Oregon Music News

With state and local budgets being sliced down to next to nothing, the opportunities for creative arts are slowly withering. But Portland is lucky to have a prominent and accomplished musical artist as one of its arts advocates. In 1993, Niel DePonte founded his nonprofit, MetroArts, Inc. with one primary goal: to innovatively educate people about the arts. Through its variety of distinctive arts programs, MetroArts, Inc. supports the belief that each person is unique and has something creative to offer to our society.

Niel DePonte

As the president and artistic director of MetroArts, Inc. DePonte’s musical achievements certainly reflect his organization’s philosophy and its purpose. DePonte was nominated for a Grammy Award as a concerto soloist in 2003, and he currently serves as the music director and conductor of the Oregon Ballet Theatre as well as the principal percussionist for the Oregon Symphony, a position he has held since 1977. Not only is DePonte actively involved in the arts by performing as a professional musician and a conductor, DePonte also works tirelessly to promote the arts in Oregon and specifically to bring the arts into schools.

OMN caught up with DePonte to learn more about the annual Young Artist Van Buren Concerto Competition, an educational program offered through MetroArts, Inc. to promote the performance of classical music by young artists in the region.

“The Young Artist Van Buren Concerto Competition is in its 18th year. This is an annual music competition for students ages 10 to 18 for instrumental solos and up to age 21 for vocalists. To apply, students must submit a written essay and a CD of their solo performance in late fall. On average we get about 70 applicants,” DePonte said.

Choosing the winners is a multi-step and detailed exercise that takes a few months.

“I am the sole judge. I do a blind audition so I do not know the name of the musician nor do I know the name of the musician’s teacher. After listening to all of the CDs, I narrow down the pool to about 30 musicians. In January, these 30 finalists perform live for me at Lewis and Clark College. I then typically choose between 6 and 8 outstanding young artists as the winners and they perform with a symphony orchestra in the spring,” DePonte explained.

The process culminates in a spring concert that showcases the talents of the cream of the crop in solo instrumental and vocal performances, but that is only a small part of the MetroArts, Inc. program. Since this is an educational competition, DePonte also works with each young artist for about three months to prepare for the concert performance. This year, the 2012 concert will be held on April 10, 2012 at the Newmark Theater.

“I coach all of the soloists on preparing their concertos. I coach them on how to analyze their concertos and how to look at their solo pieces in the context of playing with an orchestra. We do a lot of work on how to think creatively about music because one of the slogans for MetroArts is ‘Teaching for Creativity.’ We want kids to think creatively and use their creative and critical thinking skills as they work to prepare their pieces,” DePonte said.

Nathan Kim. Photo by John Rudoff.

Nathan Kim, an 11-year-old pianist, was the youngest of the 9 soloist winners in 2011. A native Oregonian, Nathan is currently in 6th grade at Mountain View School in Newberg. Nathan has played the piano for more than 5 years and practices about 3 hours a day. He works with Dr. Ron Fabbro who encouraged Kim to try out. He thought that the competition would be a great experience for Kim to grow as a musician and play with an orchestra.

“Meeting Niel DePonte and having practice sessions with him was a great learning experience for me. I certainly appreciate his dedication and sacrifice for this program. He helped me to get rid of my nerves when performing for big concert events. It was especially exciting to be around the other performers. I had a lot of fun.

“I performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 in G-major, K453, the 1st movement. It was the first time I played with an orchestra and to be on the stage in my first tuxedo felt really special. It definitely was an extraordinary experience to play with an orchestra in front of so many people in one of the largest and nicest concert halls in Oregon. It was a once in a lifetime chance I’m really grateful to have had,” Kim said.

Michael Seiss, a 16-year-old junior at Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington also found out about the competition from his teacher, Carol Sindell. Seiss has played the violin for 12 years and is the concertmaster of the Portland Youth Philharmonic. Like Kim, he is serious about his music and practices approximately four to five hours per day.

Michael Siess was featured in 2010 as an Emerging Artist in MetroArts Inc.’s collaborative concert with the apprentices of Portland Opera and Oregon Ballet Theatre. Photo by John Rudoff.

“I had a great time performing and working with Maestro DePonte last year. I feel like I developed as a musician. I performed the first movement of Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D Major, which is one of my favorite pieces. I really spent a lot of time perfecting my piece to develop color within my sound and find ways to control the audience through my performance. Maestro DePonte pushed me to a new level and taught me to be more critical of my playing which really helped me to improve.

“For musicians, we spend several hours a day preparing in the practice room with maybe only 30 minutes of time spent performing the music in front of an audience. Onstage in those few minutes, the goal is to have the audience be present and engaged in the moment with us. Participating in the Debut proved to be a big challenge for me to grow and mature not only as an artist but as a person as well. I definitely had to make a lot of changes in my work habits but the process was such a rewarding one. Now I am much more sensitive to the balance between the composer, the performer and the audience. It was a very rewarding experience that I hope to continue to build upon,” Seiss said.

The MetroArts, Inc. program gives these young students an exciting taste of what it takes to become a professional musician and they leave the program inspired.

“Musically, I’d like to play Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Lizst’ La Campanella one day.  Both pieces require big hands which I don’t have right now.  Also, to play at Carnegie Hall in New York would be a dream,” Kim said.

Seiss also has a dream of performing as a professional musician one day.

“My goal is to graduate from high school and be accepted to a conservatory so I can study music. As for my career, I’m not sure yet. I am open to anything whether it be as a chamber musician or playing in a symphony,” Seiss said.

This is just one of the benefits that the MetroArts, Inc. program provides.

“Many of the students have gone on to study at the major conservatories. They’ve won major competitions. Some of them have gone on to solo careers,” said DePonte.

But even if these talented young artists pursue dreams that don’t involve music, DePonte knows that the skills they develop in MetroArts, Inc. will carry over to whatever career path they eventually choose.

“We teach the concept of excellence. What does it mean to be truly excellent and perform at the highest possible level? How much dedication does it take? How much practicing does it take? How do you approach the challenges of technical execution and expressing yourself musically and creatively while you are performing your piece in public? We look at everything that goes into performing at such a high level. I think that the key element of the program is that the preparation, training and diligence that is reinforced is transferable to high achievement in any field and that puts them in good stead for their futures,” explained DePonte.

“I like being a musician because it is something that is always stimulating, and the lessons learned are so applicable in life,” Seiss said. DePonte would certainly agree.

Applications for 18th Annual Young Artists Debut Van Buren Concerto Competition are due November 25th with the 2012 concert held on Tuesday, April 10th at 7:30pm in the Newmark Theatre.  To learn more about MetroArts, Inc., please visit their website here.