Bravo • Winter 2005
Herbie Hancock performs
at the Silva Concert Hall
Feb. 3.
Putting Our Best
Note Forward
Eugene brings in the 21st century’s big names.
By Brett Campbell
T
he winter and spring music
seasons’ source of greatest
abundance is the Oregon
Festival of American Music.
Jazz fans around the
Northwest are already looking forward to the
Feb. 3 Directions in Music concert featuring
legendary keyboard player/composer Herbie
Hancock, sax titan Michael Brecker and
young trumpet star Roy Hargrove.
That show — so big it’s happening at the
Hult Center — is probably the top jazz pick
of the season. But the April 10 show at the
Shedd with the Dave Holland Big Band, one
of the finest ensembles now working in jazz,
is a close second. Holland’s small group con-
cert last year might have been the most incen-
diary jazz show I’ve seen in Oregon, and this
www.eugeneweekly.com
one may just shake the old church’s rafters.
A sleeper show that fans of moody, well-
crafted improvisational music should not
miss is the March 17 concert by the Tomasz
Stanko Quartet. A veteran of Germany’s
high-quality ECM label (home of Keith
Jarrett, Arvo Part, Charles Lloyd and many
other great musicians), Stanko has been put-
ting out darkly beautiful music for two
decades. Other strong Shedd jazz shows in-
clude violinist Regina Carter on Jan. 28, the
great pianist Mose Allison on Feb. 11, and
the return of the phenomenally telepathic Bill
Charlap Trio on Feb. 12.
The Shedd has a strong lineup of
American roots-based performers, too, in-
cluding the return of Cape Breton fiddle diva
Natalie MacMaster on Jan. 26, the always-
fascinating
Darol
Anger’s
American
Natalie MacMaster Fiddle Ensemble on
performs at the Feb. 5, Cajun swingers
Shedd Jan. 26. BeauSoleil on Feb. 27,
bluegrass master Ricky
Skaggs on May 12, and
slack-key guitar legends
Keola Beamer on May
15 and Led Ka’apana
on March 10. If you
value intelligent, emo-
tionally-charged rock,
don’t miss the great
Austin singer-songwriter
Alejandro Escovedo on
April 6 at the Shedd,
even if you’ve never
heard of him.
All that, and we still
haven’t mentioned my
top spring concert
recommendation. One of
the 20th century’s most
forward-looking com-
posers/performers,
Laurie
Anderson,
brings her electric violin and synthesizers, sly
humor, and singular songs and narratives to
town March 12. That show should appeal to
hipsters and classical fans alike—or anyone
interested in the future of music, for that mat-
ter.
Classical music lovers will also want to be
at the Shedd for some too-rarely-heard music
of two earlier 20th century masters, Samuel
Barber and Benjamin Britten, in the
American Symphonia’s April 7 and 8 con-
certs. Don’t miss Broadway diva Audra
McDonald on May 25 either.
American music is also alive and thriving
at the University of Oregon’s Beall Concert
Hall, where, in addition to the Music Today
Festival’s riches (see accompanying article),
UO faculty violinist Kathryn Lucktenberg
performs still another concert of 20th century
American music on Jan. 13. The UO’s ac-
claimed Chamber Music Series has three
strong offerings, too: Berlin’s Philharmonia
Quartett on Jan. 20, the Paris Piano Trio on
Feb. 15, and the outstanding young string
octet Concertante on March 3. Each year the
school’s World Music Series brings an amaz-
ing musician from India and on Feb. 25, it’s
Kartik Seshadri. The UO is also collaborat-
ing with Lane Community College jazz
artists in a new Oregon Jazz Festival
January 21-22.
Another Beall Hall show on Jan. 26 fea-
tures UO artists in songs and chamber music
by Tchaikovsky, part of a tribute to the
Russian romantic who is also the centerpiece
of the Eugene Symphony’s season, with
many of his most popular works featured in
orchestra concerts on Jan. 27 and 29. My rec-
ommendation is the Feb. 24 concert featuring
the 20th century Russian master Sergei
Prokofiev’s magnificent music written for
the classic film Alexander Nevsky, along with
a new work by resident composer Philip
Rothman.
The Eugene Opera offers Verdi’s
Rigoletto on March 11 and 13, while the
Eugene Concert Choir pays tribute to the
late local composer Jon Sutton in its Jan. 22
concert. As it has in recent years, the choir
ends its 30th season on May 7 with yet an-
other ambitious choral-orchestral work:
Beethoven’s epic Missa Solemnis, backed by
the Oregon Mozart Players.
The OMP has a strong season of
its own, highlighted by the
premiere of music director
Glen Cortese’s chamber
version of Mahler’s sub-
lime “Song of the
Earth” (sung in
Chinese!) on Feb.
19 and 20.
Another one of
my prime
picks of the season is Peter Schickele con-
ducting Bach’s “magnumest of opuses,” The
Abduction of Figaro. Schickele is one of the
best things to ever happen to classical music.
Not only is he a fine composer, popularizer
and explainer, he also punctures the field’s
pomposity with much-needed humor. This
should be a blast, with the OMP augmented
by the rumbles of their namesake rolling in
his grave.
Finally, the Oregon Bach Festival brings
its usual wealth of classics, along with one of
the most significant single contemporary
music events in Eugene history: The West
Coast premiere of the first great work of the
21st century, Osvaldo Golijov’s Passion
After St. Mark. You’ll be hearing a lot more
about that here soon.
Most local clubs and concert halls are still
filling their schedules, but we do know a few
highlights already. The Hult Center is bring-
ing the excellent klezmer/new music clar-
inetist David Krakauer on Feb. 15 and 16.
DIVA continues to grow as a progressive per-
formance venue, bringing live music to the
Imaginify MetaMedia conference on Jan.
28, Daniel Tapio Heila’s Knotty Ensemble
accompanying moving images with impro-
vised music on Feb. 11, the Eugene Sacred
Harp Singers on Feb. 25, the pioneer of sam-
pled music Carl Stone on March 26 (in con-
junction with his UO show that weekend, an-
other top recommendation), and the return of
the virtuoso San Diego percussion impro-
viser Nathan Hubbard with his new vibes
trio on March 30. The McDonald Theatre al-
ready has Leo Kottke, the Vienna Choir
Boys and other popular acts scheduled. Be
sure to check EW’s weekly music columns
and calendar to find out about the other
events still to come.
■
Soloist Robert Sullivan
performs with the
Oregon Mozart
Players Jan. 8.
Bravo! EW’s Winter 2005 Guide to the Performing Arts
■
3