By Daniel Buckwalter
It was billed as a “trial collaboration recital,” and I hope there is more of this to come.
The Oregon Brass Society — with organist Lindsey Henriksen Rodgers — paired the grandeur and full-throated glory of a brass ensemble with the noble beauty of the King of Instruments on May 22 in front of an appreciative audience at Eugene First United Methodist Church.
The concert — titled Organic Brass — was part of First United’s Concerts at First series. The performance was repeated on May 23 at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, under the direction of Olin Hannum, and it was a stirring performance from the get-go.
There was the brooding opening sequence of Thomas Trachsel’s Symphonietta No. 2, with the organist and the percussionists (Cory Miner, Kelsey Molinari and Matthew Valenzuela) leading the ensemble to the violent epicenter of a storm.
That was followed by Rodgers performing Louis Marchand’s Grand Dialogue, composed in 1696, and yes, you could imagine royalty stepping into a high-ceilinged cathedral in regal fashion in front of loyal subjects.
There was lyrical storytelling in the form of Liz Lane’s Robin, Robin (with solo work on the euphonium by Robert Ponto), meditative work on the organ in William Albright’s Nocturne, and vibrant play from the Brass Society in Goff Richards’ Oceans.
And all of that was before intermission. The second half of the program featured Elfrida Andrée’s three-movement Symfoni nr. 2 and the rousing finale of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3. All of it got the ovations it deserved.
The Organic Brass program began when Hannum reached out to Rodgers more than a year ago. Rodgers is an instructor at the University of Oregon’s School of Music and Dance who does private lessons and also is the assistant organist at Central Lutheran Church in Eugene.
It is that last association where I became acquainted with her and her family, and I started to notice the intense work that went into this program three or four weeks before the weekend concerts.
Make no mistake, this was an intricate and complicated program. It was real work that Rodgers immersed herself in and which she and the Brass Society pulled off splendidly in both performances.
After Friday’s concert, I intended to congratulate Rodgers in person on her performance, but she was enveloped by well-wishers, so I spoke briefly with her parents and eldest son. I can’t let an entire day slip without a thread of deadpan humor, so I noted that this seemed like a straightforward program. “Why all the stress these last three or four weeks?”
The parents burst out laughing. The eldest son contemplated the question. “It was more like three or four months,” he said.
On my short bike ride home, I smiled at that remark. Artists of all stripes, of course, have their obsessive zeal for detail, leaving no stone unturned and sometimes re-examining those stones multiple times. They live with their projects, in their heads and hearts, and their loved ones, even it it’s by osmosis, absorb the project, too.
And for that, I say — here’s to the families of artists and the forbearance and love they show.
