Oregon ArtsWatch

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James Bash

James Bash enjoys writing for The Oregonian, The Columbian, Classical Voice North America, Opera, and many other publications. He has also written articles for the Oregon Arts Commission and the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd edition. He received a fellowship to the 2008 NEA Journalism Institute for Classical Music and Opera, and is a member of the Music Critics Association of North America.

A bit of the dark arts: Talking with Clement So

December 7, 2025James Bash

Oregon Symphony’s Director of Classical Programming discusses everything from spreadsheets and contingency planning to catching the conducting bug at Yale and his early days schlepping timpani at New York’s 92nd Street Y.

The power of music: Talking with Lajos Balogh

November 26, 2025James Bash

The conductor, teacher, violinist, and founder of Metropolitan Youth Symphony discusses his journey from Hungary – fleeing first Nazis and then Soviets – to Portland.

World premieres: Metropolitan Youth Symphony and Adam Eccleston

November 18, 2025James Bash

Two – maybe three – world premieres marked the MYS season opener: Giancarlo Castro D’Addona’s new flute concerto, commissioned by Eccleston; a tone poem by Young Composers Project student Max Evans McGlothin; and the likely West Coast premiere of Ethyl Smith’s “Symphony for Small Orchestra.”

Fierce commitment: Portland Youth Philharmonic’s season opener with Portland Piano International Concerto competition winner Lucy Joo

November 18, 2025James Bash

PYP launched their 102nd season on a crescendo with Beethoven, Grainger, and Ortiz.

Fear No Music runs the marathon!

October 8, 2025James Bash

The experts of new music in Oregon presented what ended up being five hours of music composed in the Pacific Northwest.

It’s BISQC or Bust! Large group of Portlanders make the trek to Banff

September 16, 2025James Bash

Nine quartets from around the world – and a group of Oregonian enthusiasts headed by Friends of Chamber Music’s Pat Zagelow – traveled to Alberta, Canada, for the prestigious string quartet competition.

Not as victims but as victors: Karen Slack’s “African Queens” celebrates extraordinary women in song

September 12, 2025James Bash

Soprano and Portland Opera Artistic Ambassador Slack discusses the set of songs, all by Black composers, which she will perform this weekend at The Reser.

A real hoot: Niel DePonte’s Concerts in the Barn

September 2, 2025James Bash

Three weeks of “combo concerts” at Butler Barn in Tualatin Valley combined different musical styles to celebrate summer.

Vancouver Symphony scores trifecta at the Vancouver Arts and Music Festival

August 11, 2025James Bash

The VSO, performing a series of outdoor concerts at Esther Short Park, welcomed guests Mark and Maggie O’Connor, Renée Fleming, and Sharon Isbin.

Duo Calisto enchants the audience with cello and voice in unorthodox downtown setting

July 9, 2025James Bash

Chatter PDX on the verge of its one-year anniversary.

Let the sun shine through: Metropolitan Youth Symphony with esperanza spalding

June 27, 2025James Bash

MYS hit all the right notes, with several alumni – including spalding – joining in for its season finale and half-century celebration.

On Nature – Humanity – Redemption and Love – Mahler says it all

June 22, 2025James Bash

David Danzmayr and the Oregon Symphony unleashed Mahler’s Third Symphony with gusto.

Footloose about the town: Classical Up Close hits its stride in a free concert series

May 26, 2025James Bash

For the 12th year, a merry band of roving Oregon Symphony musicians spills out of the concert hall and into churches, libraries, community centers and book stores, taking their music to the places where the people are.

La risata final: Portland Opera laughs into the 19th hole with new production of Falstaff

May 22, 2025James Bash

PO’s setting of Verdi’s Shakespearean palimpsest transferred the beloved opera to a 1980s country club, swimming pool and all.

Portland Youth Philharmonic embraces music of different styles in season closer

May 15, 2025James Bash

PYP performed music by Robert Schumann, Valerie Coleman, Ruth Gipps, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s "Piano Concerto No. 2" with pianist Hansen Berrett.

Where the lightning hits the road: Talking with Damien Geter and Jessica Murphy Moo about their opera “Loving v. Virginia”

April 28, 2025James Bash

The opera, based on the love story behind the landmark civil rights case, premiered in Virginia last week.

New season, new day: Oregon Symphony’s president talks about what’s coming up

March 23, 2025James Bash

Isaac Thompson discusses a concert switch from Mondays to Thursdays and revitalizing downtown in a 2025-26 season that starts with violin superstar Joshua Bell and ends with a percussive bang.

Cappella Romana’s mix of Orthodox and Gospel music creates a resounding cantata

March 11, 2025James Bash

The choir's "Canon for Racial Recognition" entered fascinating musical and cultural territory with its deft blend of sounds from different yet complementary traditions.

‘Hamilton’ roars back into Portland

March 11, 2025James Bash

The latest Broadway tour of Lin-Manuel's historical hit musical, back in town through March 23, thrillingly tells its early American tale in contemporary style.

Play On: Every Brain Needs (Love) Music

February 20, 2025James Bash

Brain and heart: On Valentine's Day, Portland Chamber Music and neuroscientist Larry Sherman explored the many moods of love – and music's role in keeping it in tune.

“Forever thine, forever mine, forever us” – Northwest Sinfonietta and violinist Denise Dillenbeck premiere Nancy Ives’ Beethoven-inspired violin concerto

January 29, 2025James Bash

The Tacoma orchestra, part of the commissioning consortium for Ives’ Immortal Beloved Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, delivered intensity in quest for Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved.”

Camerata PYP and pianist Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner plant an outstanding ‘Sound Garden’

January 16, 2025James Bash

The concert pianist and Portland Youth Philharmonic's elite string ensemble triumph in a concert ranging from Liszt and Saint-Saëns to Jessie Montgomery and Bruce Stark.

A spicy kick: New Year’s with Portland Chamber Orchestra

January 10, 2025James Bash

PCO’s holiday concert put music and drinks in a delightful shaker, mixing music from the Baroque to the 21st century.

Strong musical culture: New recordings by violinist Tomás Cotik and Portland Youth Philharmonic

January 2, 2025James Bash

Recent albums feature the music of Astor Piazzolla, Lera Auerbach, and Polina Nazaykinskaya.

It’s All in the Family at PYP’s Concert-at-Christmas

January 2, 2025James Bash

The youth orchestra’s 63rd annual holiday show sent everyone home with a smile.

The Buetti effect – Nicole Buetti creates children’s videos that are as entertaining as they are educational

December 6, 2024James Bash

The Portland composer, bassoonist, puppeteer, and voiceover artist’s award-winning ‘Meet the Planets’ series is an ingenious blend of music and science.

Incisive intensity: Dover Quartet at The Old Church

November 27, 2024James Bash

The former Chamber Music Northwest protégé ensemble delivered a wide-ranging program of music by Tate, Mendelssohn, and Dvořák.

Metropolitan Youth Symphony explores love and loss in its 50th-season opener

November 14, 2024James Bash

The young composer Elishiya Crain-Keddie's "Innamorata" sparkles in a program including Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and contemporary American composer Missy Mazzoli.

Portland Youth Philharmonic 101: Entering its second century in vivid style

November 13, 2024James Bash

An outstanding performance by PYP alumna Hamani Froom of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto highlights a 101st season-opening program that also includes works by Silvestre Revueltas and William Grant Still.

Roderick Williams puts audience in heaven with recital of Schubert lieder

November 6, 2024James Bash

The English singer performed “Schwanengesang” and other selections with pianist Myra Huang for Chamber Music Northwest.