Meet the new Artistic Director
pictured: Valdine Ritchie Mishkin and Douglas Jenkins.
Photo by Jason Quigley
From Portland Cello Project’s announcement email
Greetings all!
Douglas Jenkins here with an exciting email to announce the birth of Portland Cello Project 2.0!
I mean, really, it’s probably more like Portland Cello Project version 120940198213.0 at this point, but this one is a landmark change. I’m going to be stepping back into a more behind-the-scenes role as Executive Director, and Valdine Ritchie Mishkin will be stepping in to lead the Cello Project’s cello ensemble as Artistic Director. Diane Chaplin will now be more properly acknowledged as our most-esteemed and revered Featured Soloist. Get ready for some BADASS Tchaikovsky from Diane throughout our programming next year, along with some other surprises.
VALDINE RITCHIE MISHKIN
You’ve probably seen Valdine perform with us many times, including taking the solo part onElgar’s Cello Concerto at Washington Park last summer, and you may have also seen her with the Oregon Symphony, 45th Parallel, FearNoMusic, her Peruvian Duo Apaixionado, and Third Angle New Music, for whom she did her wonderful solo performance last year with the tongue-in-cheek title: Yo-Yo Va.
I could not be more excited to see what she brings to this role leading the ensemble with her wide-range of experience boundless positivity, community-building energy, and her impeccable musicality and technicality on the cello.
As the newly appointed Artistic Director, Valdine aims to “orchestrate transformative experiences that resonate deeply with the audience, drawing inspiration from diverse genres and traditions that transcend classical music boundaries through the rich timbres of the cello. Portland Cello Project has historically created a unique aesthetic of ‘Keep Portland Weird’, and is ready to embrace the burgeoning artist-mecca status of world-class talent that Portland now attracts, bringing together the ever-growing pool of cellists who now call Portland home from across the world.”
Bringing ALL cellists together from across the world? Yes, please!
OPEN AUDITIONS (currently closed)
To that aim: we are announcing open auditions for the first time in over a decade! This will be a two-round audition: the first being open to all and totally anonymous (sometimes called a “Blind” audition). Here are all of the details–feel free to share them with any and everyone whom you feel might be interested.
GRATITUDE
And... Valdine can tell you more about her vision for the future herself, as the next email you get here will be from her! To close, I want to share my immense gratitude to all of you for the incredible last 15+ years as Portland Cello Project’s Artistic Director. I am humbly grateful...
for the 2,000+ live performances from coast-to-coast and beyond–everywhere from dive bars to The Schnitz to Millennium Park to NYC street parties and all of the beautiful and historic Performing Arts Centers!
to have had a hand in the thousands of unique musical arrangements and compositions added to the cello ensemble repertoire, as well as the dozens of records, and dozens of videos!
for the hundreds of educational outreach concerts and workshops!
for the hundreds of musical collaborations!
This isn’t goodbye–you may still see me from time-to-time on stage (if I can win one of those audition spots!). But now it’s time to take it all to the next level, and Valdine’s the person to bring us there! Please join me in warmly welcoming her to the stage!
