The young Sergei Prokofiev must have felt his labors blossoming into beauty. His peers at the St. Petersburg Conservatory had ridiculed his ground-breaking, modern-sounding compositions; then he silenced them by winning the prestigious Rubenstein Prize for Piano.
It’s theorized that his next important work was really symbolic of himself: “The Ugly Duckling,” who blooms into a swan.
“It is a gem. It’s a sweet, quirky little piece,” said mezzo soprano Laura Beckel Thoreson. “There’s this youthful vibrancy and color that make it really fun. It’s a hoot!”
Prokofiev went on to become one of the most renowned composers of the 20th century, penning serious masterpieces like the ballet “Romeo and Juliet” as well as smaller, sweeter suites like the symphonic fairy tale “Peter and the Wolf.”
If You Go
• What: “The Russian Connection,” a concert by the Clark College Orchestra, with featured soloist Laura Beckel Thoreson.
• When: 7:30 p.m. March 14.
• Where: Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, 3101 Main St.
• Cost: Free.
• • •
• What: “Mystic Journeys,” a concert by the Clark College Concert Band and Concert Choir.
• When: 7:30 p.m. March 17.
• Where: O’Connell Sports Center, Clark College, 1933 Fort Vancouver Way.
• Cost: Free.
His “Ugly Duckling,” another fairy tale, will be the centerpiece of a Wednesday concert featuring the Clark College Orchestra and soloist Thoreson, a Clark alumna who has risen in the world of classical music and opera. Thoreson is hailed for her warm tone quality and compelling stage presence, and her career has taken her all over the world to sing with many opera companies, symphony orchestras and other ensembles — and yet she lives in Vancouver, the town where she grew up, and teaches at Clark.
Reading music
“I always loved music and I always loved reading, too,” Thoreson said. “My parents had a hard time giving me enough reading materials at home so they did things like put piano books casually on the piano. I just ended up reading the piano books and teaching myself to play.”
Thoreson remembers dancing to Beethoven as a child, and wanted to pursue a career in ballet, but her body had other ideas. “At 12, I shot up to 5 feet 11 inches tall and realized that’s not going to be the path for me,” she said.
Choir director Margaret Green (then at Discovery Middle School, now at the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics) suggested she embrace singing, instead. “She’s the one who started it all for me,” Thoreson said. “From there it’s been a nonstop rollercoaster — in a really good way.”
As a Running Start student at Clark College, Thoreson studied with maestro Don Appert. Then she moved away for about a decade, studying at Central Washington University and in the respected vocal program at Indiana University. After that, she and her husband, pianist Joel Thoreson, “had to decide whether to head to the east coast, as so many professional musicians do, or return to our roots, teaching and performing and sharing in the community that really raised us,” she said.
“We gambled on the latter,” thanks to the overall quality of life in the Pacific Northwest, she said. “It took moving away to realize just how wonderful life here could be.”
Thoreson said she’s equally dedicated to teaching as to performing with groups like Portland Opera and Northwest Art Song. “I can’t imagine performing without teaching and I can’t imagine teaching without performing,” she said. “They influence each other on a daily basis.”
The concert will also feature Rossini’s crowd-pleasing “Overture to William Tell” and Dukas’ “Fanfare to La Peri.”
Mysterium and more mysterium
Meanwhile, the Clark College Concert Choir and Concert Band are suiting up to explore different dimensions altogether. They’ll visit magical places and alternative realities like Middle Earth and the corners of the Earth in a concert entitled “Mystic Journeys.”
Wonder and mystery are the heart of this concert. Williametta Spencer’s “At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners,” based on a poem by John Donne, is a speedy vision of the end of the world. Eric Whitacre’s “Lux Aurumque” is a slow, lush, glowing piece that reflects the meaning of its title, “Light and Gold.” And 16th century Spanish composer Tom?s Luis de Victoria’s “O Magnum Mysterium” is a grand, solemn piece of baroque counterpoint that features the composer’s signature mystic intensity.
There’s even more “O Magnum Mysterium,” in a celebrated modern setting by Morten Lauridsen, when the concert band takes over. The band will also go “Dancing at Stonehenge” by Anthony Suter, visit a rousing “Mother Earth” by David Maslanka, and close the show with magical sounds from “The Lord of the Rings” movies.
