In Monday’s (3/8) Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), Barbara Curtin writes, “To many people in the audience, it looks like the conductor is simply beating time for the orchestra. The 65 members of West Salem High School’s Titan Orchestra know better. Their rehearsal on Friday afternoon was led by Carlos Kalmar, music director of the Oregon Symphony and a sought-after guest conductor around the world. … Daryl Silberman, the Titans’ regular director, had asked the Oregon Symphony Association in Salem to sponsor a visit by an Oregon Symphony musician. Associate concertmaster Erin Furbes had already come in January to coach violins and chamber players. … Kalmar encouraged; he sang; he counted with his hands and elbows and body until he seemed to be dancing. … When the rehearsal ended at 4:30 p.m., his assistant, Susan Franklin, tried to get him moving toward the car and an appointment in Portland. Kalmar lingered to chat with students. ‘There is so much talent here!’ he told Silberman and Karl Raschkes, the district’s supervisor of music education.”
Photo by Michael Jones
Posted March 9, 2010
