-American composer Tomáš Svoboda’s never-before-heard Symphony No. 2 at the Fall Concert on Saturday, November 12, 2016. Click here for more information and to reserve your seats today!

Tomáš Svoboda was born in 1939 in Paris, France. He entered the Prague Music Conservatory in 1953 at the age of 14. In 1957, his Symphony No. 1 was... Read More ›

Fall Concert Program Notes: Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20

Posted on November 3, 2016

Portland Youth Philharmonic will present Pablo de Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 in a special way by 20 of PYP’s violinists at the Fall Concert on Saturday, November 12, 2016. Click here for more information and to reserve your seats today!

Pablo de Sarasate was one of the 19th century’s great violin virtuosos. Composers such as Lalo, Dvořák, Bruch and Saint-Saëns dedicated works to him.... Read More ›