Music director David Hattner has been leading the PYP since 2008. The 100th season kicks off Nov. 11.
Courtesy Zachary Person/Portland Youth Philharmonic
At 100 years old, the Portland Youth Philharmonic is the oldest youth orchestra in the country. In the early 1920s, Mary V. Dodge, a young classically trained violinist and teacher, conceived of what would become the Portland Junior Symphony.
It formed in earnest in 1923 after she convinced Jacques Gershkovitch, an internationally known Russian conductor, to take on the students she was teaching in her attic.
“He was an extraordinary musician and technician as a conductor, first of all,” PYP musical director David Hattner said. “And he never developed a functional command of the English language, but he had the most forceful personality. Everyone felt compelled to do their best.”
In just a few years, concerts were being broadcast live on national radio.
“Listening to the few recordings we have, he was a miracle worker in what he was able to do in that era with those young people. To raise them to such a standard that the national radio broadcasts were willing to put the orchestra on the air regularly for decades is extraordinary,” Hattner said.
Hattner became the musical director of PYP 15 years ago. He says its mission is fundamentally different from professional orchestras.
“I think it’s the best college preparatory program that we have in this area. And I don’t mean for music college. I mean for regular, intellectual academic study. Because as I see the musicians progress through the different levels of our program, the different ensembles, I see their capacity for deep focus and concentration develop to a level that few others outside of music can experience.”
Principal Flutist Macy Gong is a senior at Oregon Episcopal School in Portland. She joined the PYP’s wind ensemble when she was in 6th grade, but she’s been playing the instrument since she was 5 years old.
Oregon Episcopal School senior Macy Gong is pictured here on principal flute in the Portland Youth Philharmonic.
Courtesy Zachary Person/PYP
Gong is in the process of applying for colleges now and agrees with Hattner, her conductor, that her concentration and focus have been sharpened by playing with the PYP.
“I think that orchestra takes a really good mixture of individual preparation and also collaboration to be successful. So we’re all held very accountable for our own parts and preparing our parts for each week’s rehearsal,” she said.
Hattner says he’s grateful every day to work with the caliber of musicians that comprise the PYP.
“The idealism that the musicians bring to their work is extraordinary. The organization was founded with extraordinary ideals and ambition and that has changed so little.”
The PYP kicks off its centennial season with a concert on Nov. 11 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland.
To listen to the full “Think Out Loud” conversation with music director David Hattner, principal flutist Macy Gong, as well as PYP alum Tim McCarthy who now plays for the National Symphony Orchestra, click here: