FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THE PERFECT STORM OF 2005 BLOCKS *CAPPELLA ROMANA* FROM CANADIAN TOUR Cappella Romana tour to Canada postponed by severe weather 16 January 2005-- PORTLAND, Ore. -- The combination of Portland's freezing rain, multiple cancelled flights, and snow and freezing fog all combined to create a perfect storm that prevented Cappella Romana from performing in Victoria, BC this weekend. Cappella Romana--including virtuoso Greek cantor Ioannis Arvanitis--was confirmed for a Saturday, January 15 concert by Victoria's prestigious Early Music Society of the Islands (EMSI) concert series. The list of soloists and ensembles presented by EMSI in Victoria is a who's who of the international early music scene: Anonymous 4, the Baltimore Consort, Camerata Koeln, Monica Huggett (of Portland Baroque Orchestra), Ton Koopman, La Venexiana, London Baroque, the Orlando Consort, Andrew Manze, Tafelmusik and many others. After completing a full week of recording sessions with multiple Grammy-award winning producer Steve Barnett, Cappella Romana was to top off the week by traveling to Canada as one of Oregon's cultural ambassadors with a concert of Byzantine music. Due to Portland's ice storm Saturday, all outbound flight possibilities were cancelled that morning. Singers from Cappella Romana also ran into Ron Blessinger--from Portland's Third Angle Ensemble--who was on his way to play chamber music in Bend, Oregon. All possible flights for him were also cancelled. A great deal of excitement about Cappella Romana's concert of Byzantine music had built up in Victoria; the concert was expected to attract a full hall. Leaders of the EMSI series decided to reschedule the concert the following night on Sunday, January 16th. After rebooking all of its outbound and return flights with the brilliant assistance of Horizon Air, Cappella Romana returned to Portland airport on Sunday morning to fly to Victoria via Seattle. After delays in Seattle, the ensemble finally boarded a 45-minute flight to Victoria, BC. It was 2:30pm. On the aircraft's final approach, with suburban Victoria clearly in view through the aircraft's windows, the pilots aborted the landing and pulled the aircraft up. Snow had fallen the night before, and freezing fog created impossibly dangerous landing conditions. After two more failed landing attempts, the flight returned to Seattle, arriving about 5:00pm. With only three hours left before the concert, Executive Director Mark Powell called three helicopter companies, two air charters, even sea plane service to fly the singers to Victoria. No one could help. The concert would have to be postponed for the second time in 24 hours. Fortunately, because so much enthusiasm for a program of Byzantine music had built up in Victoria over the past weeks and months, the EMSI is hoping to present Cappella Romana later this year. The program will feature majestic chants for cathedrals and monasteries from the Eastern-Rite monastery of Grottaferrata (Kryptoferre), near Rome. Founded in 1004, Grottaferrata became one of the most important outposts of Eastern Christian culture in the West, part of Magna Graecia (Greek-speaking Italy). Cappella Romana receives major support from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Virginia H. Farah Foundation, the A. G. Leventis Foundation, and individual patrons. (503) 236-8202 or (206) 683-9543 --30-- |