Buffalo Philharmonic Records 'Harlem,' 'Three Black Kings,' 'The River' & 'Take the “A” Train' on 'Duke Ellington: Black, Brown, and Beige' on Naxos

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974)
is featured at AfriClassical.com 

Duke Ellington: Black, Brown, and Beige 

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra 

JoAnn Falletta, Conductor 

Naxos 8.559737 (2013)

The newly-released Naxos disc Duke Ellington: Black, Brown, and Beige is performed by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Music Director JoAnn Falletta. She engages in a brief but fascinating discussion of the album in a Naxos Podcast, JoAnn Falletta talks to Gail Wein. Falletta pays tribute to three soloists who help make the program swing: Sal Andolina, Trumpet and Alto Saxophone; Tony Di Lorenzo, Trumpet; and the Philharmonic's own Amy Licata, Violin. 

This disc is particularly meaningful to us. Duke Ellington is featured as a Composer of African Descent at AfriClassical.com because of two works on the CD, Harlem (14:27) and Suite from 'The River' (21:04). Both were recorded on Chandos in 1993 by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Neeme Järvi. Suite from 'The River' was paired with William Grant Still's Symphony No. 1 (Afro-American). Harlem shared a disc with William Levi Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony and William Grant Still's Symphony No. 2 (Song of a New Race).

Edward Yadzinski writes in the liner notes: “Ellington’s trove of hit-tunes and recordings (Sophisticated Lady, Mood Indigo, Satin Doll, etc) are perhaps best-known among about a thousand pieces, including hundreds of jazz-inspired works for diverse genres including vocals, big-band, film, opera, ballet, sacred pieces, Broadway shows, theater music and instrumental suites.”

“In 1950 Duke paid tribute to his roots with a jazz portrait titled Harlem. He later added a provocative sub-title to the piece—A Tone Parallel to Harlem. Orchestrated by Maurice Peress, the piece is replete with emotive effects.”

Yadzinski continues: “Reflecting his view that music could deliver a message from the national experience, in the early 1930s Ellington conceived Black, Brown and Beige, a tribute to the nation’s African-American heritage.” “For the premier of the piece at Carnegie Hall in late January of 1943, the composer provided brief descriptions of each movement.” Black represents “African American faith in prayer and hard work.” Brown honors “African-American soldiers who fought and gave their lives” from the Civil War to World war II. “Beige is an evocation of the Renaissance in African American music, conjuring the night life of Harlem.” “After the first performance of Black, Brown, and Beige (fifty minutes in duration), Ellington derived the current suite, which was then orchestrated by Maurice Peress.”

The ballet Trois Rois Noirs (Three Black Kings) was completed by the composer's son, Mercer Ellington. The three kings are Balthazar, the King of the Magi; King Solomon; and Martin Luther King.

The Suite from 'The River' is a work which was commissioned in 1970 by the American Ballet Theater, the notes tell us, to be choreographed by Alvin Ailey. The composer produced nine ballet scenes, Edward Yadzinski writes. This recording includes five: The Spring, The Meander, The Giggling Rapids, The Lake, and The River.

Take the 'A' Train was composed in 1939 by Billy Strayhorn and arranged by Duke Ellington. The title famously refers to instructions Ellington had given Strayhorn for taking the New York City subway to Ellington's apartment. The liner notes add: “While the title refers to the subway system in New York, the ‘A’ title became a reference to the spirit of America as the nation rallied itself to the call of duty in Europe and across the Pacific. The piece ranks among the most widely arranged and recorded standards of all time.”

Reviewing this disc has been a real pleasure, and we have saved the complete program in a music player for future listening.

Disclosure: A review copy of this recording was provided by the record label.

'five works reconstructed from Coleridge-Taylor manuscripts will be presented during the March 13, 16 and 17 Longfellow Choral Festival'

[Above: Kerby Louis Roberson as the young Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in the film "Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and His Music in America, 1900–1912."]

[Above: First page of the manuscript full score of Coleridge-Taylor's "Don't Be Weary, Traveller," his orchestration of his original piano version in "24 Negro Melodies," Opus 59 (1905). Courtesy British Library.]

The Longfellow Chorus Portland, Maine March 2, 2013

This synthetic orchestra sound file will give you a  preview of Coleridge-Taylor's unpublished "Don't  Be Weary, Traveller," for orchestra. It is his  orchestration of the African-American melody  from his "24 Negro-Melodies," Opus 59 (1905)  and one of five Coleridge-Taylor works I've  reconstructed from manuscripts to be presented  during the March 13, 16 and 17 Longfellow  Choral Festival in Portland, Maine.—Charles  Kaufmann One of the many things that has excited me  about preparing for the March 13, 16 and 17  Longfellow Choral Festival in Nickelodeon  Theater and Merrill Auditorium, Portland,  Maine, has been experiencing numerous  Coleridge-Taylor manuscripts come to life  on my computer. I have so many of these, I  have neither time to edit them all, nor room  on the program. The latest, yesterday, is SC-T's  orchestration of "Don't Be Weary, Traveller,"   from his piano setting of this African  American spiritual in "24 Negro Melodies,"  (his piano version originally published in 1905  in Boston). The melody of "Don't Be Weary Traveller" was  first published by in 1867 in "Slave Songs of  the United States," edited by William Francis  Allen, an abolitionist Unitarian from  Massachusetts and an educator of freed slaves  during Reconstruction. It's interesting to note  that many of the songs we know as  spirituals and jubilee songs were collected and   published by white scholars in the years  immediately following the Civil War. Another  tune Coleridge-Taylor used, "Keep Me From  Sinkin' Down" — also on our Longfellow Choral  Festival program — was first collected by   Robbins Battell, the father of Ellen Battell,  who, along with her husband, Carl Stoeckel,  was SC-T's Norfolk patron. It is safe to say that it was Coleridge-Taylor  who first introduced the wider world in 1905 to  "Don't Be Weary Traveller" through his  concert piano version. The importance of  SC-T's "24 Negro Melodies" in influencing  other composers has gone unnoticed. Harry  T. Burleigh — who knew Coleridge-Taylor —  published his concert choral version of "Don't  Be Weary" in 1917. Robert Nathaniel Dett,  another African-American composer, published  his concert choral version in 1921. Both  composers would have studied SC-T's 24 Negro  Melodies. Coleridge-Taylor was an innovator in  those terms. Editing "Don't Be Weary" was a bit tricky.  I have SC-T's original manuscript, which is full  of cross-outs and whites-outs. Then I have  a copyist's manuscript signifying an attempt to  clarify what SC-T wrote on the original. During  the editing process, when I found an error  in the copyist's version, I turned to the   original SC-T score. When I couldn't read that,  I looked at the original piano version in 24  Negro Melodies. This usually solved the problem  and gave me some insight into SC-T's creative  process. Several times, he changed the harmony  and added material to his orchestra version.  It was usually pretty clear what his intention was  in terms of "What note is that?" or "What  harmony is that?" What is apparent in Coleridge-Taylor's "Don't  Be Weary Traveller" is his love at that age (30) of  experimentation with the "blue note," something  that would become a defining harmonic and  melodic element of classical jazz two and three  decades later. SC-T's orchestral version of "Don't Be Weary"  sounds like a miniature Dvorak symphony, and  wow, it is really beautiful. But once that settles in,  the listener recognizes that what this really sounds  like is Coleridge-Taylor. It provides a hint about  the type of orchestral works Coleridge-Taylor might  have expanded upon if he had lived beyond the age  of 37. All in all, five works reconstructed from Coleridge- Taylor manuscripts will be presented during the  March 13, 16 and 17 Longfellow Choral Festival in  Nickelodeon Theater and Merrill Auditorium,  Portland, Maine: "Violin Concerto in G-Minor,"  "Keep Me From Sinkin' Down," for violin and  orchestra, "Lament (They Will not Lend Me a  Child)," for violin and cello solo with orchestra  accompaniment, "Don't Be Weary Traveller,"  for orchestra, and "The Arrow and the Song,"  for tenor and piano. See you there ! Charles Kaufmann, artistic director The Longfellow Chorus PO Box 5133 Portland, Maine 04101

Eric Owens and Laquita Mitchell in Title Roles of San Francisco Opera's 'Porgy & Bess' in HD March 5 & 9, 2013 at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, San Francisco

Laquita Mitchell and Eric Owens 

in San Francisco Opera's 

Porgy & Bess 

in High Definition

John Malveaux of www.MusicUNTOLD.com writes:

During recent past years, I met and befriended three young opera singers around the same age who often competed against each other. Malesha Jesse, Amber Mercomes, and Angel Blue were from USC, Pepperdine, and UCLA. All three were cast in the LA Opera production of Porgy & Bess. All three were subsequently cast in the San Francisco Opera production of Porgy & Bess and I went to see them in San Francisco. The sold out 2009 SF Opera production will be seen on San Francisco movie screen, Porgy and Bess Cinemacast: March 5 and 9 at the Kabuki Cinemas.

San Francisco Opera's acclaimed production of Porgy and Bess will screen in high definition at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas in San Francisco (1881 Post Street at Fillmore) Tuesday, March 5 (7:15 pm) and Saturday, March 9 (10:00 am).

The San Francisco Chronicle praised Francesca Zambello’s production as a “powerful Porgy and Bess...persuasively led by conductor John DeMain and sung by a strong cast headed by Eric Owens and Laquita Mitchell in the title roles...Owens brought vocal heft and dramatic sensitivity to the part of Porgy. Mitchell gave an evocative performance as Bess, compounded of tempestuous need and penitence.”

Congratulations to Malesha Jesse, Amber Mercomes, and Angel Blue from

www.musicuntold.com

Comments by email:

Comment 1: Dear John and others,  Thank you so much for this information! I do want to clarify that Angel, Amber and myself were not in competition with one another. We were and still are friends and have very different voice types. 

John, you have been a support to all three of us, and I will always be grateful for that.  All the best, Malesha Jessie 

Comment 2: I was referring to OPERA BUFFS competition. Congratulations for marriage, new borns, and singing in upcoming AIDA with San Diego Opera. i hope we can coordinate a visit on April 23rd or 24th while in San Diego. Hugs, John [John Malveaux, www.MusicUNTOLD.com]

Dominique-René de Lerma: 'Black, Brown, and Beige #10'

Victory Stride: The Symphonic Music of James P. Johnson

The Concordia Orchestra

Marin Alsop, Conductor

Music Masters 67140 (1994)

Dominique-René de Lerma:

This final survey served more as a reminder of Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, James P. Johnson, Mary Lou Williams, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, and Nat King Cole.  What we need, and Bill can do it, is a counterpart to Exploring music.  Everyone lauds jazz as a distinctive Black American musical language, but in reality it is poorly represented in sober, historical terms.

Take Ellington, as a major example.  Not only was he an innovator in orchestration.  We have many examples of parallel dominant sevenths with Debussy.  How did Ellington add that to his vocabulary in the first full measure of Sophisticated lady?  Zeitgeist?  Billy Strayhorn?  La cathédral engloutie?  And his use of the ballad form (AABA), now expanded to AABABA, with the short voyage to a distant key in the bridge (B), in a form rather alien  to the spiritual (despite Burleigh's Deep river), which Dvořák used in the slow movement of the New world symphony?  Serious listeners would welcome a penetrating discussion.

This two-week survey has ended with some other unfinished business, as Bill readily admitted.  There is a whole world of the spiritual, much older than jazz, from the Fisk Jubilee Singers, John Work, Carl Diton, William Dawson, to contemporary reflections with Olly Wilson, Charles Lloyd, Undine Smith Moore, and John Daniels Carter, and our Black college choral groups.  We enjoyed ten hours without mention of Primous Fountain, Blind Tom, David Baker, Eubie Blake, Will Marion Cook, or Ella Fitzgerald.  How welcome were the voices of Leontyne Price, William Warfield, Kathy Battle, and Robert Sims.  Now what about Martina Arroyo, Grace Bumbry, Sir William White, Gloria Davy, George Shirley, Thomas Young, Daryll Taylor, Denyce Graves?  There can be days dedicated to Aaron Dworkin and his Sphinx Organization winners and ensembles, to the Ritz Chamber Players and Imani Winds, to Venezuela's sistema, to Sanford Allen, Leon Bates, Anthony Elliott, Antoinette Handy, William Nyaho.

The program's target was the African American, so it was a luxury to hear Saint-Georges and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, but there remains that new dynamic world of the African composer, from Enoch Sontoga, to Fela Sowande, Joshua Uzoigwe, Akin Euba, J. H. Kwabena Nketia, Fred Onouvwerosuoke.  And we have major figures from Cuba: Amadeo Roldán and Leo Brouwer, for starts.  This finale ended touchingly with Ray Nance playing Ellington's Come Sunday and Langston Hughes memories of rivers.

This is offered not as a complaint, but as a stimulus with very deep gratitude and a touch of divine dissatisfaction (God, it's a bit chilly here in heaven.  Could we raise the thermostat a bit?).  It's just that this is a huge and wonderful world, filled with known and unknown bards, all of whom had what Leontyne Price called, "the luxury of being Black."

------------------------------------

Dominique-René de Lerma

http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com

Opera News: 'Eric Owens to Receive 2012 OPERA NEWS Award' in New York City April 21, 2013

Eric Owens

2012 OPERA NEWS Awards Honorees Announced

Sopranos Mirella Freni and Dawn Upshaw, countertenor David Daniels, baritone Simon Keenlyside, and bass-baritone Eric Owens to Receive 2012 OPERA NEWS Awards

The editors of OPERA NEWS are pleased to announce the honorees for the 2012 OPERA NEWS Awards, paying tribute to five superb artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: sopranos Mirella Freni and Dawn Upshaw, countertenor David Daniels, baritone Simon Keenlyside, and bass-baritone Eric Owens. The eighth annual OPERA NEWS Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 21 at The Plaza in New York City. All the winners — and a host of the city’s cultural, civic, and social luminaries — will be present at the gala awards dinner, which will feature celebrity presenters speaking about the awardees and introducing video performance clips.

The official announcement of this year’s honorees appears in the September 2012 issue of OPERA NEWS, which is available on August 6 and has Piotr Beczala on the cover. The Polish tenor performs this season at the Metropolitan Opera in Gounod’s Faust — his company role debut as the opera’s title — and in a new production of Verdi’s Rigoletto. The September issue also offers the magazine’s annual preview of the year in opera. The April 2012 issue of OPERA NEWS will contain tributes to the five awardees, all distinguished members of the international opera community.

...

Managing Editor Oussama Zahr extols the gifts of Mr. Owens:

“Bass-baritone Eric Owens has a soulful, capacious voice that he uses to imbue some of opera’s most mysterious and villainous characters with startling humanity. Everything he sings glows with his integrity as an artist.”

PostNewsGroup.com: 'Founder and Conductor of Berkeley Free Orchestra Charles Darden, 66'

[PostNewsGroup.com: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Charles Darden in 2011 in St. Barts in the Caribbean French West Indies. He directed the choir at the Anglican Church.]

On November 28, 2009 AfriClassical posted: Charles Darden: 'an authority on the life and music of the ragtime composer Scott Joplin.'  The above photo was included.

Today Sergio Mims alerted us to his passing.

The Post News Group
Friday, March 01, 2013

Charles Darden, 66, a music conductor and pianist who worked with the Dance Theater of Harlem and performed frequently in Europe, died Feb. 20 at his home in Dublin, California.

Born in Galveston, Texas on Aug. 28, 1946 to Linnie L. Darden, Sr. and Victoria Darden, he attended local schools in Galveston and Berkeley. After graduating from from Berkeley High School, he joined the U.S. Army.  He attended  the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

He was the founder and conductor of Berkeley Free Orchestra. In 1970, Seiji Ozawa appointed him apprentice conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Later, he was twice a conducting fellow at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where he studied with Leonard Bernstein. In 1975, Lorin Maazel appointed him conducting assistant to the Cleveland Orchestra.

Darden was later appointed musical director of the Ballet Rambert in London and worked with the  Theater of Harlem in New York. He was a frequent guest conductor in Europe, primarily with the Den Norske Opera in Norway. He was an accomplished pianist and appeared as Jasbo Brown in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Porgy and Bess.

Darden was an authority on the life and music of  ragtime composer Scott Joplin. He wrote a one-man show “Great Scott!” on the life of the composer. Darden was director of music for the Anglican Church, and director of La Chorale De Bons Choeurs on the island of St. Barts in the Caribbean French West Indies. In 1999, he produced “L’Hymne á St. Barthlémy,” the island’s national anthem.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers, Jeff Darden, Otis Darden, and Nathaniel Darden. He is survived by his sisters, Charlene Darden of Las Vegas; Claressa Morrow of Berkeley; Jean Reeves of Dublin, California; Melvin Neeley of Texas City, Texas; and his brothers Linnie L. Darden Jr. of Hinesville, Georgia, and Paul Darden of Portland, Oregon.

A memorial service will be held March 7 at 11 a.m. at Hilltop Community Church, 3118 Shane Drive in Richmond. Flowers or remembrances may be sent to the church. The family will receive friends before and after the service.

[Scott Joplin (c. 1867-1917) is featured at AfriClassical.com]

Patrick McCoy: "The Washington Bach Consort mourns the untimely passing of Washington McClain"

Washington McClain (Photo: Beth Lewis)

Patrick McCoy:

Beloved baroque oboist Washington McClain (front left) is mourned by the early music community: He was a fixture on the early music scene, especially with the Washington Bach Consort.

Below is a statement from the Washington Bach Consort (D. C.)

"The Washington Bach Consort mourns the untimely passing of Washington McClain, one of the most beloved and seminal figures in the early music field. We extend our sincerest condolences to his family and will forever cherish the many years we were blessed with his presence amongst us."

Leo Brouwer, Afro-Cuban Classical Guitarist, Composer and Conductor With Annual Chamber Music Festival, Was Born March 1, 1939

Leo Brouwer (b. 1939)

The Afro-Cuban composer, classical guitarist and conductor we now know as Leo Brouwer was named Juan Leovigildo Brouwer when he came into the world in Havana, Cuba on March 1, 1939. He is featured at AfriClassical.com. His enormous influence on guitar music in particular and classical music in general is demonstrated by more than a hundred recordings on which he has played, composed or conducted. Brouwer's compositions reflect classical, Afro-Cuban, jazz and avant-garde influences. His many film scores have brought his music to the attention of a huge audience around the world. Brouwer's influence in his native country results in part from the important positions he has held in Cuban music institutions.

The sheet music of Leo Brouwer is available from Chester Novello, www.chesternovello.com. It is hugely popular with professional and amateur guitarists alike.

In 2012 Leo Brouwer continued his series of chamber music festivals with the IV Leo Brouwer Festival of Chamber Music held in Havana October 3-13, 2012.

The Festival’s final concert included the premiere of the composer's In memoriam Compay Segundo.  

The Cuban news service Granma International reported:

"On the occasion, Brouwer additionally conducted the Sonantas Habaneras guitar orchestra in a premiere performance of his Concierto de Tricastín (2008), in an arrangement for bandurria with a guitar soloist and accompanying guitar, performed by the distinguished Spanish artists Pedro Chamorro and Pedro Mateo." 

On September 15, 2012 AfriClassical reported on a post at Consonant Classical Challenge dated the previous day:

CCC 045 - Leo Brouwer

For many, the term "20th Century Music" is synonymous with all that's wrong with classical music (the Consonant Classical Challenge was launched in part to correct that misperception). But the 20th Century has also been the age of the classical guitar. And most of the music composed for the instrument during the last 50 years has been mostly tonal. And that's why one of the more prominent living composers for the instrument, Leo Brouwer, is the next in our series. 

Leo Brouwer is a Cuban composer, conductor and virtuoso guitarist. Just as Chopin wrote almost exclusively for his instrument, so too has Brouwer. In his catalog are works for solo guitar, guitar ensembles, guitar and string quartets, and guitar concertos. Many of his works have become standards of the repertoire, and are regularly performed and recorded. 

Guitar Concerto No. 11 de Requiem (In memoriam Toru Takemitsu), written in 2007, is a good example of Brouwer's current style. [10:00]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8MWNyu5WhE&feature=player_embedded#!

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Dominique-René de Lerma: 'Black, Brown, and Beige #9'

Dominique-René de Lerma:

Das Paradies und die Peri.  I heard this cantata by Schumann only once, which I thought was far more than sufficient.  I had attended the concert in the company of a friend of Philip Creech, who had stepped out of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for a solo role.  The work, which (alas) took up an entire evening, was conducted by James Levine.  He made his entrance not only with Phil, but another from the chorus - mezzo-soprano Isola Jones - and this imposing triangular figure, regally clad, whose name was totally new to me: Jessye Norman.  Quite soon, we all knew who she was.  The ninth program in Bill McLaughlin's Portraits in Black, Brown, and Beige had this superstar represented by the deeply touching farewell of Richard Strauß: Vier letzte Lieder.  That set the mood for much of this tribute's penultimate program.

It had begun with Kathleen Battle and Wynton Marsalis, paired in Handel.  I always felt Marsalis excelled in the classical repertoire, despite his orthodox stance on straight-ahead jazz.  As for Ms Battle (a name well suited for this prima donna who rivaled Maria Callas in her audacious behavior), she has been an eternal ingenue on stage, a superb singer.  When she was dating Ben Holt, he excused her behavior; when she was dating Kevin Short (who took her to baseball games in Japan), Kevin said she really had to have others do for her what she could or would not do for herself.  I reminded him of her days teaching public school in Ohio.  He said she was known at the Met as "U.N." (which was not a reference to any international organization).  Sadly for us and her, she left the opera stage for good in 1984, not her choice.  Should there be any one who has not seen her performance of spirituals with Jessye Norman, Deutsche Grammophon's DVD is yet available.  Be sure to catch Sylvia Lee at the piano -- that sassy country gal we all loved so very deeply -- who told Levine that the spirituals should never be performed with an orchestra!  Since when have conductors listened to anyone?

It must have been difficult to select a work to represent Olly Wilson, a most major among senior giants, even if he is dramatically underrepresented discographically.  The evening's sobriety was continued, intensely, by the second movement of his Sinfonia, a memorial to Olly's father and to that young genius, the conductor Calvin Simmons, who drowned accidently in frigid waters near Lake Placid, when only 32.

Our host, who also has a career as conductor, modestly included a sample of his own work with Maps of Anthony Davis.  Here is a composer who has had as major an impact on the direction of contemporary opera as anyone -- most dramatically and initially with X; the life and times of Malcolm X.  Its première had Ben Holt in the title role -- in fact, he was Malcolm! -- but Ben died before the CD, so Davis had the recording issued in his memory (Bill told me he had the experience of conducting Ben while that gifted baritone was still performing).

The Afro-Latino element, which is enormous, was introduced with the saxophone concerto by Roberto Sierra, of Puerto Rico.  The identification of who is Black is basically quite easy in the United States, for reasons all Americans have to live with.  In Hispanic countries, however, ethnicity is far less important than nationality and it seems foolhardy to isolate the African element from the others, which is why Tania León does not wish to be identified only as a Black musician.  Even before the massive miscegenation throughout the southern Americas, some of us took care of that back in Spain, with the aid of the morenos.

Time obligated only brief attention to the Met's principal clarinetist, Anthony McGill, and none to his gifted brother, Demarre in Seattle.  While Awadagin Pratt entered the scene as pianist with Brahms, this most remarkable triple-threat Peabody graduate majored no less in violin and conducting.  I always lamented he did not take my class in Black music history, but was comforted in knowing he was going to make it.

------------------------------------

Dominique-René de Lerma

http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com

OregonLive.com: Late Van Cliburn Appeared With Oregon Symphony Conducted by James DePreist

Van Cliburn, performing with the Oregon Symphony and James DePreist in 2007. Dana E. Olsen/The Oregonian/2007

Renowned pianist Van Cliburn made appearances with the Oregon Symphony, including the 2007 concert at which he and James DePreist were photographed together.  Maestro James DePreist, featured at AfriClassical.com, died February 8, 2013 at 76; Van Cliburn ws 78 when he passed away Feb. 27, 2013.

The Oregonian

Van Cliburn in Portland: reviews of a piano legend

By David Stabler, The Oregonian 

on February 27, 2013 at 12:51 PM

Van Cliburn, who died Feb. 27 at the age of 78, performed several times with the Oregon Symphony, most recently in 1997 and 2007.