Saturday, September 14, 2024 – 2pm
Reed College Performing Arts Building – Room 320 – Directions
Recital Followed by Hands-On Time for Newcomers!
Online Video Premiere – Sunday, September 29, 2024 – 2pm on the WEKA YouTube Channel
Showcasing Reed College’s Early Keyboard Collection, an exciting WEKA event took place on Saturday, September 14, in Room 320 of the Performing Arts Building. Preceding a recital by Dr. Joyce Wei-Jo Chen, Assistant Professor of Historical Keyboards at the University of Oregon, two tributes were given by Bonnie Garrett and Paul Irvin. Bonnie Garrett had a 30-year career at Reed College, including as Director of Private Music Instruction, and a teaching/performing career as a harpsichordist and fortepianist and co-founder of the ensemble, Portland Pro Musica. Paul Irvin has over 40 years experience in repairing, and overhauling harpsichords and clavichords in the Chicago area and has lived since 2012 in Portland. He has authored a variety of articles and held leadership positions in several early music organizations.
Bonnie Garret’s recognition of Paul Irvin, Curator of the Reed College Early Keyboard Collection, may be read in its entirety below; in summary, Bonnie expresses gratitude for Paul’s generosity “of time, talent and treasure to keep the instruments tuned and in tip-top condition, [and] he has made improvements to several instruments in the collection.”
The second tribute was given by Paul, in appreciation of Bonnie Garrett’s acquiring – during her 30-year career at Reed — such superb historical keyboards, the only institutional collection of early keyboards in the Portland area. WEKA recognizes with gratitude the valuable contributions of both Bonnie and Paul, which make our early keyboard programs possible and benefit everyone in our community.
Following these recognitions, Dr. Joyce Chen, playing on the Collection’s superbly voiced double manual French harpsichord, treated the audience to a thrilling program of 18th-century favorites, including: J.S. Bach’s Toccata in E minor and Fantasy and Fugue in A minor; Handel’s Suite No. 3 in D minor; François Couperin’s Les Idées Heureuses and La Garnier from the Second Ordre; Marianna Martines’ Classically styled Harpsichord Sonata in G Major, and the fiery crowd pleaser La Marche des Scythes by Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer.
The enthusiastic audience, with many area piano teachers and students, was then invited to explore three of the Collection’s harpsichords in a special “hands-on” session:
(1) the Franco-Flemish harpsichord just heard, built by Ken Bakeman in 1973, with further work by Byron Will in 2002, and Paul Irvin’s recent additional regulation and voicing, producing a beautifully full, yet sweet and sustained tone;
(2) an Italian harpsichord by Owen Daly after a Grimaldi of 1690, with further voicing by Paul Irvin, with a wonderfully singing tone;
(3) a virginal harpsichord built and donated to Reed by alumna Chloe Lewis, modeled after those in England and The Netherlands, ca. 1600, and with recent voicing by Paul, possessing a full and deep tone.
Assisting in this “hands-on” opportunity were Carol lei Breckenridge (WEKA Board member and early keyboard specialist), Sue Jensen (Portland Baroque Orchestra harpsichordist for 35 years), and Jane Mendenhall (organist at Christ Church, Lake Oswego).
What a wonderful afternoon of exploring the glorious music and sounds of the harpsichord! And many thanks to Paul Irvin and Paul Hanau for moving the harpsichords, a time-consuming but necessary task.
Dr. Joyce Chen, Assistant Professor of Historical Keyboards at the University of Oregon, presents an exciting recital of 18th century solo harpsichord music, featuring works by Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer, JS Bach, Marianna Martines, and more!
Printable Program for the Recital
Introduction to the Harpsichord (handout)
HANDS-ON TIME FOR NEWCOMERS – Piano students and teachers are always welcome at WEKA events. It’s an excellent way to introduce students to the instruments known and loved by Bach, Scarlatti, Handel and other Baroque composers. A harpsichord builder as well as additional harpsichord instructors will be on hand to answer questions and provide guidance. Welcome!
ABOUT THE ARTIST – A native of Taiwan, Dr. Joyce Wei-Jo Chen is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Music (Historical Musicology) and the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Humanities at Princeton University. Under the guidance of Wendy Heller, Dr. Chen is currently working on her dissertation, “Musica Experientia/Experimentum: Acoustics and Artisanal Knowledge in the Global Seventeenth Century,” which explores the intersection between science, music, and aesthetics involving instrument-making, sensory experience, and the development of acoustical theory. For this project, Dr. Chen spent 4 months working as an apprentice at Zuckermann Harpsichords International—the last harpsichord manufacturing factory in the United States— in Stonington, Connecticut. In addition, she just finished building her first harpsichord from a Troubadour Virginal Kit.
As a solo harpsichordist, Dr. Chen has performed throughout the United States, France, Belgium, and Taiwan. Dr. Chen received the 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts and was a featured soloist in the 2019 Emerging Artist Showcase by Early Music America. Dr. Chen released her first solo harpsichord album featuring English virginalist music in Fall 2023. View Dr. Chen’s YouTube Channel
Dr. Chen holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Harpsichord Performance from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. Dr. Chen has been on faculty at St. Joseph’s University, the University of Delaware, and Delaware State University, where she also introduced a pilot program of HBCU early music access project in collaboration with Early Music America and the Princeton GradFUTURES program.
Bonnie Garrett writes: It has been a little over a decade since Paul Irvin moved to Portland and started taking a keen interest in the Reed College Early Keyboard Collection. These instruments, built by our very notable northwest builders Byron Will, Owen Daly, Richard Bond, and Ken Bakeman as well as Reed alumna Chloe Lewis, were all acquired during my tenure at Reed as Director of Private Music Instruction and teacher of modern and early keyboard instruments. Collectively, the instruments functioned as a working laboratory for Reed students and local teachers and their students.
Paul’s arrival, came at a fortuitous time, as I was preparing to retire. I invited Paul to have a look at the collection; after sharing the history of the collection and watching him at work in his instrument workshop, I knew that he would be a wonderful curator of these instruments. Not only has Paul given generously of time, talent and treasure to keep the instruments tuned and in tip-top condition, he has made improvements in the collection.
I’m grateful that my successor at Reed, Denise VanLeuven and her successor, Monica Ohuchi, (aw’-oo chee) for preserving the collection and entrusting Paul with these instruments.
Thanks goes also to WEKA for showcasing the collection in recitals and hands-on experiences for teachers and students. Without Paul’s continuing dedication to this collection, none of this would be possible. Paul, please stand and receive the acclamation you so richly deserve! Thank you! Thank you!