Married, with Music
There are over twenty musicians of the Oregon Symphony who have a professional musician spouse. Here are just a few of these couples’ stories about the rewards and challenges of making music together.
- Jonathan Dubay & Robin Dubay
- Lynne Finch & Kenneth Finch
- Mary Ann Coggins Kaza & Eugene Kaza
- Charles Noble & Heather Blackburn
“When we’re sharing the stage, we call in the grandparents,” says Jonathan. With two young, enterprising children around the house, Robin and Jonathan attempt to divide their time so that one can do child care. “We can’t afford otherwise!” The couple started dating when Robin, also a violinist, was playing as an extra musician in the Oregon Symphony over ten years ago. Now, their music careers are timed for turn-taking. “We wait in line for the practice room.”
Robin teaches violin privately and has taught at Pacific University. She is a long-time member of Portland Baroque Orchestra and has also perfomed at the Britt Festival and the Oregon Bach Festival. Recently, the two played the Schumann Piano Quartet in Portland. Jonathan counts that among his most meaningful shared musical experiences. “It is such a beautiful, profound piece. It was wonderful to share the experience with my wife. It was also memorable because at one performance I gave the cue to begin before she was ready to play. I didn’t make that mistake twice!”
Both Robin and Jonathan spend extra volunteer committee time with their respective orchestras. Jonathan also volunteers to teach music in his son’s class where the music progam at the school was cut. “Though, financially, it can be stressful to do this, but it can bring a lot of enjoyment when you feel that you’re doing your best to make a difference, to make things better. Every day is filled to the brim.”
For the last 22 years, Ken and Lynne have shared the stage every time the Oregon Symphony performs. “Going to work together is great, because of our shared understanding of what we do. However, the benefit of a common work schedule, as a couple, becomes our biggest challenge, with two busy school-age children.” Raising children with mom and dad as concert artist means finding consistent childcare for evenings and weekends, “We want to be very involved in our children’s activities, the difficulty is in trying to help with their homework, practicing, and after school sports, as much as possible, in the few short hours between school and the time we both leave for the concerts. This requires a great deal of family ‘time–management’, energy, and teamwork as a couple — and a small fortune in childcare expenses. Add to that the demands of our own practicing and preparation for the performances, and it is clear that for us both, the day accelerates until the last note!”
Lynne had graduated from Lewis and Clark College and was earning her master’s degree from the University of Oregon when she met Ken, an undergraduate. Lynne joined the orchestra in 1981, while Ken was in graduate school at Eastman. He finished in December of 1982 and they married 5 months later. Ken auditioned in 1984. “Following Ken’s audition finals, the orchestra had an evening rehearsal, after which the audition committee made their decision public. Those moments after his audition, while we waited for the results, were some of the most anxious moments of our life (aside from the births of our children!)”
They attribute the beginning of their relationship to playing in a string quartet together in school. “We also both loved to snow ski,” Lynne says. “We say that is really what brought us together!” Skiing aside, it is clear that their most memorable concerts are those that involve chamber music, such as a recent performance of Schubert’s Bb Piano Trio, at a benefit concert for Mercy Corp. “The joy of collaborating and expressing music together, is a wonderful experience.”
Isaac Stern was responsible for getting this couple together over twenty years ago. “It’s a long story,” says Mary Ann. Many years before then, as a young student, she used to attend the Oregon Symphony concerts and watch Eugene at work. He sat where the Assistant Concertmaster sits now. “I thought Eugene played violin very well and used to watch him intently. I never realized I would eventually perform in the Symphony with him much less marry him.”
Eugene, now retired, has had a distinguished career as a music educator teaching violin and leading local high school orchestras and bands in Portland. For years he led the Portland Youth Philharmonic and his own chamber orchestra “The Little Orchestra of Portland.” Eugene guest conducted the Oregon Symphony and St. Louis Symphony orchestras in his later years. He also toured the USA with all the greats, including Henri Mancini. Audiences here still remember his appearance with Jack Benny.
“I performed in the Oregon Symphony with Eugene from the time I entered the orchestra over 36 years ago until his last concert with us--sometimes we’ve shared the same stand. We have performed in many orchestras together and I have played under his baton in chamber and symphony orchestra situations and in chamber music and duets. We are also founding members of the Kaza Quartet.” Mary Ann counts performing Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait together in Prague and Budapest among their most memorable shared musical experiences.
Charles and Heather’s relationship was forged in chamber music. “Heather was in the Maryland Symphony string quartet and they needed a violist,” remembers Charles. “The concertmaster, who was in the quartet, had just heard my audition and said ‘that guy is pretty good’ and I read with them, and the rest is history.” Here in Oregon they worked together in the Ethos Quartet. Among their most memorable musical experiences together was a performance at the Aronoff Viola Institute in Seattle. “We played a performance of Arvo Part’s Fratres in a huge, dark chapel. It was a transcendent experience for the two of us, and for the quartet.”
Since coming to Portland, Heather has performed with every major musical organization in the Northwest, with the most time spent playing with the Oregon Symphony on three one-year contracts. Charles points out that, “if you’re both in the orchestra together, even your moods become synchronized—which is not always fun—but, you do get to share the good times as well.” As for the two-careers household, “It’s hard to balance one another’s goals and ambitions, every audition you take must be carefully weighed against what the other person has going on at the moment.” Charles and Heather feel that these challenges are offset by their shared passion for music and what they do. “We know the sheer hard work and force of will that it takes to be successful in this business.”