Since arriving here from North Carolina in 2007, I’ve traveled all around the state and have fallen in love with the high deserts of Eastern Oregon and the magically blue waters of Crater Lake. I also relish a stormy weekend at the Oregon Coast.
I adore the natural beauty of Oregon as much as I cherish the cultural beauty of our region. I could easily find myself in a concert hall every night of the week! I enjoy it all: early music, contemporary music, symphonic music and opera. So as not to exhaust myself I deliberately set aside time to play nerdy board games with friends, or will reserve a lazy afternoon to read a big novel. (I adore Franzen, Eugenides, Chabon and the like.)
I had once hoped to be a professional French horn player – I attended Northwestern University with that aspiration - but I graduated with a Bachelors of Music in Arts Administration. I still tootle my horn occasionally, and also enjoy picking up a ukulele from time to time.
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Rhys Phillips is an 18-year old multi-genre multi-instrumentalist, and a senior at West Linn High School. His principal instrument is the piano, but he also sings and plays the cello, guitar and bass. He loves playing classical, jazz and pop. He deeply loves music, and in intently focused on music as a career: he is… More
Andrew Schroeder is a very busy 15-year old sophomore at Sam Barlow High School. He is involved in multiple choirs and bands at school (he plays French horn), and he also sings in multiple ensembles with the Pacific Youth Choir. Additionally, he works twice a week at a memory care center, playing music for residents… More
Dina Biggs is a 14-year old clarinetist, and a freshman at West Linn High School. Though Dina has only been playing clarinet for 3 years she is already quite good: she is the only freshman in her school’s Symphonic Band, and she plays first clarinet in the Portland Youth Philharmonic. Fun fact: her first clarinet… More
Kaitlyn Brown is a 16-year old junior at Tualatin High School, and she plays percussion in many ensembles, both at school at with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. As a percussionist, she loves having the opportunity to play “weird” instruments (think: brake drum!), but her favorite percussion instrument is tympani, because it makes her feel like… More
Ethan Tseng is a 15-year old sophomore at Oregon Episcopal School (and cellist with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony) who finds himself equally devoted to both cello and golf. He has won countless competitions in both. In this episode of “On Deck” we’ll examine how those two passions complement each other.
17-year old Fiona Dubay comes from a very musical family. She herself sings (with two choirs within the Pacific Youth Choir organization) AND plays viola (in two ensembles with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony). As passionate as she is about music -and music education- she is equally passionate about the environment, and hopes to pursue a… More
Born in Samoa, AJ Ah-Yek is now a 17-year old senior at Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Washington. In addition to playing in both his high school’s jazz and concert bands, he is also a member of the varsity football team. That’s a lot to juggle… but on top of it all, he is… More
Jessica Mason is a 17-year old senior at Franklin High School who plays a multitude of instruments: violin, cello, piano, just to name a few… but her favorite is trumpet. She plays in two ensembles with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony, and several other community groups as well. There is nothing she’d rather be doing than… More
Israeli-born Amir Avsker plays piano, violin & French horn, but he identifies most as a composer. At just 12-years old, this 7th grader already has 63 compositions to his name. In this episode of “On Deck” we’ll learn whose music serves as Amir’s biggest inspiration.
Abbie Schipper is a 17-year old senior at St. Mary’s Academy. She is a soprano and sings in four different choirs (including three choirs within the Pacific Youth Choir organization). Music is a huge part of her life, and she recently began hearing it more clearly: after experiencing ‘high frequency hearing loss’ for more than… More