SPECIAL EVENTS & PROGRAMS
It’s Show Time
for Portland Parks & Recreation
What goes into a Summer Free for All concert?
By Mark Ross, Portland Parks & Recreation
Strolling into a Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) park for a summer concert, you’ll hear children playing and the band warming up for the show,
you’ll smell the enticing scents as vendors prepare delicious food, and you’ll
be struck by many other hallmarks of a Portland summer.
What you won’t see is the carefully choreographed chaos that has taken
place before the show – and continues until after the encore.
PP&R’s concert producer, Judith Yeckel, is usually at the center of the
vortex. A veteran of hundreds of Summer Concerts in the Park, the affable
Yeckel is seemingly in constant motion, supervising everything from sponsorships to sound checks.
“So many, many elements must be in place well in advance so that the
performance can go smoothly,” Yeckel laughs, “and we frequently have
more than one concert on a given night, so…whew!”
This summer, PP&R is putting on more than 50 free Concerts in the Park,
set in neighborhood parks across the city. Months before the bands hit the
stages, Yeckel facilitates neighborhood concert committees who work diligently to offer concertgoers the broadest range of cultural styles and musical
genres. They also work hard to secure the sponsorships and grants needed to
cover production costs.
Yeckel ensures that promotional pieces (in eight different languages this
year!) are distributed all over the city to attract music lovers, and to thank
and recognize the valued sponsors. She works with professional sound engineers to nail down each band’s audio needs and meets regularly with staff to
discuss contingency procedures such as safety and access, special needs for
specific concerts, pre-show announcements and – this being Portland – what
to do if we get heavy rains.
On the day of each show, Yeckel arranges signage; determines the best
place for portable restrooms; assists food vendors; sets up bike racks, garbage
and recycling bins; makes sure any noise and vehicle permits are completed;
and works with nonprofit community partners and sponsors who want to
host tables at the performance.
After all that prep work is done ... it’s time to PUT YOUR HANDS
TOGETHER for a summer of diverse and vibrant bands!
At intermission, Yeckel “passes the hat,” soliciting contributions from the
crowd to help PP&R make the concerts possible.
“The generous donations from our audiences mean that they, too, have a
hand in bringing these performances to the stage,” she says.
And when the music stops, Yeckel’s day is not yet done. Our exhausted
but triumphant producer goes home to write a detailed report on the performance – and to plan for the next show.
Keep in mind there is often more than one performance on a given night,
but Yeckel does all this incredible work, does it exceptionally well, and does
it with a smile on her face. She’s a key reason PP&R’s Summer Free for All
Concerts in the Park are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of music enthusiasts of all ages.
Portland Parks & Recreation’s Summer Free for All – which includes Concerts in
the Park, Movies in the Park, Summer Lunches and Playgrounds programs, and the
Washington Park Summer Festival, began in late June and will last all summer.
Visit portlandparks.org for schedules and information. n
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July 2014
metro-parent.com