To honor their centennial celebration, the Portland Youth Philharmonic Orchestra welcomes GRAMMY-Winning “groundbreaking…fearless…vital” (Carnegie Hall) Imani Winds to perform Jeff Scott’s Paradise Valley Serenade, a brand-new work for wind quintet and orchestra recently premiered by the winds of the Detroit Symphony.

 

Also on the program is Amy Beach’s too-long neglected romantic and harmonic Gaelic Symphony, which draws inspiration from English, Irish, and Scottish melodies. We will also hear Jessie Montgomery’s delightfully exciting Strum for string orchestra, which will show off the powerful string section and have audiences clamoring for more of this rhythmically compelling work. Composers Jeff Scott and Jessie Montgomery are 2024 GRAMMY-Winning artists, rounding out this captivating program.

 

The collaboration between this exceptional youth orchestra and the dynamic ensemble Imani Winds, combined with the diverse and engaging program, ensures that this concert is an event not to be missed!

 

Portland Youth Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by David Hattner

• Amy Beach: Gaelic Symphony
• Jessie Montgomery: Strum for string orchestra
• Jeff Scott: Paradise Valley Serenade,
  with Imani Winds

About Portland Youth Philharmonic

 

In 1924, a group of visionary citizens established the Portland Junior Symphony Association (later renamed the Portland Youth Philharmonic Association or PYP for short). Building on the pioneering work of Mary V. Dodge, whose Irvington School Orchestra was the nucleus of the first Junior Symphony, the Association engaged Russian émigré Jacques Gershkovitch as conductor. PYP is the oldest youth orchestra in the United States. The structure and standards that it established for training young musicians in the 1920s became the prototype for youth orchestras across the country.

 

In 1954, an alumnus of the orchestra, Jacob Avshalomov, was selected as PYP’s second Musical Director and led the Junior Symphony for a legendary forty-year tenure. Under Maestro Avshalomov, the orchestra received the distinguished ASCAP Award for “Adventuresome Programming of Contemporary Music,” and it made six international tours to Europe and Asia. In 1978, the organization’s name was changed to Portland Youth Philharmonic. When Mr. “A” retired after a very long and impressive career, he was succeeded in 1995 by Huw Edwards.

 

Huw Edwards was named Musical Director in 1995 following Maestro Avshalomov’s retirement. During the seven years Maestro Edwards was Musical Director, he established the nationally acclaimed Peer Mentor program, broadcasted the world’s first interactive Children’s Concert via satellite across Oregon, and again, received the ASCAP Award for “Adventurous Programming and Commitment to Contemporary Music.” In 1998, PYP represented U.S. at the Banff International Festival of Youth Orchestras in Canada, and in the summer of 2000 embarked on its seventh international tour, this time to Australia and New Zealand.

 

When Mr. Edwards chose to make his departure at the end of the 2001-2002 season, Mei-Ann Chen was selected from a field of over 100 applicants to become the fourth Musical Director of PYP. Under her leadership, the orchestra toured domestically and internally, and received its third ASCAP Award for “Adventuresome Programming of Contemporary Music.”

 

In 2008, David Hattner was selected as PYP’s 5th Musical Director from a pool of 112 candidates and fifteen years later, he continues to lead the orchestra down a distinguished path of artistry and success.

 

Over the years, thousands of young musicians have played in one or more of PYP’s ensembles. Some have gone on to professional careers in orchestras across the country, including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the National Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, as well as Juilliard and American String Quartets. Others have achieved great success in teaching music or exploring non-musical fields, while continuing to be accomplished amateur musicians and active supporters of the arts in their communities. Alumni often attribute much of their success in life to the discipline and teamwork they experienced as members of the Portland Youth Philharmonic.