music
The Show Must Go On, Eventually
THE SHEDD INSTITUTE MEETS CALAMITY WITH COMMUNITY
By Alexis Reid
E
ugene’s Shedd Institute for the Arts was
riding the wave of one of its best years
ever when Gov. Kate Brown banned public
gatherings in March.
“Through May 30, we had 19 of our own
concerts/events, 13 rental events and a
400-plus students-per-week music school
all going great guns when, whap! Nothing,” Jim Ralph says.
The Shedd’s co-founders Jim and Ginevra Ralph saw
the nonprofit organization lose all three of those major
income streams. They laid off 30 members of their produc-
tion team. Tack on a multi-million dollar remodel project
and a significant drop off in donations, and they’ve hit a
perfect storm.
Performing arts has been one of the industries hardest
hit by social-distancing and stay-at-home orders during
the pandemic. Even with the spring’s gradual reopen-
ing detailed in Brown’s three-phase plan, theaters and
concert halls will likely be the last to open their doors.
Nevertheless, the Ralphs are mostly business as usual,
preparing to hit the ground running when it’s safe to
bring the music back.
They’ve managed to keep a core staff to maintain the
daily business of finances and planning, and more than 60
students have adjusted to online lessons with about half
of the instructors teaching remotely from home — cats
on pianos welcome.
The Shedd’s music school has been the recent focus of
a massive facelift for the 94-year-old building, a former
Baptist church. In April, I got a chance to tour the freshly
carpeted halls, the first interview I’ve done wearing a face
mask. What was once awkward, unusable space with a
$230,000 asbestos problem is now functional elegance.
“Our whole strategy with this is to make the building
more accessible, more welcoming, more energy-efficient,
more staff efficient and safer,” Ginevra Ralph says.
Simple soundproof rooms with heavy wooden doors
stand ready to take on the trumpets and guitars of
Eugene. For now, the only music that can be heard is a
grainy top 40 radio station from the construction crew.
“Ideally, we’ll have enough to do the roof this summer,
because you’ve got to do it. Otherwise, you just wreck all
the stuff you just did. My snag is cash flow for capital right
now,” Ginevra Ralph says.
The Shedd’s current remodeling stage with Chambers
Construction will run out at the end of May. Then it will
be time to reassess further stages. Upon completion,
and with recent cost increases due to the current crisis,
the remodel is on target to exceed the original estimated
$16 million in total costs. The Shedd has currently raised
$10 million, but uncertainties remain.
Financial insecurities aside, the Ralphs are doing
their best to maintain a connection with the community.
Ginevra Ralph, along with the Shedd Loop Committee, is
continuing her initiative on Loop technology, providing
personal loop loaners with support from Lane Community
Cultural Coalition to make music accessible to the hearing
impaired. The Shedd is also working on an old-timey
newsletter featuring artist profiles and the underbelly
secrets of making a musical. Ginevra Ralph has even baked
cookies for loyal donors desperate to hear the music again.
Local artists are a particular concern for the Ralphs.
“These people wake up in the morning, and they make
their living by serving the community — there are far
fewer supports for people who are on their own. You
can contribute to the organization but not the artists
themselves,“ Jim Ralph says.
Magical Moombah maestro Tom Wilson lost all five
of his jobs in the shutdown, which has left him plenty
of time to prepare for at least the next two shows. The
Moombah, The Shedd’s musical vaudeville for kids, is a
quarterly event that allows some flexibility in reschedul-
ing. As of now, the summer show is still on, but will likely
get bumped to a later date. Wilson, who is set to play
Capt. Hook in The Shedd’s still-scheduled September
production of Peter Pan, is eager to get back at it. No one
is quite ready to go to virtual performances.
“An online show wouldn’t have nearly the flavor; none of
us are really excited about that. Being in the room where it
happens, not to quote Hamilton, if you’re not there, then
it’s just not the same,” Wilson says.
Shirley Andress, one of The Shedd’s long time artistic
directors, is busy working from her Creswell home on
next spring’s Doris Day-themed Jazz Kings concert, as
well as The Shedd’s annual Christmas show, a hopeful
exclamation point on a dismal 2020.
“I’m so thankful for the work and for my conversa-
tions with The Shedd. That has given me something to
do besides cleaning out my cupboards,” Andress says.
Andress, along with Shedd friends Storm Kennedy, Siri
Vik and Lyn Burg, found a way to stay connected through
the shutdown by parking their cars, six feet apart, in the
empty parking lot at Valley River Center. At Burg’s sugges-
tion, the group turned their communal social distancing
into a dance party around their respective car trunks.
As for formal productions, almost all of The Shedd’s
productions through the end of summer are postponed,
including its biggest draw, The Oregon Festival of Ameri-
can Music.
While uncertainty surrounds, The Shedd seems pre-
pared to weather the storm for as long as it takes. Capac-
ity limitations might require some creative adjustments,
arranging chairs six feet apart from one another, splitting
audiences into multiple shows. The Shedd is ready for
anything.
“Whether it’s the Hult Center, or the Axe and Fiddle,
or Sam Bond’s Garage, churches, bars, we all get together
and share our lives together, and we’re going to find a
way that we can continue to do that,” Jim Ralph says. ■
See more information about The Shedd Institute and its season at
TheShedd.org.
Social Distance Swing
ELECTRO-SWING ENSEMBLE HIGH STEP SOCIETY RELEASES NEW EP
By Will Kennedy
B
efore heading into the studio to record
their latest EP, Perception, Eugene electro-
swing ensemble High Step Society was
emerging from a difficult transition in per-
sonnel, says bandleader Ethan Rainwater,
despite winning Eugene Weekly’s Best of
Eugene Best Band category just last year.
High Step Society brought in singer Betty Jaeger —
one of Eugene’s best voices. Jaeger is also known for her
own work with groups like Baroque Betty, among many
others. “She really stepped up,” Rainwater says.
With a new singer in place, High Step was finally ready
to record its new EP. Out now, Perception is the popular
live band’s third studio release, and the first for Austin
record label Gravitas Recordings.
Popular in Europe and increasingly in the U.S., electro-
swing blends traditional jazz and swing with house music,
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EDM and hip hop — like 1920s-era, dance-all-night hot
jazz meeting the synthetic pulse of an Ibiza nightclub.
This may seem like a contradiction, but with High
Step tracks like “Perception,” it starts making sense, as
the two styles gel and induce a kind of fevered reverie.
The COVID-19 lockdown has offered few options for
an EP-release celebration, so instead, High Step live-
streamed a show from the Whiteaker Firehouse, an
ever-evolving artist grotto in Eugene, where portions
of the EP were also recorded.
Although the show was a ton of work, “the end product
was top notch,” Rainwater says. “We were all so excited to
do a show after being holed up in our separate quarantines.
It was a big release.”
Rainwater says the future looks bright for High Step
Society. The band is already working on new material.
“We've been incredibly productive during this time,”
Rainwater says, while also fielding offers for more live
streaming.
“Stay tuned,” Rainwater says. ■
Perception is available to stream on all major music streaming
services. High Step Society’s EP release live stream is archived on the
band’s YouTube channel.
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M