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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2018)
MUSIC BY BRETT CAMPBELL LOOKING AHEAD TO BACH Imani Winds have been celebrating difference for two decades A t a composers panel discussion at last summer’s Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW) festival in Portland, Imani Winds hornist Jeff Scott noted that the wind quintet’s values arise in part from its music. Unlike a string quartet, “a wind ensemble is celebrat- ing the differences among instruments, rather than the ho- mophony of string or sax quartets,” he pointed out. “Chamber music," Scott adds, "more than orchestral music, allows the individuality of the musicians to shine through to audiences because there’s no conductor inter- mediary. The musicians are allowed to establish their own individuality and tradition.” Since its founding in 1997, Imani Winds have been cel- ebrating differences and creating new traditions. The New York-based group is not only the world’s leading wind quintet, but also one of classical music’s too-few ensem- bles composed of musicians of color. Moreover, unlike most performing ensembles, Imani boasts two first-rate composers, Scott and flutist Valerie Coleman, who both write some of the most fascinating chamber music being created today. Imani Winds returns to Eugene June 30 in an Oregon Bach Festival concert, then heads up to Portland for this summer’s CMNW, where last year they succeeded the storied, older, all- white, all-male Emerson Quartet as artists in residence. They also performed a recent weeklong spring CMNW residency, including performances at Oregon Museum of Science and Industry planetarium, Hillsboro’s Walters Cul- tural Arts Center and with BodyVox dance company. “We’ve been coming to Oregon every two or three years for 15 years,” Scott recalls. “The audiences have been so nice to us,” says oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz. “It’s hard to think of nicer audiences than in Portland and Eugene.” The feeling is mutual. Imani has cultivated a substan- tial, diverse and enthusiastic audience. Their skill as musi- cians plays the biggest role, of course — they’re among the finest of all chamber performers. But their genuinely en- JUNE 22-28 6/22 - 6/28 NO PASSES OR DISCOUNTS 1:45 FRI SAT-SUN 11:30 1:45 1:45 MON-WED 1:45 THU 6/28 MOVIES THAT bijou-cinemas.com MATTER Serving the Eugene Community for Over 35 Years! THE SEAGULL (PG-13) At a picturesque lakeside estate, a love triangle unfolds between the diva Irina, her lover Boris, and the ingenue Nina. Based on the play by Anton Chekhov. 2:00 3:45 2:00 3:45 2:00 3:45 HEREDITARY 2:15 FRI SAT-SUN 11:30 2:15 2:15 MON-WED 2:15 THU 6/28 ISLE OF DOGS RBG (PG) An intimate portrait of an unlikely rock star: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. With unprecedented access, the fi lmmakers explore how her early legal battles changed the world for women. Fri - Wed 1:15, 3:30, 5:45 • Thurs 1:15, 8:00 FIRST REFORMED (R) 5:30 5:30 5:30 5:30 7:20 7:20 7:20 7:40 9:30 9:30 9:30 9:50 762-1700 | 180 E. 5TH AVE DAVIDMINORTHEATER.COM $3 TUESDAYS JUNE 22ND - JUNE 28TH Including Vegetarian Seafood, Meat Substitutes & Snacks Asian Groceries READY PLAYER ONE 5:00 THE SHAPE OF WATER 5:10 DEATH OF STALIN 7:20 Seaweed, rice, noodles, frozen products, deli, snacks, drinks, sauces, spices, produce, housewares, and more. Sushi & Asian deli take-out Woodfi eld Station SHOPPING CENTER NO PASSES OR DISCOUNTS 7:30 WED WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? 29TH AVENUE SNEAK PREVIEWS – NO PASSES OR DISCOUNTS THU 6/28 7:20 9:05 METROarts: SCREENDANCE: BEST OF THE NORTHWEST PREMIUM EVENT ADMISSION 11:00 SAT THU 6/28 7:00 OAK STREET 43 W. BROADWAY (541) 686-2458 REGULAR ADMISSION $9 ADULTS $8 STUDENTS $6 SENIORS $6 BEFORE 5 PM OPEN EVERY DAY Now Featuring Middle Eastern Food & Vegetarian Items 7:40 10:15 10:15 5:00 7:40 9:30 5:00 7:40 9:30 5:00 7:40 9:30 5:00 9:30 Asian Food Market WILLAMETTE STREET ADULT $8 | STUDENT $7 | SENIOR 62+ $6 CHILD age 12 & under $6 9:30 9:30 9:30 9:40 STUDENT & SENIOR DISCOUNT 5:00 12:15 5:00 5:00 STRAIGHT INTO A STORM: 10 YEARS OF DEER TICK Fri - Wed 8:00pm • Thurs 3:30 pm TICKET PRICES: MATINEE before 5pm $6 7:00 7:00 7:00 7:30 HELD OVER FRI-SAT SUN MON-THU A pastor of a small church in upstate New York spirals out of control after a soul-shaking encounter with an unstable environmental activist and his pregnant wife. Written & Directed by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) and starring Ethan Hawke. Thursday 6:00 pm Imani Winds performs 7:30 pm Saturday, June 30, at the University of Oregon’s Beall Concert Hall. Tickets at oregonbachfestival.com. MOUNTAIN HELD OVER FRI-TUE WED THU 6/28 1:30, 3:45, 6:00, 8:15 Ashley Bell and a team of elephant rescuers led by Asian elephant conservationist Lek Chailert embark on a daring 48-hour mission across Thailand to rescue a 70-year old captive Asian elephant and lead it to freedom. 4:20 4:20 4:20 4:20 HEARTS BEAT LOUD NO PASSES OR DISCOUNTS 2:40 FRI SAT-SUN 11:30 2:40 2:40 MON-WED 2:40 THU 6/28 ta and Tzigane, which shares a name, Roma influences and danceable dazzle with Ravel’s virtuoso showpiece. Reena Esmail’s incandescent The Light Is the Same, based on the Sufi poetry of Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, uses Indian scales and rhythmic devices. It emerged from the group’s Legacy Commissioning Project, which has spawned 20 new works so far. “That’s what Imani Winds is most proud of,” Spell- man-Diaz says, “expanding the repertoire by adding new sounds. We’re constantly listening to new composers, try- ing to think of ideas to link your program together and make a theme that inspires the audience and the performers to feel like you’re in a special space.” Imani has worked with jazz musicians like Jason Mo- ran, Wayne Shorter and Edward Simon, world music per- formers like Simon Shaheen and Paquito d’ Rivera, and many other non-“classical” composers. “With so much Bach and Beethoven, you’re only going to get a certain demographic over the long haul,” Scott ex- plains. “You have to do things that are interesting enough for a wider variety of folks.” Imani’s diverse, enthusiastic audiences, too, celebrate the differences. TIX $5 SUNDAYS $7 $3 TUESDAYS AMERICAN ANIMALS 492 E. 13th Ave 541-357-0375 LOVE & BANANAS: AN ELEPHANT STORY (NR) thusiastic, refreshingly un-canned stage charisma, as well as their audience-conscious programming, also encourage broader listenership than most classical-music concerts’ traditionally narrow demographic. “Just by who we are, we look a little bit different than most classical music ensembles, so that automatically makes people think we’re going to be a little different from what you’re expecting in a classical music concert,” Spell- man-Diaz explains. “But we also spend a lot of time programming gratify- ing listening for everyone," he adds. "So we try to have at least one classical work on the program, and then we might combine that with some world music and some jazz based repertoire.” Case in point: Their Bach Festival concert includes an in- ventive arrangement of movements from a popular classic, Rimsky-Korsakov’s luscious Scheherezade. They’ve also Imanified Gustav Holst’s The Planets and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, and have a lively arrangement of 20th-cen- tury Argentine nuevo tango master Astor Piazzolla’s Con- trabajissimo as well as a spirited romp through avant garde composer George Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles. Best of all, the show features two lively originals by Coleman (who’s on temporary leave, replaced by Julietta Curenton), Red Clay And Mississippi Del- Sunrise A QUIET PLACE 7:30 TULLY 9:05 MOONRISE KINGDOM 9:15 www.sunriseasianfood.com M-Th 9am-7pm•F 9am-8pm•Sa 9am-7pm•Su 10am-6pm 70 W. 29th Ave. Eugene • 541-343-3295 eugeneweekly.com • June 21, 2018 21
