Odin Rathnam

The Else Borges Foundation for Arts Initiatives website is now live!  We are still adding content, but I hope you’ll all take a moment to visit (www.elseborges.org).  The Foundation in cooperation with West Branch International Music Festival & Academy is reaching out to cities throughout the US and Europe as we expand the funding base for scholarships to the Festival & Academy.  The outreaches include free masterclasses for gifted young string players in New York, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, and more.  There will also be two or three classes in the midstate. (Watch my calendar for details and dates.) We look to area corporations and philanthropists to support limited numbers of scholarships within their own communities for their young artists.  In addition, the Foundation works with those corporations, individuals, and recipients to create an unprecedented amount of social service by artists, through music ministry, education, and ambassadorship.  In the Capital region, we hope to raise enough annually to support 8-10 full scholarships for mid-state students.  2-4 scholarships will be raised in each of the other communities we bring masterclasses to, over the course of this Spring.  The hope is that this also will be a successful foray into a more national scene for the Foundation and its efforts.  Talks have also been initiated with the Danish Foreign Ministry, as this year’s West Branch programming features a large number of Danish and Scandinavian artists and music.  This constitutes one of the most significant cultural exchanges between Denmark and the US in recent years.  We hope to work with corporations on both sides of the Atlantic for meaningful partnerships that will make an ongoing exchange a reality.

If you would like to make a contribution to the noble causes the Else Borges Foundation supports, you may mail your tax deductible gift to:  The Else Borges Foundation for Arts Initiatives, PO Box 126637, Harrisburg, PA 17112.  The Foundation is proud to say that administrative costs are one of the lowest figures on our balance sheets.  I personally collect no salary and 100% of the Board contributes to the Foundation each year.   

It’s amazing to think that 20 years have passed since I was first contacted by Larry Newland to step in as concertmaster on short notice with the HSO.  At the end of that first season, national auditions were held and I was fortunate enough to officially win the concertmaster chair.  Two years later, I moved to Harrisburg, sensing both the HSO’s need for my physical presence in the community and a cultural scene that was rapidly redifining itself in positive ways.  I remember telling Ellen Hughes, in a “Desert Island Discs” interview, I had every hope of developing a string section and sound to rival those of leading American orchestras, with an emphasis on quality and attention to detail.  I’m very pleased at how incredibly far we’ve come towards those goals.  I am equally inspired to continue developing that sound and discipline to an even higher level in the next 20 years.  After all, the only way to reach new milestones is to constantly challenge oneself and the team.  As for the team, my colleagues are among the best musicians one could possibly hope for.  They are committed, enthusiastic, prepared, and professional, but what really sets this group apart is the sense of identity IT has developed as an orchestra.  The strength of that common thread has been the great fortune of any conductor lucky enough to stand on the podium.    

My love affair with Brahms has been a long one, spanning over 30 years, four symphonies, three sonatas, the fiddle concerto and numerous chamber music works.  For me, his music often represents one of the pinnacles of music in its organic combination of instrumental virtuosity and compositional content.  The concerto, much like the two piano concerti, is very symphonic in nature, requiring a wonderful orchestra and excellent collaboration from the podium, both of which we have here in Harrisburg.  I’ve often bragged to other orchestras and conductors of Stuart Malina’s uncanny abilities as a concerto collaborator and the orchestra’s ability to accompany with sensitivity and commitment.  I could not think of a better work with which to celebrate this, my 20th year, as Concertmaster.  We’ll perform it twice at The Forum in Harrisburg, PA on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 8pm and Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 3pm.  When I discovered that Brahms First Symphony would be on the program, I made the decision to sit concertmaster for the second half, despite my concerto appearance.  That happens to be another favorite of mine and the orchestra’s.  I remember a particulary excellent performance of the work in the 1990’s under the baton of Richard Westerfield.  It will be exciting to discover a new interpretation with Stuart.   

Masterworks VI program.  Visit www.harrisburgsymphony.org for program details and tickets 

Performance of works by Bach and Piazzolla for unaccompanied violin.  The Else Borges Foundation for Arts Initiatives reaches out to multiple charities and causes, both in the midstate and throughout the nation, an outgrowth of our belief that art can be used for much more social good than just entertainment.

Next stop is the home of my mother and grandparents, Denmark.  On Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 2:00pm, through a collaboration with Den Eksklusive Selskabsklub and Moestingshus, in Frederiksberg (a district of Copenhagen), I present the second masterclass in the “Lost in Translation” series.  Performing will be two wonderful students from the Royal Danish Academy, with works by Tchaikovsky and Nielsen.  In addition, Danish pianist Katrine Gislinge and I will perform the Rondo from Mozart’s Sonata K454 and I’ll throw in a little Piazzolla in anticipation of my November and December subscriptions as guest soloist and conductor of the Randers Symphony. 

In cooperation with the West Branch International Music Festival & Academy and The Else Borges Foundation for Arts Initiatives, I am delighted to present a series of masterclasses on the teaching principles of Ivan Galamian in several American and European cities.  First stop is, Chicago, IL on March 12, 2011 at 5:30 pm.  This will take place at the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Avenue, Suite 801, Chicago, IL 60605.  I am very grateful to Liz Stein, a Chicago violin dealer, and WBIMF&A faculty artist, David Yonan for making this event possible.  Students will be performing works by Chausson, Saint Saens, Bruch, and more.  In addition, we will give a brief presentation on the Festival and Foundation’s efforts to raise scholarships for students from each of the communities I visit.  David Yonan and I will also perform something for the audience. 

Masterworks V program.  Visit www.harrisburgsymphony.org for program details and tickets.

Masterworks IV program.  Please visit www.harrisburgsymphony.org for program and tickets.

Playing with Stuart Malina at the Governor’s Inaguration, Where:  Whitaker Center,  Harrisburg, PA

Masterworks III program.  Visit www.harrisburgsymphony.org for tickets and programs.