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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2019)
NEWS Wallowa.com Wild coyote Wednesday, January 9, 2019 A7 Composer celebrates Malheur Refuge By KATHY ANEY EO Media Group Steve Tool/Chieftain Everybody has to eat — this coyote was out hunting underground rodents in a pasture near Mt. Jospeh on Christmas Day. Fishtrap offers memoir writing workshop Local author Pam Royes, in conjunction with Fish- trap, is offering a four-week memoir writing workshop, Steering the Craft. Unleash your writ- erly voice this winter, and join Pamela Royes to explore your unique style, how to use dialog, the use of description to paint a physical reality, and dis- cover what’s at stake for you emotionally. You’ll explore the craft of mem- oir writing through a num- ber of literary luminaries Over four weeks you’ll support, commiserate, encourage, applaud, scrib- ble, discuss, and get ready to write a story that’s wait- ing to be told. Beginning and seasoned memoir writers are wel- come, and the workshop is open to all ages. Participants will meet Wednesday evenings Jan. 23 — Feb. 13 from 6:00- 7:30p.m. The registration fee is $48 and limited to 12 participants. Fishtrap is located at 400 E. Grant St. Enterprise. Learn more and reserve your seat at fishtrap.org or call 541-426-3623. Local students make Oregon State honor roll CORVALLIS — Names of students who have made the scholastic honor roll fall term have been announced by Oregon State University. A total of 1,483 students earned straight-A (4.0). Another 4,752 earned a B-plus (3.5) or better to make the listing. To be on the honor roll, students must carry at least 12 graded hours of course work. Students on the honor roll included: Enterprise 3.5 or Better: Cody C. Irish, Senior, Forest Engi- neering; Reanna J. Royse, Junior, Design & Innovation Management. Joseph Straight-A Average: Derek A. Huff, Post Baccalaure- ate, Civil Engineering; Raymond L. Seal, Sophomore, Crop and Soil Science. 3.5 or Better: Tucker L. Van Winkle, Freshman, Pre-Mechanical Engineering. Wallowa County Chieftain SPACE RESERVATION DEADLINES for weekly display advertising is 5pm Friday for the following week. Ad copy is due on Monday at 10am. Ads must be approved by 12pm Tuesday To advertise call Jennifer at 541-426-4567 209 NW First St. Enterprise, OR 97828 • www.wallowa.com “We took our daughter to Dr. Allen on several occasions, and we were extremely happy with the care we received…” -Enterprise Mom Dr. Allen is a family practice physician and doctor of osteopathic medicine. Call Dr. Allen to schedule your appointment today! 541-426-7900 Mountain View Medical Group 603 Medical Parkway (next to Wallowa Memorial Hospital) Enterprise, Oregon 97828 We treat you like family 601 Medical Parkway, Enterprise, OR 97828 • 541-426-3111 • www.wchcd.org Wallowa Memorial Hospital is a equal opportunity mployer and provider As the occupation of the Malheur National Wild- life Refuge unfolded in early 2016, Jay Bowerman watched with growing incre- dulity. The feeling escalated as the armed militants pro- tested federal regulations regarding public lands by squatting for 41 days inside the headquarters of the fed- eral bird refuge. The occupation, he felt, had tainted one of Oregon’s most beautiful spots. “It was disturbing,” Bowerman said. “Malheur deserves to be remembered not for its armed occupation, but for its natural beauty, wildlife diversity and rich cultural heritage.” After the court verdict in which seven occupi- ers were acquitted, Bower- man found comfort in listen- ing to a haunting orchestral work called “Cantus Arcti- cus” (subtitled “Concerto for Birds”) by Finnish com- poser Einojunhani Rau- tavaara. The work has birds sounds layered in with the music “I listened to the music over and over and over,” he said. “It was so soothing.” He wondered if music could help the people who love the refuge to heal from the occupation. Bowerman isn’t a guy who thinks thoughts and lets them float away. The son of legendary University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman, Jay Bowerman was U.S. cham- pion in the biathlon in 1969. He served as executive direc- tor of the Sunriver Nature Center and Observatory for 30 years and now researches and writes about such things as amphibians, spotted frogs, fungi and leeches. He pitched the idea of the musical tribute to his wife, Teresa, and to Michael Gesme, music director and conductor with the Cen- tral Oregon Symphony. Intrigued, Gesme suggested composer Chris Thomas for the job. Thomas, a Pendleton native who now lives in Bend, composes and orches- trates for television and movies. Thomas, 36, was nominated for Best Orches- trator by the Film and TV Music Academy in 2007 and Best Film & TV Music at the eWorld Music Awards in Hollywood in 2011. Bow- erman met with Thomas and bonded immediately over the project. “Chris jumped in with Staff photo by Kathy Aney/East Oregonian Curlews and their operatic call inspired composer Chris Thomas to write the “Curlew Scherzo,” the fourth movement of the Malheur Symphony. Photo by Jen Klewitz/East Ore- gonian Jay and Teresa Bowerman helped launch the Malheur Symphony project. Chris Thomas spent a year and a half composing the Malheur Symphony as a way to push aside the Malheur occupation and focus instead on the beauty of the place. both feet,” Bowerman said. Thomas and the Bower- mans toured the refuge with members of the Friends of Malheur Wildlife Refuge. While Bowerman had spent plenty of time there, Thomas got his first look. Like Bow- erman, he was blown away by the wildlife, the big sky and the color and texture of the hills. “Between April and June, there’s a cacophony of bird sounds that washes over you,” Bowerman said. “It’s like the way the waves make a continuous sound.” Thomas recorded some of those calls to insert into the symphony along with other sounds col- lected from the refuge. The soundtrack would join images meant to comple- ment the music and make it a more full-body experi- ence. The sound tech person becomes another player in the orchestra. Future orches- tras that perform the sym- phony are expected to use the recordings. “They are written right into the score,” Bowerman said. Thomas witnessed a thun- derstorm on one of his trips to the refuge. It’s the short- est, darkest movement. The fourth, Thomas’ favorite, “Curlew Scherzo,” show- cases one of the refuge’s res- idents, the long-billed cur- lew, and its operatic call. The final movement is a big, brass fanfare called “Awakening.” The Central Oregon Symphony will perform the work at a world pre- miere in Burns in May and later in Bend. Thomas said the orchestra is considering doing a multi-city tour in the Pacific Northwest. He hopes his hometown is one of the destinations. “It would mean the world to me to go to Pendleton,” he said. Bowerman couldn’t be happier with the result. “My hope is that this music will help with the healing process, including the communities affected as well as the land itself, and remind people about the special place that is the Mal- heur Refuge,” he said. “It is pretty exciting stuff.” Contributed photo/East Oregonian Thomas said he did most of his composing walking around in nature. Ideas don’t come when he sits down at his computer, but when he walks a trail, they often “hit like lightning.” When they strike, he sings them into his phone’s recorder. “It’s important to be by myself,” he said, laughing. In the beginning, the two men envisioned a 12-to-20-minute piece. After speaking with vari- ous groups of people who care about the refuge, things expanded. Each of the groups — tribal members, birders, Friends of the Mal- heur National Wildlife Ref- uge and geologists — gave different input about what they thought the symphony should say. Thomas realized he had full symphony on his hands with five different move- ments. The first is “Dawn- ing Light,” the sound of life beginning. The sec- ond, “Sacred Basin,” tells the story of the thousands of years the Paiute people lived freely in the basin. The third, “Thunder,” came after