About operaman

operaman's picture

Name

Stephen Llewellyn

Bio

Stephen Llewellyn has been with Portland Opera for nearly four years. He has also been a barrister in Hong Kong, a professional folk singer and classically-trained tenor. He makes a mean zabaglione, and cries easily and frequently at opera performances.

Opera and Other Links

The Rest is Noise - Alex Ross of the New Yorker
Sieglinda's Diaries
Parterre Box
Opera Chic
On an Overgrown Path
Norman Lebrecht
Metropolitan Opera
Jessica Duchen

What I Am Reading

A Most Wanted Man (John le Carré)

The Death of Vishnu (Manil Suri)

The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)

Boom! (Tom Brokaw)

The Coldest Winter (David Halberstam)

A Summer in The Twenties (Peter DIckinson)

 

Recommended Listening

Idomeneo (Mozart)

So (Peter Gabriel)

Nielsen Clarinet Concerto

Otello (Verdi)

Winterreise (Peter Pears/BB)

Bernstein Symphony Number 3

Clarinet Concerto (Villiers-Stanford)

Bach's B Minor Mass (cond. John Elliot Gardner)

Coldplay. x&y

Vespers For The Lost

Emillie HoytI received an email yesterday from Zakk Hoyt telling me of a free concert taking place this weekend.  I found both the concert and the intended beneficiary so compelling that I thought I should let you know about it, encourage you to look at the on-line material and urge you to go if you possibly can. 

 
What:  A benefit for Forever Searching
When: Sunday 2nd November at 7:30pm
Where: St Mary's Cathedral
 
You will see there is to be some wonderful music performed by an All-Star lineup including one of Portland Opera's very favourite performers, local lass Angela Niederloh.  Should you need any further persuading how about the Ruslan String Quartet and Douglas Carl Schneider?
 
I do not wish to get maudlin but it is next to impossible not to feel for families, such as Zakk's, who have lost adult  loved-ones and are left wondering - sometimes for years - what happened to them. Often there is not a great deal we can do to help in these circumstances but this is an opportunity to support a national organization formed to provide support for those families and to show them we as a community care.   Until Zakk and I talked about it I didn't even know such an organization existed nor the problems it faces,  Did you?  What else would you do on Sunday evening - sit home and watch CSI re-runs?  Let's go, gang.
 
As you may have guessed, that is Zakk's sister Emillie shown above.

 

Comments:

Thank you for posting this

Thank you for posting this event and for the support it offers to Zakk, his family, and this great organization to which this notice has just introduced us. May this help to bring further action, news, and results to all who suffer such loss--in Emillie's case and for the many more who are also missing.
Thanks again.
James Denman & Tamara Still
Still/Denman Musical Services
Portland OR

Thank you for supporting

Thank you for supporting Zakk and Forever Searching by advertising this concert, Stephen. It is so easy to become inured to the plights of those we don't know in a city of a million strangers--but events like these can remind us how interconnected we all are in the human family.

Elizaebeth Nielsen-Sheller
Executive Director, Opera Theater Oregon

Thank you for spreading the

Thank you for spreading the word about this event. I am Zakk's sister-in-law and the outpouring of support means the world to us.

Hi Stephen ...my heart

Hi Stephen ...my heart breaks at the thought of people just vanishing. It is really kind of you to write about Emily.

Dear Stephen, Thanks so much

Dear Stephen,

Thanks so much for getting the word out about this event. I've seen what Zakk and his family have been through in their search for Emilie. The work that these organizations is doing is so important. This is something that could happen to any one of us at any time. If I ever were to lose someone I love this way, I would want to know that there is someone I can reach who will understand, know what to do and be fighting to keep people like Emilie from slipping through the cracks.

On another note, Zakk has assembled a really incredible lineup of local artists to perform on Sunday. He has one of the best ears I've ever known for putting things together and programming. Quite aside from an opportunity to donate to an important cause, this is also just going to be an amazing performance.

Thanks again for letting people know!

All the best,
Katie Taylor
Artistic Director
Opera Theater Oregon

This concert is for a

This concert is for a wonderful cause and should be well-attended. Thank you for posting this.

We will be there in support

We will be there in support of this very important issue. Blessing to you and your family Zakk. We're thinking of your sister in hopes she is safe and out of harms way.

thanks for letting us know

thanks for letting us know about this event!

Thank you for making us

Thank you for making us aware of this worth while event. I hope that we can get the word to as many people as possible.

thank you so much for

thank you so much for raising awareness.....

lets get all the missing home

best wishes

Thank you so much for

Thank you so much for raising awareness to this most amazing event......

Its unfortunate, but the reality is that missing people - unless there are some dramatic circumstances to the case, do not get media attention.

I see this sort of event being the way forward in raising awareness to the missing...an event that not only profiles the missing, but will allow all attending to acknowledge the beauty of the service and of the faith reflected in it.

Thank you so much for your support

Kathy

Thank you so much for

Thank you so much for raising awareness to this event. It's encouraging that the issue of missing people is starting to gain awareness, we need to keep the momentum going.