Amanda Summers – Copy editor.

Halcyon Trio Oregon, comprising three Linfield music faculty members, performed a program titled “Of Praise, Passion & Pancakes!” on Feb. 19.
The trio is made up of professors of the department of music Joan Haaland Paddock, on trumpet; Jackie Van Paepeghem, a soprano; and Deborah Huddleston, on piano and organ.
One piece performed, written specifically for Halcyon Trio Oregon by composer Greg Bowers, was titled “Norwegian Folk Variations.” Paddock and Bowers are both of Norwegian descent and the piece was commissioned by the Scandinavian Heritage Foundation of Portland.
Paddock said she sent recordings of some of her favorite Norwegian folk songs to Bowers to incorporate them into the piece.
“Like Norwegians are prone to do — be creative — he created his own fairy tale and added a pancake,” Paddock said.
The pancake in the Norwegian Folk Variations solves the problems of many of the other characters.
Paddock said a local pastor later compared the pancake to Christ, saying that the pancake represents the ultimate martyr.
Another piece in the performance was Eric Ewazen’s “to cast a shadow again…,” which features poetry by Katherine Gekker. The poetry is provocative and was described by Paddock as being both beautiful and pornographic.
Other pieces performed were “O sacrum convivium” by Archangelo Crotti with text by Thomas Aquinas; “Vaga Cintia” by Alessandro Scarlatti; and “Le Petit Prince” by Colin DeJong with text from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book, Le Petit Prince. The piece by DeJong was composed specifically for Halcyon Trio Oregon.
“It’s really cool that people are writing music for us because there’s not a lot of repertoire for trumpet, piano and voice,” Paddock said.
Halcyon Trio Oregon was formed during the course of a few years, beginning with a performance for a sampler recital in 2005, presented for guest artist Rolf Kristian Stang. In April of that same year, Paddock’s brother was diagnosed with cancer, and the trio organized a fundraiser concert. Shortly after, Halcyon Trio Oregon applied for the Neskowin Chamber Fellowship. It won the fellowship, which provided 10 days at the coast, all expenses paid, to rehearse and perform.
“[We] learned that this marriage will work,” Paddock said. “Chamber music is about getting along.”
In 2006, the trio toured in California, and in 2007, they toured for 21 days in Norway. In April this year, the trio will tour to perform in Windsor Hall in Maryland and to William and Mary in Virginia to perform and teach a workshop for three select music composition students.