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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2011)
music BY BRETT CAMPBELL The Future is Now A feast of today’s best composers L ooking at most orchestra programs, you’d be forgiven for imagining that composers stopped writing music around the turn of the century — the 19th century, that is. Fortunately, the University of Oregon School of Music understands that today’s musicians are creating art that speaks to our 21st-century ears. UO music prof Robert Kyr brings some of the nation’s most adventurous musical creators to the school’s bi-annual Music Today Festival , opening Monday, Feb. 21, at Beall Hall with a headlining concert by the Ralph Alessi Jazz Quintet . Trumpeter/composer Alessi’s progressive jazz sounds entice fans of straight-ahead jazz as well as more vanguard types. Tuesday’s show features the Pennsylvania-based sax and guitar Duo Montagnard playing music by 20th century postclassical composers. The UO Trombone choir concert at Beall Wednesday, Feb. 22, features two world premieres and, later that evening at Aasen-Hull Hall, two UO student music ensembles — the new Loaded Dice and Sospiro — will perform music by the engagingly out there composer Mark Applebaum and more. The Eugene Contemporary Chamber Ensemble concert Feb. 24 offers music by the great contemporary American composer Frederic Rzewski, plus student compositions. The Aasen-Hull concert Friday, Feb. 25, features the local TaiHei Ensemble with Bay Area-based soprano Rebecca Stahlberg playing contemporary music by composers infl uenced by the ever- intersecting cultures of the Pacifi c Rim. That same evening, Portland jazz pianist Randy Porter joins the Oregon Jazz Ensemble , while Saturday afternoon’s Oregon Percussion Ensemble concert at Beall offers music by one of today’s most popular composers, Jennifer Higdon and another highly respected contemporary composer, John Harbison , as well as three ur-classics by the inventors of the percussion ensemble, John Cage and Portland-born Lou Harrison . The Future Music Oregon performance Feb. 26 at Schnitzer Hall offers electronic and digital music by Oregon Electronic Device Orchestra , and Sunday afternoon’s University Symphony concert at Beall has 20th century French composer Darius Milhaud’s jazzy Creation of the World and his Czech contemporary Zoltan Kodaly’s Hary Janos Suite. That evening’s Beall concert boasts another new UO ensemble, Ambrosia , playing works by UO and other contemporary composers. The festival closes with two top choices: Monday, Feb. 28 at Beall, the Convergence Ensemble sings 20th century music by the UO’s own Kyr, Benjamin Britten, John Taverner and more, while Tuesday’s Aasen- Hull concert features the UO’s own Beta Collide faculty ensemble playing music by Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lang , two world premieres by Korean composers, and more. Seattle-based traditional Scottish singer/ storyteller Rich Hill returns to the UO’s Collier House on Feb. 20 with the women’s Jessie Marquez Gaelic a cappella ensemble Kitchen Ceilidh . And on Feb. 17 at the EMU, there’s a free concert and art exhibit called Pueblo a Pueblo , featuring Argentine singer and classical guitarist Cecilia Zabala leading a musical tour of South America. Eugene chanteuse Jessie Marquez unveils Feb. 18 at the Shedd her breezy new CD, All I See is Sky, adding Brazilian grooves to her trademark Cuban-style music. Also at the Shedd on Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 24-27, singer Siri Vik and her trio perform theater songs by Kurt Weill and Bertholt Brecht. Todd Johnson plays haunting didjeridu music Feb. 27 at First United Methodist Church. The Feb. 17 offering by Eugene Symphony , perhaps the prime pick of its season, features the terrifi c UO faculty piano duo of Claire Wachter and Dean Kramer in the great piano concerto by Milhaud’s French colleague Francis Poulenc. Get to the Hult an hour early to enjoy some of ESO’s musicians performing Poulenc’s enchanting sonatas for fl ute, piano and clarinet. The symphony program includes Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov’s masterpiece, Scheherazade, based on the Arabian Nights tales. On Feb. 26, ESO accompanies the Eugene Concert Choir ’s performance of Mozart’s great Mass in C Minor. At Springfi eld’s Wildish Theater on Feb. 28, the excellent Chamber Music Amici performs a delectable program of trios by Dvorak and Beethoven. On Tuesday, Feb. 22, Cozmic Pizza hosts a double CD debut show with Portland singer/cellist Ashia Grzesik unveiling music from her new Eastern- European infl uenced EP Bison Rouge, with help from accordionist Todd Bayles and cellist/guitarist Skip von Kuske , who’ll also perform in his duo Groovy Wallpaper, featuring percussionist Don Henson from Sneakin’ Out. The Guinean drumming of Mounafanyi is at Cozmic Feb. 19. Portland-based MarchFourth Marching Band plays Feb. 18 at WOW Hall, with Medium Troy opening. Avant improv musician Daniel Heila unveils his old- timey songwriting project, Daniel Boone’s Fault, with the rootsy Low Tide Drifters Feb. 26 at Wandering Goat. ew WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM THIS AD SPACE ONE GREAT EVENING. ONE GREAT ORGANIZATION FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS. GREENLANE’S SECOND ANNIVERSARY EVENT WHEN: WHERE: COST: Wednesday, Feb. 23 6:00 – 8:00 PM Northwest Community Credit Union, 3660 Gateway Street, Springfield $10 per person includes entry, appetizers & drinks Keynote address by Joshua Skov, Chair of the Eugene Sustainability Commission & Principal of Good Company See the latest electric vehicle prototype from Arcimoto Browse educational displays from various GreenLane members Enter to win a hand-cranked blender from the The Green Store MUSIC BY PAUL PRINCE. FOOD AND DRINKS BY WILD DUCK CATERING, NINKASI BREWING AND KING ESTATE. See how Big Green Events works to make this a ZERO WASTE EVENT. You do not have to be a GreenLane member to attend! We welcome all business members of Lane County (and beyond) to come see what we are about! Add this event to your calendar today. Please make payment when you arrive at the event. available Space is limited. More details ar are e a avai vailab lable le at this website: www.greenlane-sbn.org. www.greenl nlane ane ne-sb -sb b n.o n .org .o rg. g Sustainable Business Network Sus WE ALSO LOAN MONEY. VISA CARDS AS LOW AS 6.25% APR www.nwcu.com / 800-452-9515 All loans are subject to approval; rate is in effect as of 1/1/2011. Rates quoted as Annual Percentage Rate (APR) and are based on good to excellent credit conditions. Some credit card products have a variable rate. Your rate may be higher. Federally insured by NCUA. EUGENE WEEKLY FEBRUARY 17, 2011 25
