Musicology: Notes to Remember
Fall 2009 Series: The Lecture Series Premiere
Where It All Began: The History and Theory of Music
With John C. Mery
John is the Music Program Director at PCC-Sylvania and the Chair of Performing Arts. He will kick off the lecture series talking about Pythagoras and the Ancient Greeks, the music of the Medieval and Renaissance eras and finally he will venture into the great western music and how it has evolved.
All That Jazz
With George Fendel
George has been active in jazz radio for over twenty years and now hosts his own Sunday show on KMHD. He’s written articles as well as hundreds of record/CD reviews for the Jazz Society of Oregon’s Jazzscene magazine, and he’s served for many years as a JSO board member. His devotion to the music and sharing it with his radio and jazz review audiences has done so much to bring people’s attention to the jazz artists of Portland as well as national jazz musicians and their work.
Swing Into the Big Band Era
With Gordon Neal Herman
Gordon earned a Bachelor of Music from California State University – Long Beach in jazz history and a Master of Music from the University of Idaho in composition. Gordon Neal Herman has been playing piano 34 years and has been teaching jazz, classical and popular styles along with theory and technique for 23 years. Besides being a piano instructor, Gordon is a performer, composer and music historian. Gordon teaches classes in jazz, American popular music history and music technology at Marylhurst University. For this lecture he will talk about how the big bands got started in the late 20’s and 30s, who took it to its popular heights and why it faded from the popular scene.
The Pioneering Pieces
With Dr. John Richards
Dr. Richards holds degrees from Lewis and ClarkCollege, The University of Southern California and the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. He has directed the Portland Symphonic Youth Band since 1994 and Beaverton Community Band. He served as Associate Dean of Faculty, Director of Instrumental Music and Chairman of the Education Department at Lewis and ClarkCollege for 10 years. Dr. Richards was Principal Tubist of the Oregon Symphony from 1947 until his retirement at the end of the 1999 season. He serves as guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician throughout the United States. He is the founder and director of the Oregon Civil War Band, specializing in American music dating from the Civil War period. He has a large selection of instruments some that are 1,000 years old! He will display and talk about the origins of many different instruments.
Rhythm and Jews: The History of Klezmer Music
With Lev Liberman
In 1975 a ragtag army of street musicians from Berkeley, California jump-started the worldwide Klezmer revival. Lev Liberman, Co-founder/saxman tells the inside story of The Klezmorim then ’til now – Grammy nominees, Carnegie Hall headliners, European popstars – and their brass-kicking, steam-powered Old World jazz.
Where Do We Go from Here: The Future of Music
With Dr. Kenneth Kleszynski
Dr. Kleszynski is a professor of music, conductor of the University Community Orchestra, and director of the music education program at University of Portland. Dr.Kleszynski holds degrees from Benedictine College, Arizona State University and Michigan State University. He has held office in the College Music Society (Pacific Northwest Chapter); was a former president of the Oregon chapter of the American String Teachers Association; and served as editor of the Oregon Music Educator.
