On Sept. 3, the skies above Tom McCall Waterfront Park will once againlight up following Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, complete with military cannons fromthe Oregon Army National Guard 218th Field Artillery. An expected audience ofsome 20,000 spectators will enjoy the dazzling fireworks finale and celebratethe largest-ever Oregon Symphony Waterfront Concert. The afternoon musicfestival begins at 1 p.m. with a stellar lineup of musicians and youthorchestras, with the Oregon Symphony performance beginning at 7 p.m.
Radio audiences around the world will enjoy the Symphony concert,thanks to the first-time-ever broadcast by All Classical Portland. OregonSymphony President Scott Showalter underscored the importance of the AllClassical Portland broadcast: “We’re in the business of bringing joy topeople’s lives through music. All Classical Portland is helping us spread thismusic and the joy it brings to people around the globe.”
“All Classical Portland is thrilled to grow our long-standingpartnership with the Oregon Symphony to present this first-ever live broadcastof the Waterfront Concert,” said station President/CEO Jack Allen. “Thisendeavor underlines the power of building a strong cultural community. We’reextremely pleased with this opportunity to share the unique work of our City ofRoses arts partners with our listeners around the world.”
Special thanks go to the Waterfront Concert’s generous sponsors: TheCity of Portland, NW Natural, Boeing, the Oregon Cultural Trust and KATU-TV.
The Waterfront Concert is Thursday, Sept. 3, (rain date if necessary:Friday, Sept. 4) at Tom McCall Waterfront Park (1020 Naito Pkwy in Portland) and is free and open to the public.
The day’s schedule is:
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. OSU Steel Drum Choir
1:30 – 2:15 p.m. MetropolitanYouth Symphony
2:15 – 2:45 p.m. Kevin Burke, Irish fiddler
2:45 – 3:15 p.m. BRAVOYouth Orchestras
3:30 – 4:00 p.m. Hillsboro School District Mariachi Band
4:00 –4:30 p.m. Stephanie Schneiderman & Tony Furtado, vocals and guitar
4:45 –5:15 p.m. Portland Taiko
5:15 –6:00 p.m. Portland Youth Philharmonic
6:00 –6:30 p.m. Bloco Alegria Brazilian Band
7:00 p.m. Oregon Symphony (with selections fromOregon Ballet Theatre and Portland Opera) Nightfall Fireworks
Complete program details as well as information on all theparticipating organizations and performers are available on the Symphony’swebsite: OrSymphony.org/waterfront. With an expected audience of around 20,000,patrons who bring lawn chairs are asked to bring only chairs that sit low tothe ground in order to preserve sightlines for patrons behind them. In additionto music all afternoon and evening, patrons will enjoy food carts and thechance to visit with many Portland arts groups who will have informationaltables at the park.
The Waterfront Concert signals the opening of the music season inPortland and kicks off the Oregon Symphony season which sports afirework-worthy September lineup, including the National Circus and Acrobats ofthe People’s Republic of China (Sept. 9), guitarist Pablo Villegas (Sept. 12),Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions (Sept. 17), The Music of Pink Floyd (Sept. 19),Patti LaBelle (Sept. 20), and percussionist Colin Currie (Sept. 26-28).
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