On December 9, six musicians from the Oregon Symphony performed at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, a women’s prison in Wilsonville, Oregon. Performing before an audience of 112 women were violinists Shin-young Kwon and Emily Cole, violist Jennifer Arnold, cellist Marilyn de Oliveira, bassoonist Evan Kuhlmann, and percussionist Sergio Carreno. The program included music by Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, and Beethoven, as well as a singalong of Christmas carols. This is the second year Oregon Symphony musicians have visited Coffee Creek for the program. As one part of the Department of Corrections Oregon Accountability Model, the visits are designed to help offenders transition successfully back into communities. Also in attendance were Oregon Symphony President Scott Showalter, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales and his wife, Nancy Hales, a volunteer in the facility’s Girl Scouts Behind Bars Program. Said Showalter, “We want to bring a piece of Oregon culture to these women, who are working hard to improve their lives.”
Posted December 23, 2015
Pictured: Coffee Creek Correctional Facility inmates sing along to Christmas tunes performed by an Oregon Symphony quintet Dec. 9. Photo by Josh Kulla
