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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2003)
NOW AT THE PARLOUR BY BRETT CAMPBELL La Venexiana Back to School Sounds UO brings diverse music to Beall Hall. ® F ® FOR APPOINTMENT CALL: ( 5 4 1 ) 434- TAT2 ( 8 2 8 2 ) N E W L O C AT I O N C O M I N G S O O N ! CHOW, BABIES! “ T h e He a lt h i e st Pet Fo o d i n t h e Worl d . ” KARMA- the new organic food for dogs. THIRSTY FOR LIFE? DRINK RESPONSIBLY. www.bacardi.com BACARDI AND THE BAT DEVICE ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF BACARDI & COMPANY LIMITED. ©2003 BACARDI U.S.A., INC., MIAMI, FL. RUM – 40% ALC. BY VOL. 52 OCTOBER 9, 2003 all available here: COTTAGE GROVE: T he O l d Mi ll F a rm St o r e EUGENE: B o bc a t Pe ts , D o w n t o E a r t h , Olive & Willamette FLORENCE: Ha r ri s F e ed S t o re PLEASANT HILL: E mb a r ka d er o G r o om i ng SPRINGFIELD: B . I. S . P et S u pp li e s WALDPORT: P et P r oj ec t WALTERVILLE: F e e d & T ac k le or music lovers, back to school also means back to the UO’s splendid offerings — the most diverse, accomplished, and extensive music series in Oregon. On Thursday, Oct. 9, the school’s acclaimed Chamber Music Series, now in its 36th season, brings Switzerland’s award- winning Amati String Quartet to Beall Concert Hall to play one of Beethoven’s opus 18 quartets, Schubert’s lovely “Rosamunde” quartet, and Janacek’s first quartet, often called the Kreutzer Sonata. The UO’s primary purpose isn’t present- ing concerts. Its main mission is, of course, sponsoring generously financed, large-scale athletic events in plush surroundings catering to wealthy donors. Oops, sorry, that must be one of those big state universities in the South. What I meant to say was that the UO is actually an educational institution, and the music school offers many opportunities to learn about the world’s greatest music. An hour before the concert, professor Robert Hurwitz will offer insights about the Amati program in one of his popular, free pre-con- cert talks geared to listeners who don’t hap- pen to have a music degree. Such opportuni- ties abound in UO music presentations, and you can find out more about them via the Internet at music.uoregon.edu The UO music school’s contributions to by Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Frescobaldi, and other great Renaissance composers. The free concert honors the 700th birthday of the great poet Petrarch, who could be a patron saint of Eugene, as the father of humanism and a writer who took much inspiration from mountains at a time when nature was gener- ally more feared than celebrated. La Venexiana, which gave a fabulous show here a couple years back, will apply its sumptuous sound to musical settings of Petrarch’s poet- ry. No lover of the human voice should miss this concert. Of all my many musical experiences in Beall Hall, perhaps the most transcendent have come during performances by Indian musicians in the school’s superb World Music Series. On Friday, Oct. 17, the WMS brings two of the most celebrated Indian clas- sical musicians, Rajeev Taranath on sarod (plucked lute) and Abhiman Kaushal on tabla (North Indian classical drum) to Beall. This is a great opportunity to hear some of the world’s most mesmerizing sounds. We’re fortunate to have so many world music ensembles based in our town. On Thursday, Oct 9, Ala Nar performs Middle Eastern music and bellydance at Luna. The group plays Arabic and Turkic music on oud and baglama (lutes), flutes, violin, bass, tabla frame drum and tambourine. And on [O]ne of the world’s great vocal ensembles, La Venexiana comes from Italy to sing music by Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Frescobaldi, and other great Renaissance composers. the community transcend its concerts. For example, the Eugene Symphony was really born there in the mid 1960s, and its founding conductor was UO violin professor Lawrence Maves, who served on the faculty for more than four decades. Maves, who died last spring, taught nearly a thousand young string players, co-founded the Oregon String Quartet, and performed with orchestras throughout the Northwest. At 4 pm Sunday, Oct. 12, Beall hosts a free concert celebrating Maves’s musical life with performances of music by Bach, Beethoven, Massenet, and more by UO music faculty members and some of Maves’ former students. One of the best shows of the season hap- pens at Beall on Monday Oct. 13, when one of the world’s great vocal ensembles, La Venexiana comes from Italy to sing music Saturday, Oct. 11 at the Atrium (10th and Olive) the Turkish Aksent duo plays tradi- tional and regional folk, classic, art, contem- porary, and sufi music from Turkey on authentic instruments of the region. Finally, on Tuesday, Oct. 14, the WOW hall brings Poi Dog Pondering to town. Poi Dog brought a breath of fresh air to Austin when I lived there in the late 1980s, arriving from Hawaii with breezy, danceable world-pop that sounded like no one else. The group moved to Chicago a few years later and has since played with everyone from the Dave Matthews Band to the Chicago Symphony. This is a big band featuring strings, electronics, vocals, guitars, and more, and their new album shows it finding its way back to the rich, danceable grooves that brought national acclaim a decade ago. ew
