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EMILY PARKHURST

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Cooking with steam

Radiator music warms up local orchestra
While most of us find the clang and bang of old radiators an annoying aspect of living in an old building, composer Travis Ramsey thought they sounded like music.

By: EMILY PARKHURST | February 24, 2010

Tuba song

Hunter moves from the back of the hall to the spotlight
Dan Hunter wants you to know that a tuba is more than an oom-pah-pah machine or the big, shiny bell in the back of the orchestra. To Hunter, the tuba is a storyteller, an opera singer, and a melodic instrument.

By: EMILY PARKHURST | February 17, 2010

He is a real composer

And don't you try to tell Joshua Newton otherwise
Joshua Newton wants you to know he doesn't write classical music.

By: EMILY PARKHURST | October 07, 2009

Classical inheritance

Two fixtures hand over the reins to a younger generation
A teacher told me years ago that someday "you young people will inherit classical music. Then you can do with it what you want." And so I've been waiting.

By: EMILY PARKHURST | September 30, 2009

String vacation

Soundtrack for summer in Maine
With the Portland Symphony's elimination of its popular, but debt-inducing, Independence Pops concert series, Portlanders will have to travel a little farther to satisfy their classical-music appetites this summer. But it will be well worth the mileage.

By: EMILY PARKHURST | July 08, 2009

It's not simple

Talking stories, sex, and children with author Diana Joseph
Diana Joseph's new essay collection I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother and Friend to Man and Dog begins with an account of her father giving her the sex talk: "When a girl goes with this one, and then that one, and then that one over there ... what happens is people will start to talk.

By: EMILY PARKHURST | June 03, 2009

A pair of classical gems

String quartets pair up
Sunday afternoon, two string quartets — the Borromeo and the Portland — will meet and join forces for a rare performance of a pair of classical gems, Johannes Brahms's String Sextet in G Major, Op. 36 and Felix Mendelssohn's Octet in E flat Major, Op. 20 .

By: EMILY PARKHURST | April 15, 2009

German birthday cake

The Choral Art Society perform Mendelssohn's Elijah
Tuesday's gift from Portland's Choral Art Society to German composer Felix Mendelssohn, on the occasion of what would be his 200th birthday, will be one of his greatest works (Elijah), and one of their biggest undertakings.

By: EMILY PARKHURST | March 25, 2009

Arts and culture go begging

The Portland Symphony Orchestra loses some signature events.
The Portland Symphony is in trouble. The unresolved dominant-seventh chord — a $2 million loss over the past eight years, and a possible shortfall of $220,000 this year alone — would be a setback for any company. But for the symphony, this is more than that.

By: EMILY PARKHURST | February 11, 2009

The show goes on

Soprano Renée Fleming visits the PSO
Soprano Renée Fleming visits the PSO

By: EMILY PARKHURST | February 11, 2009

Like a fine wine

Pianist Laura Kargul joins the Portland String Quartet for a birthday party.
To celebrate the group's 40th anniversary, the Portland String Quartet will have a good time playing some favorites, but also will push themselves with some of the most difficult works they perform. They'll have help from renowned pianist Laura Kargul, who will join in for one of the three program selections.

By: EMILY PARKHURST | February 04, 2009

Beyond tradition

Two concerts seek fresh ears for 'classical' music
On December 6 the University of Southern Maine Composers' Showcase will offer selections from new composers for eclectic ensembles, and on December 8 the Decompression Chamber Music Ensemble will offer an interactive concert pairing Robert Schumann with Philip Glass.

By: EMILY PARKHURST | December 03, 2008