MUSIC
BY BRETT CAMPBELL
NEW VOICES
A bevy of modern performers
bring the future of music to town
I
saw classical music’s future and its name is …
Roomful of Teeth? That takeoff on Jon Landau’s
famous 1974 encomium to a young Bruce Springsteen
might be a little over the top.
But then again, with nearly 30 million Americans
singing in choirs and a cappella music a genuine populist
phenomenon, an ensemble that combines the universal
human instrument — voices — with contemporary artistic
ambition might well be a key to bringing new listeners, as
well as new singers, to 21st-century classical composers,
and vice versa.
Based in Boston, Roomful of Teeth (RoT), which
performs this Sunday, Jan. 31, at the UO’s Aasen-Hull
Hall, has already won a Grammy and made one of its
members, composer Caroline Shaw, the youngest-ever
Pulitzer winner for her Partita for Eight Voices, written for
the group. Admittedly, some of the wild vocal techniques
the group has worked diligently to master are beyond the
reach of amateurs, and its eight members, including the
amazing soprano Esteli Gomez, who’s currently
completing a teaching residency at the UO, are spectacularly
talented singers.
But by dramatically expanding the musical palette for
contemporary composers and showing young singers the
seemingly limitless possibilities of the human voice, RoT
is opening an exciting new chapter in the music of this
century. The group’s UO concert will feature music from
its ravishing new album, Render, and more.
Some groundbreaking contemporary classical music is
being born here in Oregon, too, much of it among the
members of Cascadia Composers. This Saturday, Jan. 30,
at First Christian Church (1166 Oak St.), performers
including Eugene’s exciting new Delgani String Quartet,
pianist Alexander Schwarzkopf, singer Nancy Wood
and other accomplished musicians from Eugene and
Portland will perform new music by Eugene’s Paul Safar
and Schwarzkopf. Joining along are some of Portland’s top
composers, including opening act John Berendzen and
his “robohorn.” But this isn’t just a performance for the
ears. It’s a full multi-sensory extravaganza with projected
video art, live cymatics display, special lighting effects and
various other multimedia enhancements. In fact, some
performances will happen in the dark. It’s a great chance
BANJO WIZARDS
BELA FLECK AND
ABIGAIL WASHBURN
to catch up on the state of the art in homegrown modern
music created by our own fellow Oregonians.
Along with hosting RoT, the UO is also bringing
Seattle guitarist Michael Partington to Beall Hall this
Saturday, Jan. 30, to play music by Piazzolla, Albania,
Portland composer Bryan Johanson and more. On Feb. 6,
the UO’s Aasen-Hull Hall is hosting Beta Collide, the
new music ensemble led by UO faculty members Brian
McWhorter and Toby Koenigsberg, in crazy arrangements
of this year’s Grammy music nominees. UO students are
also producing one of the great Baroque operas, Gluck’s
Orfeo and Eurydice, the tragic Orpheus myth, Jan. 29 and
31, at LCC’s Ragozzino Hall. Earlier on Feb. 6, First
United Methodist Church (1376 Olive), brings Russian
pianist Andrei Andreev to play Romantic classics by
Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert and Rachmaninov.
A couple of fine Oregon jazz musicians come to town
Jan. 30 — though you can only catch one of them, as the
shows conflict. At the intimate Broadway House, Portland
ST
BE UG
of E 15
pianist-drummer-trumpeter-composer George Colligan,
who made a sterling reputation in New York jazz circles
before taking a faculty position at Portland State University,
returns with his trio to play originals and jazz standards.
Meanwhile, over at The Jazz Station, you can hear Oregon
sax master Tom Bergeron’s Brasil Band, augmented by
three guests: his old partner, New York jazz drummer Art
Lillard, pianist Dan Gaynor and trombonist Keller Coker,
along with singer Rosi Bergeron and bassist Page
Hundemer.
Another musical family, banjo masters Bela Fleck and
Abigail Washburn, perform duets on Feb. 10 at The
Shedd. Fleck’s incomparable skill, 15 Grammies and wide
range of musical explorations, along with Washburn’s
singing and songwriting — not to mention their debut
album’s varied styles (from Dixieland to bluegrass to
British folk to originals) and their profusion of different
sounding banjos — promise a show that’s more than just
pickin’ and grinnin’, although there’ll be plenty of both. ■
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eugeneweekly.com • January 28, 2016
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