Oneppo's "Man Who Saved Christmas" to arrive on Symphony stage
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Vincent Oneppo (courtesy of the Port Townsend Saxophone Quartet) [/caption]
Art news by Diane Urbani de la Paz
Editor’s note: we published an earlier version of this that was an uncredited press release. This is an updated article.
Experience has shown Vincent Oneppo a couple of things.
For one, music — classical, pop, jazz, pick the genre — is a current that connects people from all walks of life. For another, holiday music has a way of telling a delicious story beyond words.
About two years ago, Oneppo, recently relocated from New Haven, Conn., to Jefferson County, sat in with the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra. He played clarinet, an instrument he first held in his hands at age 5.
Another orchestra member promptly recommended Oneppo to Jonathan Pasternack, conductor of the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra. The 75-member ensemble brings together players from across the Olympic Peninsula and beyond.
In December 2023, Oneppo joined the Port Angeles Symphony for its Holiday Concert — and so began the latest chapter of a life making music with a whole variety of players.
This Saturday brings a particular delight: the premiere of the Overture to “The Man Who Saved Christmas,” Oneppo’s special orchestral arrangement for the Symphony to perform at the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center, 304 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles.
This piece, a musical tale of a wartime factory where a worker advocates for the return of toymaking in time for Christmas, mixes the sounds of classic toys, and comes to a subtle ending evoking a Christmas carol.
Tickets to Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. concert — as well as the public dress rehearsal at 10 a.m. — are available at https://portangelessymphony.org and, if any are left, at the door. For more information from an actual human, phone the Symphony office at 360-457-5579.
Oneppo began his musical career as an Italian boy growing up in Providence, R.I. In his community, “you had to play an instrument, preferably accordion or clarinet,” he recalls.
“I remember going to a music store, and picking out a clarinet,” and then taking lessons from a well-seasoned teacher.
His clarinet “gave me the opportunity to play virtually every kind of music," Oneppo said: "Orchestras, dance bands, big bands, klezmer, Polish polkas," but not so much the pop tunes of the era.
When he was 13 or so — circa 1961 — he saw the need to add another instrument to his life.
"I started playing in little bands with my friends. Of course, if you’re going to play pop music, you’re going to play saxophone.”
One day, Oneppo’s father brought home a tenor sax he had found in a shop. He still plays that instrument, a coveted Selmer Mark VI.
Oneppo also plays alto saxophone, and is a member of the Port Townsend Saxophone Quartet, along with Jonathan Doyle, Al Thompson and Stephanie M. Neumann.
“I had no trouble finding people to play with” here, he said.
Arranging his Overture to “The Man Who Saved Christmas” for the Port Angeles Symphony has given Oneppo a chance to stretch, even work out his artistic muscles.
“It isn’t that easy … [but] I really enjoyed writing for orchestra, because I have the wonderful string section. It’s a different animal,” he said.
The spirit of the story behind "The Man Who Saved Christmas" comes from a the childlike feelings of wonder, and then excitement, the holiday can give back to us. Oneppo illustrates this with a bit of ragtime, a gentle waltz and melody, and a musical chest full of toyesque sound effects.
Oneppo has spent plenty of time working on this piece on his computer, shaping it for the Symphony.
“I look forward to hearing it played by good, real, live musicians,” he said.
“There’s nothing like hearing people you know playing your music.”
