Bravo!
VERY LITTLE THEATRE
E W ’ S G U I D E TO T H E P E R F O R M I N G A R T S
PARADE
87 th SEASON!
AUDITIONS
The Very Little Theatre
presents
Harper Lee's
Book & Lyrics by Eric Idle
Music by John Du Prez
OF PORTLANDERS
Sunday, Jan. 31 • 2 pm
Monday, Feb. 1 • 6 pm
Rose City performers descend on Eugene
Dramatized by Christopher Sergel
Directed by Stanley Coleman
2350 Hilyard St.
O
nce upon a time, it seemed as though music, like the Willamette, flowed mainly
to the north: Eugene bands worked hard to play Portland, but the favor wasn’t
always returned, especially in the classical and jazz arenas. More and more,
though, we’re seeing Portland performers recognizing the value of the Eugene
market and, accordingly, this winter and spring brings a parade of Portlanders
here to perform additional, even exclusive concerts.
On Jan. 23, seven of Portland’s finest singers (drawn from its top choirs) and Baroque
musicians (including members of the city’s Musica Maestrale period instrument ensemble)
arrive at Central Lutheran Church when The Ensemble performs the music from one of
the first and greatest of all English operas. Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas recounts the
tragic relationship between the Carthaginian queen and the hero of the Trojan War. They’ll
also perform music from a slightly earlier English Baroque opera, John Blow’s Venus and
Adonis.
Roles for men and women ages
20s–60s. Prepare a song; piano
accompanist provided. No a cap-
pella or digital auditions. Show
opens May 20, runs 3 weekends.
Questions? Contact director
Chris Pinto at lkpinto@aol.com
More details at VLT website:
www.TheVLT.com
January 15-30
SOLD OUT!
Thank You!
Watch for our next production,
The Quality of Life,
opening March 11.
541-344-7751
THE ENSEMBLE
That same night, Portland Cello Project (PCP) comes to Hi-Fi Music Hall to play its
ever-changing mix of pop, hip hop, rock and classical covers on a flock of celli.
If Portland Cello Project plays rock music on “classical” instruments, Amplified
Repertory Chamber Orchestra of Portland (ARCO) does the converse, performing
classical music in rock clubs and with rock attitude. The band’s Feb. 13 WOW Hall
program sounds traditional — Bach, Beethoven, Brahms — but what makes ARCO
special is its decidedly non-traditional colorful stage lighting, tasteful amplification,
informal atmosphere (which includes quaffing a beer or two while you watch), memorized
performances (which means real attention to expression and audience connection rather
than hiding behind music stands and just getting the notes right) as well as uninhibited,
emotionally expressive performances. They play the music as accurately as any of their
local classical peers, but with way more fun and excitement. And they’ll also play new
music by ARCO violinist Mike Hsu.
ARCO-PDX and PCP are leading contributors to Portland’s burgeoning indie-classical
music scene, in which the composers and musicians themselves, rather than big institutions
like the Oregon Symphony or presenters like Chamber Music Northwest, are blazing new
trails, especially in homegrown and new contemporary classical music. Another is
Cascadia Composers, the organization of Northwest composers that sponsors eight or so
concerts each year exclusively featuring the music of its members, who also include
accomplished Eugene composers like Paul Safar and Mark Vigil.
On Jan. 30, Cascadia returns for its second Eugene performance that not even
Portlanders will get to hear. Its multisensory Perceptions of Sound enhances the original
music (by Eugeneans Safar and Alexander Schwarzkopf and top Portland composers
like Susan Alexander, Jeff Winslow, Lisa Ann Marsh and more) with special lighting
effects, immersive visual displays, mobile musicians, video art, live cymatics and more.
Musicians from both Eugene (including Delgani String Quartet) and Portland sing and
play percussion, strings, synthesizer, winds, amplified harpsichord and “Robohorn,”
which you’ll just have to experience.
Portland jazzers also venture south more often these days, thanks to The Jazz Station
and other venues such as the intimate Broadway House concert series, whose Jan. 30
installment features the superb Portland pianist-organist-drummer-trumpeter George
Colligan and his trio, for their third appearance. Colligan also performs with Eugene’s Joe
Manis, and creative collaborations like theirs, Cascadia Composers and more are what’s
really exciting about the increasing Eugene-Portland musical connection: not just bringing
music fans in each city music from the other, but also cross-fertilizing, and thereby
enriching, the music of both. — Brett Campbell
eugeneweekly.com • January 21, 2016
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