FREE OUTDOOR CONCERTS SCHEDULED AT MT. SCOTT (Aug. 28), ALBERTA (Sept. 1) AND TOM McCALL WATERFRONT PARKS (Sept. 3) AS PART OF
NEW 'OREGON SYMPHONY IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS' PROJECT
PRESENTED BY THE CITY AND THE REGIONAL ARTS AND CULTURE COUNCIL


Neighborhood revitalization project features day-of-concert festivals, year-round educational component through RACC's Neighborhood Arts Program and technical training for at-risk youth

Portland, Ore.... Using the occasion of its Centennial as an opportunity to expand and renew its musical impact on Portland-area residents, the Oregon Symphony is collaborating with the city of Portland and the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) to take its music "to the people" in an annual series of parks concerts, festival and year-long educational outreach activities.

"Oregon Symphony in the Neighborhoods," a new city-funded neighborhood revitalization project, begins with concerts in Mt. Scott and Alberta Parks on Aug. 28 and Sept. 1, with day-of-concert festivals, and culminates in a musical celebration of community during a traditional Oregon Symphony concert at Tom McCall Waterfront Park Sept. 3, with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, cannons and fireworks.

Sponsored by Portland General Electric, KINK FM 102, KOIN Channel 6 and The Oregonian's "a&e" Arts and Entertainment Guide, "Oregon Symphony in the Neighborhoods" also features a year-long educational component through RACC's Neighborhoods Arts Program and technical training for at-risk youth. The Waterfront Park concert also is sponsored by Nordstrom.

Mt. Scott Park Events Aug. 28

"Oregon Symphony in the Neighborhoods" begins Wednesday, Aug. 28, with an afternoon festival and concert in southeast Portland's Mt. Scott Park (Southeast 72nd and Harold). Festival events begin at 3:30 p.m. and will include: performances by Community Music Center ensembles and Marshall High School's Ballet Folklorico de Proyecto Adelante, an instrument demonstration by Kerr Violin Shop, the Night Scape B-Boys dancers and rappers, and neighborhood information tables. Oregon Symphony Resident Conductor Murry Sidlin will give an informal pre-concert talk at 6 p.m. and will conduct the Symphony in a 7 p.m. concert featuring a varied and accessible program with selections ranging from bars Dvorak's "Slavonic Dances (Op. 46, Nos. 4 and 8)" and Sibelius' "Finlandia (Op. 26)" to selections from Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Sound of Music" and Marvin Hamlisch's "A Chorus Line."

Alberta Park Events Sept. 1

Activities begin at 3 p.m. in Alberta Park (Northeast 22nd and Killingsworth) on Sunday, Sept. l, and will include: performances by the Cultural Recreation Band and ensembles, Treehouse Project environmental games, a Boys and Girls Club clay art table, a guitar building demonstration by Kerry Char Lutheries, a Vietnamese Dance Group from the Asian Family Center, teen dancers from the Gang Resistance Education and Training program and neighborhood information tables. Sidlin again will talk with the audience at 6 p.m. and will conduct the Symphony in a 7 p.m. performance (Mt. Scott program). Grand Finale Concert at Tom McCall Waterfront Park Sept. 3.

Music Director James DePreist will conduct the grand finale "Oregon Symphony in the Neighborhoods" concert in Tom McCall Waterfront Park (bowl area south of Hawthorne Bridge) on Tuesday, Sept. 3, as a celebration of neighborhood unity. Neighborhood advisory committees and those instrumental in the success of the earlier parks concerts will be recognized from the stage. The traditional waterfront concert program will feature Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World," Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" and will conclude with Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," complete with cannons and fireworks.

The project allows for significant activities for youth in terms of involvement, education and training. Through RACC's Neighborhood Arts Program, youths from the targeted neighborhoods will take part in ongoing opportunities to visit the Symphony's concert hall, participate in backstage tours, and to interact with Symphony conductors and attend additional concerts.

In addition, 16 youths from the Urban League's Street Academy program, the Night Scape program of the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Care Foundation, the Columbia Boys and Girls Club and the Mt. Scott Park Center for Learning will work with the Symphony's technical production personnel to assist in producing the parks concerts; the training and mentoring will continue during the Symphony's coming season, providing tickets and backstage opportunities to meet and interact with technical personnel.

The neighborhood advisory committee members are: (for Mt. Scott Park events) Rev. Bruce Swanson, chair, Mt. Scott Neighborhood Assoc. and minister, Mt. Scott Park Presbyterian Church; Linda Zenicanin, Mt. Scott Park Center for Learning, Sally Verron, neighbor; Walter Calvert, neighbor; Nanette Nelson-Furman, director, Mt. Scott Community Center; John deAguirre, Night Scape program; and Greg Swanson, chair, Foster-Powell Neighborhood Assoc.; (for Alberta Park events) Lawrence Dark, executive director, Urban League of Portland; Domonic Boswell, park coordinator, Urban League of Portland; Cindy Guy, Portland Community Treehouse Project; Romelle Esplin, chair, Vernon Neighborhood Assoc.; Ronnye Harrison, director, Cultural Recreation Band; and Sue Busby, director, Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center.

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