PORTLAND YOUTH PHILHARMONIC RELEASES NEW DIGITAL ALBUM OF WORKS BY PORTLAND ICON TOMÁŠ SVOBODA, AHEAD OF 59TH ANNUAL CONCERT-AT-CHRISTMAS
Posted on November 18, 2020
PORTLAND, OR – Portland Youth Philharmonic, the nation’s first and oldest youth orchestra, has just released its first digital album showcasing performances of musical masterworks by Portland’s legendary Czech-born composer Tomáš Svoboda. Tomáš Svoboda Premiere Recordings is now available on the audiophile streaming service Primephonic.
Premiere Recordings is the latest digital offering from PYP, following the organization’s first ever New Music Festival that featured premieres of 13 new works commissioned especially for the orchestra’s 97th season. On Saturday, December 26, 2020, PYP will virtually present its 59th annual Concert-at-Christmas, with performances by all of its ensembles. A Portland tradition since 1961, the Concert-at-Christmas will include performances of Tchaikovsky’s Russian Dance from The Nutcracker, Silvestri’s Main Theme from The Avengers, Kodaly’s Viennese Musical Clock from Hary Janos, Korean international superstars BTS’s Dynamite, and John Lennon/Paul McCartney’s All You Need is Love featuring guest vocals by PYP alumnae Kate and Emma Davis.
Registration for the event is now live on the PYP website at portlandyouthphil.org/concerts. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, “tickets” to Concert-at-Christmas are offered with a “pay what you can” fee structure. Your “ticket” is an emailed link to watch from home on December 26. Viewers must visit Portland Youth Philharmonic’s website to register either for a free “ticket” or to pay what they would like to support the youth orchestra. All viewers must fill out the registration form to receive the link to watch. Everyone who registers will receive the same concert link and a digital PDF of the concert program by email.
On the PYP website at portlandyouthphil.org/svoboda, listeners can also find a link to hear PYP’s new digital album on Primephonic. The track list includes Tomáš Svoboda’s lost Symphony No. 2, which PYP premiered in November 2016, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. “Mr. Svoboda wrote his Symphony No. 2 in Czechoslovakia over 50 years ago,” explains PYP Musical Director David Hattner. “His symphony is a powerful work and is a great discovery. Mr. Svoboda is an Oregon treasure, not only for his long catalog of compositions, but also for the students he taught and inspired for decades at Portland State University.”
10-17-2016 - Mr. Svoboda and PYP Musical Director David Hattner at rehearsal
Mr. Svoboda visited PYP rehearsals in 2016, and heard his symphony performed for the first time, more than half a century after he wrote it. Originally scheduled to premiere in his home town of Prague in 1964, the performance was cancelled when Svoboda and his parents fled an oppressive Stalinist dictatorship. All these years later, Svoboda maintains that the symphony is about two things: “love and war.” He dedicated the piece to his wife of 55 years, printmaker and educator Jana Demartini. Demartini provided the portrait of Svoboda for PYP’s digital album cover.
As part of the album roll out, Primephonic is offering PYP fans a free extended three month trial. Listeners can visit primephonic.com/portland and enter in the voucher code PORTLAND to redeem the offer. For every voucher code redeemed, Primephonic will donate $20 to Portland Youth Philharmonic.
To learn more about PYP’s new digital album or their 59th annual Concert-at-Christmas, please visit portlandyouthphil.org.