Our Oscar-winning friend

posted 11:03 AM Monday, March 08, 2010

By: Chip Chandler

So there I was, watching the Oscars with a group of friends, when the winner for sound effects was announced.

Hmm, I thought. He looks kinda familiar.

Then, the screen cut to the audience, specifically to his overjoyed wife.

Hmm, I thought. She looks really familiar.

Then it hit me: I know them!

Paul Ottosson, winner of two Oscars last night, is the husband of erhu player extraordinaire Karen Han, our guest artist in January 2009. Paul accompanied Karen and their young son to Amarillo for concert week, and they couldn't have been more delightful. Paul struck us all as a very kind and soft-spoken man, and though I knew he worked in the film industry, I'm kicking myself now for not finding time to talk with him more about his career. If I'm right, he'd most likely already finished his work on "The Hurt Locker" when he was here. (Though released to theaters in 2009, "Hurt Locker" first debuted at a film festival in 2008. Its distributor decided to hold its release, though, thinking it might have a better shot for some awards if it didn't face the 2008 indie darling "Slumdog Millionaire." Smart choice.)

But here's what I might have talked with Paul about, if I'd known better.

Anyway, congratulations Paul! Your friends at the Amarillo Symphony are thrilled about your awards, and we can't wait to have you and Karen back with us.