“Brain Chemistry for Lovers” Blooms with Two Valentine Concerts

Portland, OR, December 19, 2008 --(PR.com)-- On Monday, Feb. 16, the full production of “Brain Chemistry for Lovers” will bloom with a 7 p.m. showing at the Newmark Theater in Portland (1111 S.W. Broadway). Part concert, part cabaret and part science lecture, the show is featured as the Portland Chamber Orchestra’s (PCO’s) 2008/2009 season Valentine Concert and as part of Oregon Health & Science University’s (OHSU’s) Oregon Brain Awareness 10th Anniversary Celebration. The production is also slated as an event for the 2009 Portland Jazz Festival.

Tickets for the Portland show are available at www.ticketmaster.com or 503-224-4400 for $30, all seats. Tickets for a special post-show reception with the cast and creators of Brain Chemistry are available separately through the Portland Chamber Orchestra by calling 503-771-3250. The $75 reception ticket includes a seat for the main production. Brain Chemistry will premiere on Feb. 14 at the Liberty Theater in Astoria, OR at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for $16 - $25 at the box office or via www.ticketswest.com.

Conceived by vocalist Valerie Day and pianist Darrell Grant, and conducted by the PCO’s Yaacov Bergman, Brain Chemistry for Lovers considers the stages of romantic love (lust, attraction, attachment, rejection) and relates them to accompanying brain chemicals (Dopamine, Seratonin, Oxytocyn). The result combines romantic jazz standards, amusing scripting and scientific commentary by OHSU neuroscientist Larry Sherman, Ph.D., who chimes in via film shorts by Portland filmmaker/show director Jim Blashfield, a Grammy-winning music video director famous for work with Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Talking Heads and others.

Day is familiar as a voice on the Northwest jazz scene and as front person for Portland’s Nu Shooz, which scored a #3 hit with “I Can’t Wait” in 1986. Reincarnated as the Nu Shooz Orchestra, the band plans to unveil its first full-length CD in 20 years in 2009. Composer John Smith, also of Nu Shooz, served as the orchestral arranger for Brain Chemistry. Darrell Grant is a lauded performer and recording artist, and is also founder of the Leroy Vinegar Jazz Institute at Portland State University, where he currently serves as a professor of music.

For more information:
Jim Blashfield: www.blashfieldstudio.com
Valerie Day and Brain Chemistry for Lovers: www.valeriedaysings.com
Darrell Grant: www.darrellgrant.com/leroy_vinnegar_jazz_institute
OHSU’s Brain Awareness Events: www.oregonbrains.org
Portland Chamber Orchestra: www.portlandchamberorchestra.org

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