December 19, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Come experience an afternoon of works whose main themes were inspired by other music as guest conductor Gregory Vajda and the Oregon Symphony perform music of Brahms, Bartók and Kodály with Symphony violinist Paloma Griffin in the next Sundays at Two concert on Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Sundays at Two is sponsored by Southwest Airlines.
Vajda, a rising young Hungarian talent and the assistant conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, opens the concert with Brahms’ well-known but misnamed “Variations on a Theme by Haydn.” This work proved a turning point in Brahms’ career and paved the way for his four symphonies and many other orchestral works. However, the original music Brahms used, which he thought Haydn wrote, has been attributed by scholars to one of Haydn’s students. Nonetheless, the work retains its original title and is a standard of orchestral repertoire.
Griffin then takes the stage to perform Bartók’s Rhapsody No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra, which she describes as “a medley of dance tunes bringing together the Hungarian gypsy and the Romanian peasant. The orchestra part includes one of the characteristic instruments of Hungarian gypsy and folk music: the cimbalom, a kind of small open piano played with hammers, similar to a hammered dulcimer.” Griffin is pleased to bring this lesser-known work of Bartók’s to the audience’s attention. “What makes this piece so fun to learn is the process of untangling all the virtuosic, technical elements so that I can get to the meat of this music: the gypsy and peasant dances Bartók adapted from the Hungarian countryside. Bartók’s mastery of this style continues to win my heart every time I practice,” she explains. After intermission the concert continues with Kodály’s “Dances from Galanta,” which borrows its core flavor and sounds from the folk music of Hungary and incorporates the colorful orchestration and exciting rhythms typical of Kodály’s music.
The Sundays at Two series features shorter concerts (no more than 80 minutes in length) and a unique opportunity to connect with both the music and the musicians. Each concert also includes a Symphony musician as the featured soloist who talks, with the conductor, from stage about his/her background and passion for making music.
Performances are scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets are $14 for students and seniors, $20 general admission and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony's Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
Gregory Vajda has fast become one of Hungary’s finest young conductors. Recognized for his strength and intensity in conducting nineteenth and twentieth century repertoire, Mr. Vajda has recently been appointed as Assistant Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Prior to his appointment to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, he served as Music Director of the New Theater Budapest, Founder and Artistic Director of the Forras (Source) Chamber Music Workshop, Founder and Artistic Advisor of the Valley of the Arts Summer Festival in Hungary, Permanent Guest Conductor of the Hungarian State Opera (1998-2003), Artistic Leader of the Brass in Five Ensemble, Music Director of the Ernö von Dohnányi Symphony Orchestra of Budapest, and was a member of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra. When appointed Assistant Conductor in Milwaukee, he resigned all his permanent European posts to focus completely on his full time job as well as guest engagements.
Upcoming performances include The Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra’s season finale concert, a guest appearance leading György Ligeti’s “Le Grand Macabre” with the Hungarian State Opera in the La Scala in Milan, and various other North American engagements. As Assistant Conductor with the Milwaukee Symphony, he will lead several regional tours and have opportunities to conduct the Canadian Brass, Maureen McGovern, Burt Bacharach, and Peter, Paul and Mary and the Kings Singers, as well as the Milwaukee Symphony in a classical subscription concert.
Mr. Vajda’s most recent engagements include performances with The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, The National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the premiere of his chamber opera The Giantbaby at the New Theatre in Budapest, performances at the Vienna Klangforum of Péter Eötvös’ “As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams” and “Three Sisters” (as part of the Vienna Festwochen), the Ensemble Intercontemporain at Cite de la Musique, the premiere of Hungarian composer György Ránki’s opera “King Pomade’s New Clothes” at the Hungarian State Opera, and a successful tour with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in October 2001. He has also recently conducted at the festivals of Avignon and Strassbourg.
In March 2002, Mr. Vajda assisted Péter Eötvös in rehearsal for performances of “Three Sisters” at La Monnaie in Brussels. Along with Mr. Eötvös and Kent Nagano, Mr. Vajda is one of only three conductors to lead performances of “Three Sisters” in France, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Hungary.
In addition to conducting, Mr. Vajda is also a clarinetist and composer. Recently, he conducted his own composition for the silent film “The Crowd” at the Auditorium of the Louvre, with American pianist Jay Gottlieb. He was honored with the Zoltán Kodály State Scholarship for composers for the year 2000, and the Annie Fischer State Scholarship for music performers for the year 1999.
Born in 1973 in Budapest, Hungary, the son of renowned soprano Veronika Kincses, Gregory Vajda studied clarinet and composition at Béla Bartók secondary school. He then studied conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music under Professor Ervin Lukács. He recently completed a half-year study-session with the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris with Jonathan Nott. He has also been a conducting pupil of the well-known twentieth century composer and conductor, Péter Eötvös. Mr. Vajda is also a frequent guest lecturer at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music.
Born in Fresno, Calif., Paloma Griffin began her studies at the age of 3 with her father, a violist. A graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music, Paloma also attended the Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Her teachers have included Claudia Shuih, Zoya Leybin, and Charles Castleman. An avid chamber musician, Paloma studied chamber music with Isaac Stern, Mark Sokol, and the Cleveland and Kronos Quartets, as well as jazz studies with Maxine Roach and the Uptown String Quartet. She has collaborated with artists Ian Swensen, Bonnie Hampton, Timothy Eddy, Jiang Wang and the principal strings of the Orchestre de Paris.
In 1998 Paloma served as a concertmaster for the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. She joined the Oregon Symphony in 1999, and in 2000 became a member of the Portland-based ensemble Pink Martini. Since moving to Portland, she has continued to pursue her love of chamber music, performing with the Third Angle New Music Ensemble as well as in small ensembles with other musicians of the Oregon Symphony.
Paloma’s chamber music and solo recitals have taken her throughout the United States and Europe. In addition to performances in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and San Francisco’s Herbst Theater, she was featured in a live tribute to Isaac Stern on Radio France and BBC Radio in 1999. She has appeared as a soloist with the Oregon Symphony, the New World Symphony, and the Fresno Philharmonic.
