Group branches out in support of the American sound.Byline: FRED CRAFTS The Register-Guard The Oregon Festival of American Music Oregon Festival of American Music is an eclectic, thematically-based two-week summer music festival that has been held annually in Eugene, Oregon since 1992. Produced by The John G. will blast into the new year with several moves to strengthen its hand as an active year-round presenter on the local beaux-arts scene. Straight ahead are an expanded orchestral series and a new, genre-hopping Now Hear This! concert series featuring folk, world music, jazz and classical artists. The events join the festival's existing Emerald City Jazz Kings subscription series, Twin Rivers Twin Rivers could be
James Ralph James Trevor Ralph (born 9 October, 1975) is an English cricketer who played one first-class match for Worcestershire and later played minor counties cricket for Shropshire. He was born in Kidderminster, Worcestershire. , the festival's executive director, views the changes as a refinement of "the natural context we're laying out for ourselves." "We've always seen our mission as being not to support a particular ensemble or a particular style of music, but most generally to champion our American musical heritage in all its forms, richness and complexity. Championing different kinds of music requires different strategies." And just what are those strategies? American Symphonia The Oregon Festival of American Music Festival Orchestra, conducted by James Paul, is being renamed the American Symphonia, a group that can flex in size from full symphonic to chamber ensembles. A season of 10 concerts - four symphony orchestra concerts, two chamber orchestra concerts and four chamber music concerts - is anticipated this calendar year. That will put the group at about the same activity level as the Eugene Symphony Orchestra (eight subscription concerts and two pops concerts) and the Oregon Mozart Players Oregon Mozart Players is a professional chamber orchestra based in Eugene, Oregon. The orchestra presents six concert sets in a typical season, in addition to numerous small ensemble performances and recitals by guest artists. (12 classical concerts; six programs, each played twice). The American Symphonia will make its debut on Saturday. After that, its next performance will be Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" for the Eugene Ballet Company on May 4-5. Then it will play during the annual Oregon Festival of American Music, scheduled this year for Aug. 1-10. A subscription series, running from August to May 2003, will be announced in March. The repertoire will be "art music in the European tradition, with a special emphasis on the Americas and the period after 1900," Ralph says. When appropriate, the music will be connected to other aspects of our culture, such as painting, film, dance, literature and history. Now Hear This! Ralph sees this new series, which will draw emerging and established national talent in a variety of genres, as an extension of the programming currently done in the summertime festival, during January's American Composers Series and at the Twin Rivers Folklife Festival. It also will be similar to the now-defunct American Masters Series. Four concerts are planned so far: Dave Douglas' `Charms of the Night Sky' project, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11 at Beall Concert Hall. Edgar Meyer and Mike Marshall, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 at Beall Concert Hall. Natalie MacMaster, 7:30 p.m. April 15 at the South Eugene High School South Eugene High School is a public high school located in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was founded as Eugene High School around 1900, and was located at Willamette Street and West 11th Avenue in a brick building that later served as Eugene's city hall. auditorium. Cubanismo with Jesus Alemany, 7:30 p.m. April 28 in the Erb Memorial Union Ballroom. Tickets, ranging from $14.50 to $28.50, are now on sale through the festival office, 687-6526. Next season, starting in October and running through May 2003, Ralph intends to present at least eight concerts in a variety of venues. Among the artists he is considering are Gillian Welch, the Buena Vista Social Club The Buena Vista Social Club was a members club in Havana, Cuba that held dances and musical activities, becoming a popular location for musicians to meet and play during the 1940s. , Allison Krauss, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Band's "Blood on the Fields Blood on the Fields is a three and half hour jazz "oratorio," although he did not use this term, by Wynton Marsalis. It was commissioned by Lincoln Center and concerns a couple moving from slavery to freedom.[1] It received the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Music. " program, and a Twyla Tharp/Marc O'Connor/ Maurice Sendak collaboration (`The Boy Who Sold the Sun'). Twin Rivers Folklife Festival The traditional music festival, which Ralph has renamed and reconfigured as "less a concert and more a folklife festival," will be suspended this summer in order to move it from its customary late-August slot at Cuthbert Amphitheater to March 2003 at an indoor location. One possible venue is the John G. Shedd John Graves Shedd (July 20, 1850 - October 22, 1926) was the second president and chairman of the board of Marshall Field & Company. Born on a New Hampshire farm, Shedd arrived in Chicago, Illinois in 1871 and began working as a stock clerk for Marshall Field. Institute for the Arts, the new arts facility that the Ralphs are creating at the First Baptist Church First Baptist Church may refer to many churches: Canada
In a personnel move, North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. folk singer David Holt, who performed at last summer's Oregon Festival of American Music, has been named as the festival's traditional music adviser. American Music Institute The festival's music school has expanded its youth offerings and added two new directors: Debbie Diedrich, director of traditional music studies, and Vicki Brabham, director of jazz and popular music studies. Emerald City Jazz Kings The 15-piece retro jazz band, conducted by Steve Stone, is preparing two new "live" CDs for release in February: "The New Yorkers: Broadway Jazz With Cole Porter and Friends" (from a concert given last January) and "Puttin' on the Ritz: An Evening With Irving Berlin" (from last May). Ralph says a third CD, from last October's "Swingin' the Blues" concert, is being discussed. The band's in-state tour, which begins in February, will expand to five stops with the addition of Medford (along with Eugene, Florence, Corvallis and Roseburg). Two concerts remain in this year's series: next month's "We're in the Money" and May's "Hit That Jive, Jack." Oregon Festival of American Music George Gershwin will be featured in the first 10 days of August. Among the highlights of "Gershwin, By George!" will be performances of "Rhapsody in Blue
For the Farscape episode of the same name, see . Rhapsody in Blue is a musical composition by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band written in 1924, which combines "; his Concerto in F; and the revamped musical "Crazy for You," directed by the Willamette Repertory Theatre's Kirk Boyd with Brabham as music director. Ralph says the festival's annual Thursday night big band dance will feature the Emerald City Jazz Kings from now on. American Composers Series The mostly classical music series will continue to be held in mid-January, probably at the Hult Center and Beall Concert Hall. CAPTION(S): Coming as part of the new Now Hear This series, clockwise from top right, will be Natalie MacMaster, Mike Marshall and Cubanismo. Whither whith·er adv. To what place, result, or condition: Whither are we wandering? conj. 1. To which specified place or position: OFAM OFAM Oregon Festival of American Music ? |
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