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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2004)
BRAVO! EW'S GUIDE TO THE WINTER/SPRING 2004 PERFORMING ARTS SEASON Wynton Marsalis, Mar. 5, Silva. Wayne Shorter, Apr. 14, Shedd. A Musical Renewal MEGA ACTS LEAD US INTO SPRING. BY BRETT CAMPBELL Here are some highlights of winter and spring shows, but as most clubs and venues don’t list performances until a few days or weeks before the show, keep checking EW’s Calendar and music columns throughout the season for updated and additional listings. For now, see Bravo listings to ponder the full season’s lineups. EUGENE SYMPHONY Cities several times our size would love to have a symphony season this progressive, as well as a music director this impressive. Giancarlo Guerrero, already a smashing suc- cess on every level in his tenure here, must believe that Eugene audiences have adven- turous ears, and we’re lucky that he chooses so adeptly. The ESO’s Jan. 15 concert brave- ly offers fascinating contemporary concertos by one of today’s hottest composers, Jennifer Higdon , and the 20th century titan Witold Lutoslawski . The April 22 concert — maybe the season’s highlight — is anoth- er of Guerrero’s artful mixes of new and old, with music of and an appearance by one of the great living composers, John Corigliano . His scores for Altered States and The Red Violin are some of the finest ever composed for film. In addition, perhaps the greatest symphony ever written, Beethoven’s mighty seventh, will be performed. The two- year Beethoven cycle concludes with the first and last symphonies on May 20, while clas- sical music’s brightest star, Yo-Yo Ma , comes to town a week earlier. OREGON MOZART PLAYERS Most towns are happy to have one extraordinary young classical music con- ductor. Eugene has two — Guerrero and 20 JANUARY 8, 2004 OMP’s Glen Cortese , who also compos- es. Cortese’s “Mannahatta,” based on texts by Walt Whitman, opens the Jan. 10-11 concerts, along with flute music by Mozart. Former Eugene Opera conductor Frank Graffeo returns for his annual Candlelight Concert on Feb. 27-28, and the OMP. The Mozart Players tread on territory staked out by OFAM (Copland’s Appalachian Spring in January) and the Eugene Symphony (Beethoven’s Symphony #3 in May) — but that only seems fair, con- sidering each of them is doing Mozart cham- ber orchestra music (the overplayed Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in OFAM’s January con- cert and the great Piano Concerto #24 in the symphony’s March 18 show). OFAM/THE SHEDD Get out your calendar and cancel all nighttime appointments for the week of April 12, because music lovers will want to be at the Shedd. On the 13th, one of jazz’s finest contemporary pianists and com- posers, Brad Mehldau , performs, followed the very next night by one of the greatest jazz figures of the 20th century, tenor saxo- phonist and composer Wayne Shorter . And on Friday the 16th, the world’s greatest bass player, Edgar Meyer (first call in Nashville sessions as well as with classical ensembles), plays a solo concert there. (That same night, another great bassist, jazzer David Friesen, plays Luna, and on the 15th, the Ethos Percussion Quartet plays with Indian musicians at the Hult Center. What a week!) OFAM also offers jazz’s single most vis- ible figure, trumpeter/composer/bandleader Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra at the Hult in March, the astonishingly innovative trumpeter/compos- er Dave Douglas with his quintet in May, preeminent jazz chanteuses Diane Reeves and Cassandra Wilson in February and March, respectively, folk legend Joan Baez in March, a classical concert at the end of January and a Latin American Baroque concert (hosted by Eugene fave Maria Jette ) in April, and much more. EUGENE CONCERT CHOIR & VOCAL ARTS ENSEMBLE The city’s premier vocal institutions offer overviews of big band music (in February), world music (in April — my top recommendation for this group’s season) and — to prove that last year’s massive Berlioz Requiem was no fluke success — another megamasterpiece, Verdi’s Requiem to close the season in May. UNIVERSITY OF OREGON If The Shedd will be my second home this spring, the UO’s Beall Hall will be my third. Far too many worthy shows are hap- pening there to cover here, but the brightest of the highlights include violinist Diane Monroe playing a jazz show on Jan. 16 and a classical show on the 22nd, the legendary Juilliard Quartet in February, produc- tions of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music and Orff’s ever-popular Carmina Burana in February, visits from new music per- formers New Century Saxophone Quartet and Ethos Percussion Quartet (twice! including once with Indian musi- cians) in March, classical music of South India on Feb. 27, and much, much more – often free or for a pittance. As always, there’ll be plenty of fine shows at clubs all over town (the best being Sam Bond’s, Luna, and Café Paradiso), as well as venues from the Hult Center, WOW Hall and McDonald Theatre to the new Downtown Institute for the Visual Arts and the Atrium (which offers free concerts on many Saturday afternoons), and newer spaces like Cozmic Pizza, Indigo and more. Look for an excellent Celtic festival in March at several venues, and keep check- ing EW’s calendar and columns for music coverage. ew
