BY BRETT CAMPBELL
A Real Old Fashioned Christmas
Local and international groups get in the spirit
T
show at Central Lutheran Church (18th &
Potter) Monday, Nov. 26, including songs by
Machaut and Landini and motets from Paris’
cathedral of Notre Dame. The next evening,
one of the finest vocal ensembles of
our time, Norway’s Trio Medieval
(abetted by a percussionist) sings
Scandinavian traditional music in
Portland at St. Philip Neri Church.
Back at Beall, the UO’s holiday
here’s so much worthy music play-
ing at the UO over the next couple
weeks that you might as well just set
up a sleeping bag around Beall Concert Hall.
The guards will likely mistake you for a fi-
nals-cramming student or a student musician
waiting for a stairwell to open up for practice
space. (The space crunch should be alleviated
in a year or so when the building expansion is
done.)
The major Beall ringing is the Waverly
Consort’s Christmas Story at 3 pm Sunday,
Nov. 25. More than concert, the program fea-
tures some theatrical gestures and other visual
elements (music manuscripts and other illu-
minated miniatures) to dramatize the biblical
nativity story from the perspective of the
Middle Ages. The celebrated New York-
based period instrument quintet, augmented
by eight singers, uses costumes, music (much
of it unfamiliar) and authentic instruments of
the time and place (medieval Italy, Britain,
Spain, France) to conjure a musical and visual
spectacle appropriate to the occasion.
Whether you observe the Christian holiday or
not, if you’re tired of endless Christmas
cliches (Santa, reindeer, the same half dozen
carols), this musical and historical perform-
ance should make a wonderful holiday event.
Speaking of sounds medieval, the UO’s
Collegium Musicum will sing vocal music
from the 13th and 14th centuries in a free
timable
Eugene
Contemporary
Chamber Ensemble plays music by Darius
Milhaud and other works, including a world
premiere by UO graduate composer Jesse
If you’re tired of endless
Christmas cliches, this
musical and historical
performance should make
a wonderful holiday event.
choral concert on Thursday, Nov.
29, collects a trio of campus choirs to
sing seasonal music from the past
four centuries, including spirituals and con-
temporary works.
As always, the UO has plenty of music of
our own time. On Tuesday, Nov. 27, the es-
Waverly
Jones. On Friday, Nov. 30, at 4 pm in the
Knight Library Browsing Room, other stu-
dent chamber ensembles will play inti-
mate music by Milhaud’s Paris colleague
Francis Poulenc, Ervin Schulhoff, the great
20th century composer Gyorgy Ligeti, who
died last year, and others including an oldie
but goodie: Schubert’s Trout quintet. On
Sunday, Dec. 2, the UO Percussion
Ensemble bangs out music by Michael
Colgrass, Anthony Cirone and — another
oldie — Telemann. And don’t forget the brief
Monday Sound-Bytes series
from 11:54 am-12:08 pm at the
UO’s Collier House, which on
Dec. 3 features the debut perform-
ance of Beta Collide, a new
music group directed by the UO
faculty
trumpeter
Brian
McWhorter (nationally known for
his work in the New York based
Meridian Ensemble) and fab flutist
Molly Barth (internationally ac-
claimed for her work in Eighth
Blackbird) in a trio by the much
admired contemporary Ukrainian
composer Valentin Silvestrov.
Admission is free to all of these but
the percussion concert.
We opened with a holiday con-
cert, so let’s close with one. The
Shedd is making its Christmas
show an annual tradition. Singer
Shirley Andress and pianist Vicki
Consort
Brabham, both Shedd veterans,
have invited various favorite musi-
cians to accompany them in classic Christmas
fare, singalong carols, and more Friday, Nov.
30, Thursday, Dec. 6, and Sunday, Dec. 9
(matinee) at the Shedd.
ew
All Good
at Burkholder
Woods
it’s
BURKHOLDER WOODS Building Corner of 7th & Main in Old Cottage Grove
1st Anniversary Weekend!!!
celebrating one year of good times
Friday, Nov. 23rd
Jackstraw
Bluegrass
$5 • 8:30 pm
Saturday, Nov. 24rd
Afternoon
of FREE
Entertainment
4 pm - 9 pm
Hot Club
Sandwich
Gypsy Jazz
$5 • 9 pm
w/HARTWARE
20% off all books
10 days: 11/23-12/02
live music & microbrew
Free coffee with
pastry purchase
NOVEMBER 21, 2007 29