Portland Festival Symphony, Part 2

Saturday night’s Portland Festival Symphony concert included a performance by Michael Allen Harrison on piano.  The first piece he played was familiar to us.  Our son, Tim, played in Portland’s Metropolitan Youth Symphony for eight years.  They recorded one of Michael Allen Harrison’s original compositions, “Remembrance”.  This piece was commissioned by the United Nations and performed there by Michael and violinist Aaron Meyer.  This performance brought back many memories of that time.

Michael Allen Harrison

From a review:  “Remembrance” is a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Israel’s independence and to the lives lost during the Holocaust. Performed with Aaron Meyer on violin and The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, the piece has a deeply emotional and tragic feeling, but also suggests triumph and moving forward.  Click here to listen to a preview of “Remembrance”.

Michael went on to play a medley of some of his other pieces.  After intermission, the symphony, which had opened the concert with another one of our favorites, John Phillip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever”, went on to play Dvorak’s “New World Symphony”.  This symphony is another one of our favorites, and was one of the first pieces that Tim played with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony (MYS), when he was just 10 years old.  Lajos Balogh is also the music director of MYS.

Every Portland Festival Symphony concert ends with a playing of Haydn’s “Toy Symphony”.  Children are invited to come up and get a free instrument and play along with the orchestra.  Yes, it’s chaotic, but it’s a pleasure to hear those children excited about being part of the concert. 

Maestro Lajos Balogh with some future musicians

Portland Festival Symphony (PFS) is one of our favorite orchestras.  PFS, founded by conductor, Lajos Balogh, has been giving free concerts in various Portland parks since 1981.  Maestro Balogh grew up in Hungary where classical music was familiar to everyone.  When he moved to the United States, he wanted to provide the people here with that same musical familiarity.  So he started PFS and it’s still going strong. 

Saturday night’s concert was held in Cathedral Park.   I learned this about the park: “The site which now bears the name Cathedral Park is steeped in history. It is believed to be one of the 14 Lewis and Clark landing sites in the Vancouver-Portland area: William Clark and eight men camped there on April 2, 1806. This spot had been a fishing and camping site for many area Indian tribes.

In 1847, the founder of St. Johns, James John, settled on the site and operated a ferry to Linnton across the Willamette River. In 1931, the St. Johns Bridge was built on the site with 400-ft towers and a main span of 1,207 feet. It is the only steel suspension bridge in Portland and is designated as an official historical landmark.”

I enjoy listening to classical music any time, but it’s especially nice to hear it on a warm summer night outdoors in a park.  We take a picnic dinner with us and sit out on lawn chairs.  No need to dress up for these concerts! 

A historical site and great music to listen to…what could be better!