After her performance with the PSU Orchestra, China Forbes met with the Vanguard to talk about her a la carte style vocal training, singing with Pink Martini, and what it…
A look inside PSU Orchestra’s “A Room with a View”
China Forbes (of Pink Martini fame) burst onto the stage with the Portland State University Orchestra to give a lucky audience a dazzling display of opera last Thursday, Dec. 11….
The top 10 overlooked albums of 2014
I’ve been doing these top ten lists for over a decade now and as the years go on I continue to stress the distinction between “favorite” and “best.” Taste isn’t…
Hard Girls give listeners a glimpse of pop-punk perfection
Beyond being one of my favorite albums of 2014, A Thousand Surfaces from the California punk band Hard Girls is just the latest sign that we’re witnessing an exciting moment…
Bands take stage at new university music venue
Portland State students and music fans citywide poured into the Smith Memorial Student Union on a frigid Saturday night, Nov. 15, to hear The World Is a Beautiful Place &…
Jazz series attracts big names for concerts and classes
Jim Snidero, New York-based jazz saxophonist and composer, visited Portland State on Nov. 19 to perform, as well as teach a class. Snidero has been called a “master musician” by…
No reverb: Local band Mr. Bones plays live at KPSU
“Those kids are magical,” said Pete Banjaro, KPSU programming director. Banjaro smiled as he waited for a freshly recorded in-studio performance by Portland lo-fi rockers Mr. Bones to mix down….
Pickathon 2014 focuses on sustainability, diverse music selection
The Pickathon Music Festival, a celebration of music and sustainability, ran Aug. 1–3. The festival was hosted at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley. The farm annually opens its 80 acres…
Portland State and all that Jazz
Jazz. Hear the pure cool as the music dances on the ivories, and beats and bops and booms on the strings of the bass. As a horn blows harder than…
Adam Brock rocks
The harmonic sophistication in the music of songwriter Adam Brock is no accident; he honed his skills in the Portland State music department. Brock entered into the jazz program after…
Traditional Javanese gamelan donated to Portland State School of Music
As old issues of the Vanguard are scattered underneath a tremendously elaborate instrumental ensemble called a Javanese gamelan (pronounced gam-UGH-lahn), several faculty members in the Portland State School of Music…