Mission

1. To explore and perform great music of the 20th and 21st centuries by:

  • Commissioning new works;
  • Building and developing relationships with world-class composers;
  • Maintaining a special interest in performing works by Oregon and Pacific Northwest composers;
  • Offering performances of the highest artistic quality.

2. To promote education and advancement of young composers by:

  • Teaching, mentoring, and fostering the next generation of composers from 6th to 12th grade;
  • Providing workshops and rehearsals with professional musicians performing their compositions;
  • Presenting a public concert and recording of their works.

Ensemble Members

Joel Belgique

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music, Joël Belgique has been an 8-year member of FearNoMusic. He has performed at Italy’s Spoleto Festival, Alaska’s CrossSound Festival, Wyoming’s Grand Teton Music Festival, and Michigan’s Interlochen Center for Arts. In Portland, he is Principal Viola of the Oregon Symphony, has performed with the Oregon Symphony String Quartet, and with the faculty of Portland Summer Ensembles. He also is the Principal Viola and Orchestra Manager of the Astoria Music Festival and a frequent guest with Portland-based band Pink Martini.

Joel Bluestone

Joel Bluestone, D.M.A., is entering his nineteenth year as co-founder and percussionist with FearNoMusic. His project The_Waters_Bluestone_Duel for percussion and live electronics has taken him all over the world. He has been the head of the Percussion department at Portland State University since 1989. Joel’s current love: performing and traveling with the San Diego-based group Swarmius, where a sonic fusion of Hip-Hop and House-Lounge-Techno meets Modern-Classical.

Paloma Griffin

Violinist and FearNoMusic Artistic Director Paloma Griffin has appeared internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. Her concerto appearances include performances with the Oregon Symphony, the Fresno Philharmonic, and the Arizona Musicfest Orchestra.  A former touring member of the internationally acclaimed ensemble Pink Martini, Ms. Griffin appeared with the group on “Late Night with David Letterman,” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony, and in such venues at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.  Previously, Paloma was a member of the Oregon Symphony and the New World Symphony. She is currently a member of the Arizona Musicfest and Oregon Bach Festival orchestras.

Nancy Ives

Nancy Ives rejoined FearNoMusic in 2009, having been acting Artistic Director during the 2003 –04 season. She is Principal Cello of the Oregon Symphony, and most recently has been a featured soloist with the Oregon Symphony, Cascade Festival Orchestra, Clark College Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony. She is a member of the Rovetti Quartet and Trio Arete, and has appeared with Chamber Music Northwest, Third Angle, New Music at Willamette, Music in Context, Friends of Chamber Music, the Oregon Symphony String Quartet, and the Astoria Festival.

Jeffrey Payne

Jeffrey Payne co-founded the FearNoMusic ensemble with percussionist Joel Bluestone in 1992. As a member of the ensemble he has appeared in New York City, California, and Colorado, as well as throughout the Pacific Northwest. During his tenure as Artistic Director for the group he was responsible for presentation of twenty world premiere or U.S. premiere performances of works by Pacific Northwest composers. In 1997 he founded the Young Composers Project as part of the mission of FearNoMusic and continues as its Director, overseeing the development of aspiring young creative minds around the region.

Inés Voglar

A Venezuelan native, violinist Inés Voglar is in her sixth year with FearNoMusic. Having served as Artistic Director from 2005-2011, Ines reached out to collaborate with internationally acclaimed composers, as well as present the great composers of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.  Ines is currently a member of the Oregon Symphony violin section and has been a guest with the OSO String Quartet and the Interlochen Center for the Arts.  She is the Concertmaster of the Astoria Music Festival, a member the Free Marz String Trio, and a former member of the prestigious Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.  Her principal teachers were Roberto Valdés and Andrés Cárdenes.  Voglar is a graduate of Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon University.

Board of Directors

  • Tom Sessa, Board Chairman, General Manager, Aladdin Theater
  • Jeff Payne, Co-founder
  • Joel Bluestone, D.M.A., Co-founder and Treasurer
  • Keith Clark, Artistic Director, Astoria Music Festival
  • Julie Davis, Imagination Learning Center
  • John Garrow, Children’s Cancer Association
  • Carl Herko, Public Relations Consultant

Artistic Advisory

  • Bob Priest, composer and Artistic Director, March Music Moderne
  • Agnieszka Laska, Artistic Director, Agnieszka Laska Dancers
  • Jack T. Gabel, Composer and Founder, North Pacific Music
  • Cary and Dorothy Lewis, Lernier Trio
  • Evan Kuhlmann, Contrabassoon, Oregon Symphony
  • Karen Wagner, Asst. Princ. Oboe, Oregon Symphony and Princ. Oboe, Cabrillo Festival
  • Stephen Marc Beaudoin, Tenor, Executive Director, PHAME Academy
  • Andrés Cárdenes, Concertmaster, Pittsburgh Symphony and Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
  • David Stock, Composer

Sponsors

Resource Council

  • JoAnn Crabtree, Associate Director, Young Composer’s Project
  • David Abel, editing & program notes
  • Anna & Leo Daedalus / HELSINQI, website design
  • Isabel Cattadoris, programs and graphic design
  • Emily Wilder, graphic design
  • Alicia J. Rose, photos
  • Charles Noble, photos
  • Martha Warrington, web tech
  • Matthaus Litkin, web tech
  • Darius Kuzmickas, YCP photography

Links

Photographers

Photographs on this website courtesy of:

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