PERFORMANCE VENUES

VENUE

Ashbrook Independent School

The Willamette Valley Symphony performs at Ashbrook Independent School in Corvallis which is a small, intimate hall with great acoustics. This is a very friendly environment where you will be close enough to the music to easily see and hear everything that happens onstage.

Our concert facility is handicapped accessible. Ushers are available at each concert to assist our patrons.

Ashbrook Independent School 4045 Research Way, Corvallis www.ashbrook-school.org

West Albany High School

The Willamette Valley Symphony is happy to announce that in 2022 we will be able to offer concerts at West Albany High School in addition to Ashbrook Independent School. This new auditorium is state of the art and we look forward to being among the first ensembles to make music in this beautiful facility.

Our concert facilities are handicapped accessible. 
Ushers are available at each concert to assist our patrons.

West Albany High School
2100 Elm St NW, Albany
www.wahs.albany.k12.or.us

Ashbrook Independent School

The Willamette Valley Symphony has long performed at Ashbrook Independent School in Corvallis which is a small, intimate hall with great acoustics. This is a very friendly environment where you will be close enough to the music to easily see and hear everything that happens onstage.

Our concert facilities are handicapped accessible. 
Ushers are available at each concert to assist our patrons.

Ashbrook Independent School
4045 Research Way, Corvallis
www.ashbrook-school.org

 

Albany Performing Arts Center

The Willamette Valley Symphony is happy to offer concerts at West Albany High School in addition to Ashbrook Independent School. This new auditorium is state-of-the-art, and we look forward to being among the first ensembles to make music in this beautiful facility.

Our concert facilities are handicapped accessible. 
Ushers are available at each concert to assist our patrons.

West Albany High School
2100 Elm St NW, Albany
www.wahs.albany.k12.or.us

Russell Tripp Performance Center

 Russell Tripp Performance Center, located on the Linn-Benton Community College campus, is just 15 minutes from Albany and Corvallis.  The performance center has seating for up to 456 guests, with an additional wheelchair-accessible row (total occupancy: 469), a proscenium-style theater with ample wing/backstage space, Professional sound and stage lighting, and ample free parking.

The performance center has wheelchair-accessible seating for up to 10 patrons. 

Russell Tripp Performance Center –Linn-Benton Community College
Takena Hall, Allen Ln, Albany, OR  97321.
Campus Map with Directions 
 Russell Tripp Performance Center, located in LBCC’s in Takena Hall.Take Allen Ln (southern entrance) and turn right to park in parking Lot 2. Enter Takana Hall’s main entrance. Building is clearly marked.
Google Map says Elingson Rd; however, it is easier to find if you take Allen Ln.

PRE-CONCERT LECTURES

PRE-CONCERT TALKS

Please join our conductor for a lively and engaging discussion on the music to be performed beginning 45 minutes before each concert.  You are welcome to engage in dialogue with the conductor and ask questions. The format is informal.

Please join us for these FREE, engaging exchanges in the concert hall before each performance.
Saturdays from 6:15 to 6:45
Sundays from 3:15 to 3:45

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Generally, yes! However, it may depend on the concert and on the age of your children. Many standard-length classical concerts require an attention span that is difficult for very young children to maintain. We rely on your good parental judgment as to whether or not your child will enjoy the concert. When you do attend a symphony concert as a family, try to sit up close to the orchestra, so your children will have a great view of everything that’s going on. Young children are especially intrigued by the many different instruments of the orchestra and the way they are played.

To further build your children’s interest in classical music, play classical radio or CDs around the house.

We encourage families to attend by offering a FREE ticket to all youth under the age of 18.

Expect to enjoy yourself! This is the time to let go of any preconceptions you may have about classical music or the concert experience. If you feel a little nervous, that’s OK. Some things about the concert may seem strange because they’re new to you, but if you just focus on the music, you’ll have a great time.

Open yourself up to the music. Let it trigger your emotions – maybe even your memories. Feel the rhythms; follow the tunes. Watch the musicians and the conductor, and see how they interact with each other. Notice how the music ebbs and flows—surging and powerful at some times, delicate and ephemeral at others, and everything in between.

There’s no need to study. The music will speak for itself. Just come and enjoy!

The pre-concert talks that begin 45 minutes before each concert are informal and informative. This is one easy way to enhance your concert experience.

Over time, many frequent concertgoers do find their enjoyment is deeper if they prepare for a concert. This can be simple, like reading the program notes beforehand (they’re posted on our website); or it can be more involved, like listening to recordings of the music to be performed in the days before they attend a concert.

You might! Classical music is all around us: in commercials, movie soundtracks, television themes, cartoons, retail shops, and even some elevators! Popular music often quotes classical melodies, too. While you’re listening in the concert to a piece you think you’ve never heard before, a tune you’ve heard a hundred times may jump out at you.

Whether or not you’ve heard the music before the concert, as you listen, you’ll notice that each classical piece uses its own group of several tunes over and over, in different ways. You’ll start to “recognize” these melodies as a work progresses. Listen for the ways a melody is repeated: Is it exactly the same as the first time, or with a different character? Is it played by the same instruments, or different ones? Does it start the same as before, but go off in a different direction? Or start differently and surprise you by developing into the tune you recognize from earlier in the piece?

There is no dress code! Anything that makes you feel comfortable is fine. Many people will be wearing business clothes or slightly dressy casual clothes, but you’ll see everything from khakis or jeans with a nice shirt to cocktail dresses and suits. Some people enjoy dressing up and making a special night of it, and you can, too.

If you do decide to dress up, though, go easy on the perfume and cologne, which can distract others near you and even prompt them to sneeze (which may distract you)!

Absolutely! Plan to arrive 20 minutes before concert time, so you can find parking, find your seat, turn off your cell phone, take a look at your surroundings, absorb the atmosphere, and have time to glance through the program book, too. You won’t be alone. Most concertgoers make a point of coming 45 minutes early to take part in the informal pre-concert talk given by the conductor.

And there’s another good reason to come early: Most concerts start on time. If you’re late, you may end up listening from the lobby! If that happens, the usher will allow you inside during a suitable pause in the program, so your arrival won’t disturb other concertgoers.

It varies, but most orchestra concerts are about 90 minutes long, with an intermission at the halfway point.

This is the number-one scary question! No one wants to clap in the “wrong” place. But it’s simpler than you may think, and quite logical on the whole.

At the beginning of the concert, the concertmaster will come onstage. The audience claps as a welcome, and as a sign of appreciation to all the musicians.

After the orchestra tunes, the conductor (and possibly a soloist) will come onstage. Everyone claps to welcome them, too.

Then everything settles down and the music begins. Just listen and enjoy! The audience doesn’t usually applaud again until the end of each piece.

In most classical concerts – unlike jazz or pop – the audience doesn’t usually applaud during the music. They wait until the end of each piece, then let loose with their applause. But this can be a little tricky, because many pieces seem to end several times – in other words, they have several parts, or “movements.” These are listed in your program.

In general, musicians and your fellow listeners prefer not to hear applause during the pauses between these movements, so they can concentrate on the progress from one movement to the next. Symphonies and concertos have a momentum that builds from the beginning to the end, through all their movements, and applause can “break the mood,” especially when a movement ends quietly. Sometimes, though, the audience just can’t restrain itself, and you’ll hear a smattering of applause – or a lot of it – during the pause before the next movement. It’s perfectly OK to join in if you enjoyed the music, too.

(By the way, disregard anyone who “shushes” you for applauding between movements. It’s only in the last 50 years or so that audiences stopped applauding between movements, so you have music history on your side!)

What if you lose track, and aren’t sure whether the piece is truly over? One clue is to watch the conductor. Usually, s/he won’t relax between movements, but keep hands raised; the attention of the musicians will remain on the conductor. If in any doubt, it’s always safe to wait and follow what the rest of the audience does!

At the end of the piece, it’s time to let yourself go and let the musicians know how you felt about their playing. Many pieces end “big” – and you won’t have any doubt of what to do when! Some end very quietly, and then you’ll see the conductor keep hands raised for a few seconds at the end, to “hold the mood.” Then the hands will drop, someone will clap or yell “Bravo!” – and that’s your cue. There’s no need to restrain yourself. If you enjoyed what you heard, you can yell “Bravo!” too.

Everyone gets the urge to cough now and then. Worrying about disturbing your fellow listeners is a laudable impulse, but don’t let it ruin your enjoyment of the concert. There’s a funny thing about coughing – the less worried you are about it, the less likely you are to feel the urge! So chances are you’ll feel less need to cough if you’re prepared:

1. Be sure to visit the water fountain in the lobby before the concert, and at intermission.

2. If you have a cold, take some cough medicine in advance and bring wax paper-wrapped – or unwrapped-lozenges with you.

3. Allow yourself to become involved in listening to the music and in watching the performers. The more you are absorbed in what’s going on, the less likely you are to cough.

4. If you absolutely can’t restrain yourself, try to wait for the end of a movement. Or “bury” your cough in a loud passage of music. If this is impossible, and you feel a coughing fit coming on, it’s perfectly acceptable to quietly exit the concert hall. Don’t be embarrassed—your fellow listeners will probably appreciate your concern for their listening experience.

Turn it off! The same goes for pagers and alarm watches. It’s a good idea to double-check in the few minutes before the concert begins, and again as intermission draws to a close. Better still, leave them at home or in the car if you can.

Doctors and emergency workers who are “on call” should put their pagers or cell phones on “vibrate”.

Cameras, video recorders, and tape recorders are not permitted in concerts. If you have a camera and want a souvenir of a special evening at the symphony, it can be fun to ask someone to take your picture outside the concert hall before you go in, in the lobby, or with one or some of the performers following the concert.

It’s a short rest period for the musicians and conductor – once you see how much activity goes into a performance, you’ll understand why they need a break!

Listening to music is also an intense activity (even if considerably less physical), and a break in the middle helps the audience concentrate better in the second half. Rarely, a concert will have no intermission because it would interrupt the flow of a long work. Check the program before the concert so you know what’s coming.

Most intermissions are fifteen to twenty minutes long, which gives you time to socialize with your companions, get a drink of water in the lobby, visit the facilities, or simply sit in your seat and read the program notes. Do whatever puts you in a good frame of mind to hear the second half of the concert.

Special thanks to the League of American Orchestras for their assistance with this section.

WVS Virtual Concert May 2021

 

WVS Competition Winners

2024 Student Concerto Competition Winners

Bastian Sorenson – French Horn,  Morceau De Concert by C. Saint Seans

Bastian Sorenson (French Horn) is a driven performer who is at home on the stage. A senior at Crescent Valley High School, Bastian is a Drum Major for the marching band. He has performed with numerous ensembles, including the Corvallis Youth Symphony, the Young Musicians and Artists summer band and orchestra camp, and the All-State Wind Ensemble. This summer, he toured Spain and Portugal with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. When he’s not playing the horn, he’s likely to be found singing, dancing, acting, or doing all three at once in one of CSDTheaters’ yearly musicals at Corvallis High School. Bastian is also recognized nationally for his singing by the National Association of Teachers of Singing. 

Bethany Christensen – Violin,  Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole, 1st Movement

Bethany Christensen is a senior at Corvallis High School. She began playing the violin at the age of five, and has studied with an array of teachers, of which most recently is Jessica Lambert for the past four years. She has played in a variety of ensemble groups, including OMEA All-State and All-Northwest Symphonies; the Corvallis Youth Symphony, where she currently serves as Concertmaster; her school’s Honors Camerata Orchestra; and group ensembles, such as trios and quintets, that served as Corvallis High School’s representatives for competitions. Bethany has also competed in various contests including ASTA’s Solo Competition; OMTA’s Ensemble Festival, where she placed first; OMEA’s High School Solo Competition, where she ranked second at districts and tenth at state; and OMEA’s High School Ensemble Competition, where her ensemble placed third at state. 

Jason Han – Cello,  Lalo Cello Concerto in D minor 1st Movement

Jason Han is a freshman at Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis, Oregon. He has been playing the cello for nine years and served as a principal in the Willamette Valley Junior Honor Symphony (2021-23) and is currently in the Corvallis Youth Symphony. An accomplished soloist, Jason won first place in the American Protégé International Piano & Strings Competition and first prize in the New York Laureate International Music Competition. He received second place at the Oregon Mozart Players Competition and earned a Silver medal in the Grand Metropolitan International Music Competition. In addition, he has won at several Oregon Music Teacher Association festivals and has performed as a soloist with Salem Philharmonia Orchestra.

2024 Student Composition Competition Winners

Flash Inouye – Look At All the Stars

Ten year old Flash Inouye is a musician, athlete, and adventurer. Flash wrote his first composition at age 8 and has been composing avidly ever since. He plays the cello, is a member of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony, the Young Composers Project, and recently debuted in the cello section of the Lewis and Clark Orchestra. Flash also plays soccer and basketball and practices Taekwondo. He couldn’t be more excited about the world premiere of his original composition “Look at all the Stars.” 

Abe Tsai, Composer – La Esperanza

Abe’s love of sharing music began as a boy, performing violin for his great-grandmother. Along his musical journey, he has played in numerous honor groups, including the OMEA All-State Orchestra and NaFME All-Northwest Symphony Orchestra. He has competed at the state level for both violin and oboe, and recently performed Vieuxtemps’ 4th violin concerto as the winner of Corvallis Youth Symphony’s Young Soloists Competition. Abe has also appeared as a featured artist on All Classical Radio’s “On Deck With Young Musicians.” Currently, he serves as assistant concertmaster of CYS and concertmaster of the Corvallis Camerata Orchestra. As long as he’s been playing violin, Abe has also been writing melodies. He began his formal training in composition as a fellow in the Newport Youth Symphony Young Composers Symposium, and has had the honor of playing his pieces alongside the Camerata Orchestra, the Newport Symphony festival, and most recently, at the OSU PRaX Soundbox 7 International Music Festival.