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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2021)
PAGE 18 • GO! MAGAZINE COVER STORY THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2021 • THE BULLETIN Continued from previous page orchestra out of them, with some synth help, and then I mix in against the picture, and then I teach a course on film music … and premiere their Hollywood scoring job at the end of it. “And I’ve just been loving it,” Thomas said. “I get to take all the questions they can throw at me — there’s no real time limit. And I’m like, ‘I love talking to young musi- cians.’” He has 15 more such gigs lined up, and he’s hearing from more orchestras all the time. “I’m like, ‘Whoa. I think I just tapped into something,’” Thomas said. Like a lot of established teachers, art in- structor Ian Factor, an acclaimed painter and the founder of the Bend Academy of Art, has found that online teaching can be successful — and that it’s only as good as the effort both teacher and pupil are putting into it. “You can have the most enthusiastic in- structor who’s got all the technology di- aled in, and you just have a student who’s checked out,” he said. “There’s no, like, broad answer that can say everybody’s taken to it well. Some have, some haven’t.” When the effort on both ends align, good things happen, he’s found. “I do have a group of students who were training with me ahead of the COVID Submitted This screen capture from the Bend Academy of Art shows a class in progress, with instructor Ian Factor at upper left and drawings by Sue Vordenberg, a local artist and regular student of the Academy. thing, in person, and some of those same students have been with me every single class every term throughout this whole year, test la e th ll a R E V POUR O Brew news at NDDRINKS IFESTYLE/FOODA /L M CO N. TI LE UL WWW.BENDB Celebrating a Decade on the Deschutes www.gregsgrill.com 395 SW Powerhouse Drive 541-382-2200 Advertise on this page for as little as $25 A WEEK • 541-383-0303 online, and they’re into it,” Factor said. At their recent last critique of the winter term of Bend Academy of Art, “I had a cou- ple of students who were really just express- ing their gratitude and their excitement with how this whole online thing has gone for them, and how impactful it has been, posi- tively in their grown. So that was really ex- citing to hear.” Forging new paths Singer and teacher Jacalyn and David Kreitzer moved to Bend last year upon re- tirement. David, a contemporary realist oil and watercolor painter who’s been paint- ing professionally for over 50 years, forged ahead during the pandemic opening Kreit- zer Arts, a gallery at 20224 Archie Briggs Road in Bend. “I am inspired now more than ever to continue painting and open a gallery here, because I believe the healing power of art is a means of connection to relieve the isola- tion and difficulties of these times,” David said by email. “The very essence of my life has been about painting only images I believe are beautiful, and providing healing and medi- tation through the power of art.” Jacalyn grew up in Bend, and in 1974, when she was 17 and the population was around 40,000, she moved to Los Angeles, where she went on to earn her Master’s in Voice Performance from the University of Southern California. From there, the mezzo-soprano went on to have a 35-year career as a soloist. She sang lead and comprimario roles with op- era companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Paris Opera and many more, and served as a symphonic soloist with major orchestras from Los An- geles to Prague. After retiring from her career, which in- cluded 24 years of teaching voice and pro- ducing opera at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, she and David decided to move back to Bend. That’s only semi-retired: Jacalyn still teaches voice lessons privately, and said that her revelation has been to help her students in this trying time by waiving fees. “I realized my former and new voice stu- dents I am teaching virtually felt lost during such isolation,” she said by email. “Many of them had auditioned for and secured sing- ing engagements around the U.S., and then lost the contracts because of company fi- nancial uncertainty. I realized the best way to help was to perk them up by teaching for free (my teachers … first Robert Preston at Bend High and then Herta Glaz at USC did that for me) and inspire them to use this time to PREPARE. It’s not easy, but a regime must be followed. The vocal and mental and physical health must be strengthened and maintained and skills improved to prepare for openings and new shows and new audi- tions.” Jacalyn had originally planned to open a physical studio in Bend “in order to concen- trate on helping those with neurological dis- ease to re-attain vocal plasticity,” she said. That’s one thing COVID-19 can only de- lay, not prevent, she said. “We will reopen, and I will do this.” e e David Jasper: 541-383-0349, djasper@bendbulletin.com