The Arts Archives - Page 4 of 5

Oregon’s poet laureate to speak at SOU Friends of Hannon Library event

April 17, 2019/in Press Releases, The Arts

(Ashland, Ore.) — Kim Stafford, Oregon’s poet laureate, will read and discuss his work in an SOU presentation on Thursday, April 18, that is part of the Friends of Hannon Library Speaker Series for the 2018-19 academic year.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 4 p.m. in the library’s Meese Room (#305).

Stafford is an associate professor at Portland’s Lewis & Clark College, and is founding director of the school’s Northwest Writing Institute. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown appointed him last May to a two-year term as Oregon’s ninth poet laureate – “an ambassador of poetry across the state.”

His father, William Stafford, served as Oregon’s fourth poet laureate from 1975 to 1990.

Kim Stafford grew up on Oregon, Iowa, Indiana, California and Alaska as his parents taught in various locations. He received his doctorate in medieval literature from the University of Oregon and has been a member of the Lewis & Clark faculty since 1979.

Stafford has wrtten a dozen books of poetry and prose. His most recent book, “100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do,” examines his brother’s death by suicide and his family’s struggle to cope with and live beyond the tragedy.

Stafford’s 1986 book, “Having Everything Right,” won a Western States Book Awards citation. His work has also been recognized with creative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Governor’s Arts Award contributing to Oregon’s literary culture.

Friends of Hannon Library was established in 1974 by a group of SOU librarians, faculty members and interested citizens to raise money and enrich the library’s collections. The organization sponsors a lecture series each year – this year bringing a total of six speakers to campus for talks on a variety of literary topics.

Those who are visiting campus to attend Thursday’s event can park free in any SOU lot by entering the special code FHL1903 in the lot’s parking meter.

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Ashland, SOU mark 50 years of Guanajuato “sister” relationships

March 26, 2019/in Press Releases, The Arts

(Ashland, Ore.) — Delegations from Guanajuato, Mexico, and the Universidad de Guanajuato will visit Ashland and Southern Oregon University in April to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of their sister city and sister university relationships.

The celebration will include a formal renewal of the partnerships between the cities and universities, and is seen as an opportunity to recommit to the ideals that inspired the relationships in 1969.

“I hope each of us will see this 50-year anniversary as a waypoint at which we can pause, reassess and re-energize before continuing our journey together,” SOU President Linda Schott said in a statement to celebration participants. “Let’s contemplate the future, how our partnership relates to our changing world and what steps we should consider to keep our efforts fresh and relevant.”

On the university side, the multi-day celebration will be highlighted by an invitation-only reception and “gala concert” at the SOU Music Recital Hall on the evening of Tuesday, April 9. The concert will feature four new commissioned works from faculty at Oregon Center for the Arts at SOU, along with a composition by Javier Gonzalez Compean from Guanajuato.

Other university events involving the delegation from Guanajuato include breakfast, ceremonial re-signing of the sister university memorandum of understanding and an SOU campus tour on Monday, April 8. Universidad de Guanajuato Rector Luis Felipe Guerrero Agripino, who has a particular interest in crime prevention, will meet with faculty from SOU’s psychology and criminology departments.

Activities on Wednesday, April 10, include professional development opportunities for SOU faculty and members of the Guanajuato delegation, on the topics of transforming teaching and becoming universities for the future. There will also be an event at the International Peace Flame at SOU’s Thalden Pavilion.

The cooperative link between the two cities and the two universities is unique. Guanajuato is closer in size to Eugene than to Ashland, and Universidad de Guanajuato – which is larger than any university in Oregon – has sister university relationships with more than 300 other institutions worldwide.

But the Ashland-Guanajuato relationships – between both the cities and universities – were the first for each entity. More than 1,000 students, faculty members and others have participated in exchange programs and some families have been involved for three generations. More than 80 marriages have united partners from Ashland and Guanajuato.

In addition to the university activities, Guanajuato business, city government and community representatives will have the opportunity to explore and experience various elements and amenities of Ashland. Delegates from the Mexican city will see a performance of “Hairspray” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and will celebrate the relationship with breakfasts, lunches and dinners hosted by churches, local organizations and service clubs.

The Ashland Chamber & Travel Ashland is sponsoring events at venues including the Ashland Art Center, ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum, Thalden Pavilion, Brickroom, Irvine & Roberts Vineyards and Mt. Ashland. The events will showcase Ashland’s economy and amenities, and some of the themes that unite Ashland and Guanajuato.

The City of Ashland has planned specific events and tours for Guanajuato’s official city delegation. The Amigo Club, a key partner in the friendship, is coordinating volunteer host families and has a large role in planning for the visit.

“Whenever I consider the sister city relationship between Ashland and Guanajuato, it warms my heart to think of all the friendships that have been built over the years,” said Sandra Slattery, executive director of the Ashland Chamber of Commerce. “Of course, the educational student exchange was the cornerstone for the creation of the relationship, but it truly expanded through the 50 years with the ‘people-to-people’ connections that were formed … even marriages!

“It’s been an honor, as the Chamber, to be coordinating and facilitating the steering committee for the celebration welcoming over 50 Guanajuato citizens to Ashland. May we welcome them with open arms as we work for future strengthened relationships and new partnerships to create peace and friendship in our world.”

Delegations from the city of Ashland and SOU will also participate in 50^th anniversary festivities in Guanajuato from May 27 to 31.

The celebration will stretch into the summer as Ashland observes the anniversary as the theme for its 4th of July parade.

Individuals, businesses and organizations who have worked together on the celebration include the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, City of Ashland, Southern Oregon University, Amigo Club of Ashland, Ashland Art Center, Ashland Culture of Peace Commission, Ashland Fire & Rescue, Ashland Parks & Recreation, Ashland Police Department, Ashland School District, Ashland Springs Hotel, Barbara Tricarico, Brickroom, El Tapatio, Gathering Glass Studio, Grizzly Peak Winery, host families, Irvine & Roberts Vineyards, Karen & Allen Drescher, La Clinica, Lloyd M. Haines, Martolli’s Restaurant, Mt. Ashland, Oregon Center for the Arts at SOU, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Our Lady of the Mountain Catholic Church, Platt Anderson Cellars, Rogue Valley Peace Choir, Rogue Valley Roasting Co., Rotary Clubs of Ashland, ScienceWorks Hands-on Museum, Southern Oregon Printing, Temple Emek Shalom, Travel Ashland and Weisinger Family Winery.

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Saturday concert to benefit music scholarships

February 22, 2019/in The Arts

The annual Joyce Stevens Benefit Recital, which raises money for music scholarships, will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Southern Oregon University’s Music Recital Hall.

Anthony Bock, music scholarship recipient

The concert will feature a program of classical favorites, performed by a variety of musicians: SOU faculty members Alexander Tutunov, Christine Eggert and Madeline Abel-Kerns; SOU students Anthony Bock and Dea Kiss, who are recent recipients of the Joyce Stevens Scholarship; and piano teachers Pat Daly of Phoenix, Michele Alspach of Ashland and Joyce Stevens of Jacksonville.

The program will include music by Bach, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Poulenc and Scott Joplin.

Admission to the concert will be by donation to the fund for music scholarships, which is named for Stevens in honor of her lifelong contribution to the arts in Oregon and beyond. She is a nationally certified piano teacher.

The concert is sponsored by the SOU Music Program and presented by the Rogue Valley Chapter of the Oregon Music Teachers Association.

The OMTA – a professional organization of music educators made up of private studio teachers and college music faculty across Oregon – is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and all donations to it are tax deductible.

More information is available from Margie Daly of the OMTA at (541) 535-2089.

SOU unveils theater, JPR facilities with public celebration

November 9, 2018/in Press Releases, The Arts

(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University will dedicate its expanded and renovated Theater Building, and new Jefferson Public Radio Broadcast Center, in a daylong celebration on Saturday. The public is encouraged to participate in the festivities.

The event will begin with a dedication ceremony at 11 a.m., followed by an open house, tours, complimentary entertainment and refreshments beginning at 11:30 a.m. A full day of theatre performances is also planned, with productions of “Small Mouth Sounds” in the Black Box Theater at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and “Into the Woods” in the Main Stage Theater at 8 p.m.

Tickets to the theater performances are limited, so those planning to attend any of the shows should call the SOU Box Office to purchase tickets 541-552-6348, or by email at boxoffice@sou.edu.

Planning for the expansion and renovation project – which added about 60,000 square feet to SOU’s Theater Building – began about 10 years ago, and construction wrapped up this week with the installation of public art in the facility’s outdoor courtyard.

The project added facilities for the university’s Theatre Department that include a new costume shop, control booths, acting studios, movement studio, theater design studio, lighting lab, administrative and theater offices, green room and backstage restrooms. The JPR studios and offices account for 7,000 square feet of the overall project.

The total cost was about $12.75 million, which includes $2.75 million for JPR annex. Construction bonds approved by the Oregon Legislature provided $11.5 million in funding, and JPR donors contributed another $1.25 million.

Entertainment during Saturday’s open house celebration will be provided by the Danielle Kelly Jazz Project, and refreshments will be available from the Peruvian Point Restaurant, Rogue Creamery, Ashland Food Co-op, Troon, Weisinger Winery, Kriselle Cellars and Simple Machine Winery.

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“Into the Woods” to be featured on the Main Stage at SOU

November 6, 2018/in The Arts

“Into the Woods,” a musical about classic fairy tale characters and their lives after the stories, will be performed beginning this week on the Main Stage Theater at Southern Oregon University.

Based on the book by James Lapine, “Into the Woods” is a compilation of fractured fairy tales and is set to Stephen Sondheim’s music and lyrics. The show is just under three hours, including a 15-minute intermission.

Admission to “Into the Woods” is $5 for full-time students of any school. Students must purchase their tickets in person and show appropriate ID. General admission is $20, and $15 for seniors. The minimum age recommended for those attending the show is 8 years old.

Tickets can also be purchased online, by calling 541-552-6348, or by stopping at the OCA Box Office. The Box Office is open Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m.

“Into the Woods” will be performed at 8 p.m. Nov. 8 through 10 and Nov. 15 through 17. The musical will also be performed at 2 p.m. on Nov. 17 and 18.

Paul Barnes, an Ashland theatre veteran, is directing the musical masterpiece. Barnes was a founder of the Oregon Cabaret Theater and was education director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has also taught at college and university theatre programs, including at the University of Oklahoma’s Helemerich School of Drama and the University of San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre.

His most recent assignment for SOU’s Theatre Department was Our Town, in 2013.

Parking on the evenings of the “Into the Woods” performances will be free in the university lot on South Mountain Avenue and Henry Street. Contact the Oregon Center for the Arts at SOU Box Office with any questions, at (541) 552-6348.

Story by Bryn Mosier, SOU Marketing and Communications intern

Patrick Collier, visiting artist at SOU’s Schneider Museum of Art

November 2, 2018/in The Arts

Multidisciplinary artist Patrick Collier will give a visiting artist lecture from 12:30 to 1:20 p.m. on Nov. 7 in the SOU Art Building’s Meese Auditorium. He will also exhibit a selection of recent digital prints in the Schneider Museum of Art.

Collier’s current exhibition, “Field Burns,” shows both the power and beauty of the controlled burning of grass seed fields in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Collier moved in 2003 from Chicago to the Willamette Valley, where he farms and works on his art.

“Field Burns” will be on display in the Schneider Main Gallery until Jan. 5. The landscapes provide viewers an opportunity to reflect on various regional agricultural and artistic issues, and to be inspired by the beauty of Collier’s compositions.

Another exhibition, “Outland About,” will be on display in the Schneider Museum’s Heiter and Treehaven galleries until Jan 5. It features the work of Carl Diehl and Susan Murrell, and is curated by Collier.

Collier has shown his art in several prestigious venues, including the Beret International Gallery in Chicago, the Walker’s Point Center for the Arts in Milwaukee and the Nine Gallery in Portland. He has presented frequently in Portland and Corvallis, but is best known for regionally for his critical writing in the online journal Oregon ArtsWatch.

He works in many disciplines, including photography, poetry, drawing, video, sculpture and installation. Collier’s artistic career has spanned nearly 25 years.

Collier has degrees in philosophy, literature and art. He studies at the University of Illinois in Chicago and Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

Story by Bryn Mosier, SOU Marketing and Communications intern

Piano master Jerome Rose to perform in SOU’s Tutunov Series

October 31, 2018/in The Arts

SOU’s Tutunov Piano Series will host a master of the piano on Friday, Nov. 2, when Jerome Rose – who has been hailed as “the last romantic of our own age” – graces the Music Recital Hall stage.

Rose will perform selections from Beethoven, Liszt and Chopin in a performance of about 90 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission.

He is one of America’s most distinguished pianists, having played in major concert halls across five continents and studied under the late Austrian-American pianist Adolph Baller. Rose is a frequent performer at the Toho Conservatory of Music in Tokyo, Japan.

Admission to the SOU performance is free for full-time students of any school. Tickets are $20 regularly, and $5 for Oregon Trail Card Holders. Students and Oregon Trail Card Holders must purchase their tickets in person and show appropriate ID.

Tickets can also be purchased online at oca.sou.edu/box-office, by calling (541) 552-6348, or by stopping at the OCA Box Office. The Box Office is open Monday through Friday, noon to five. Visa and Mastercard are accepted.

Rose had his debut with the San Francisco Symphony at age 15 and began teaching when he was 25. He is a graduate of Mannes College and Juilliard School of Music, and is currently on the faculty of Mannes College of Music.

Rose also founded the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in 1999. The summer music academy at New York’s Hunter College attracts some of the world’s top piano students and is staffed by world-class piano faculty and performing artists. The festival hosts the Dorothy Mackenzie Piano Competition, with winners awarded international performing and recording opportunities.

Parking on the evening of the SOU performance will be free in the university lot on South Mountain Avenue and Henry Street. Contact the Oregon Center for the Arts at SOU Box Office with any questions, at (541) 552-6348 or oca.sou.edu/box-office.

Story by Bryn Mosier, SOU Marketing and Communications intern

SOU’s Left Edge Percussion presents world premiere of Tower Music

October 26, 2018/in The Arts

Terry Longshore will lead SOU’s Left Edge Percussion in the premiere of New York composer Joseph Bertolozzi’s percussion arrangement of “Tower Music.” The work features 82 percussion instruments played by five performers, and will premiere Nov. 8 at the university’s Music Recital Hall.

Left Edge Percussion is a contemporary percussion group in residence at SOU’s Oregon Center for the Arts.

The idea behind “Tower Music” grew out of Bertolozzi’s “Bronze Collection” project for solo percussion. He reasoned that everything vibrates and drummers like to bang on things, so why not play the Eiffel Tower?

Never thinking he would get permission to drum on the iconic French tower but liking the concept, Bertolozzi first sought approval from the New York State Bridge Authority to create another piece, “Bridge Music,” on the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

“I didn’t think I’d get permission for that either, but at least I didn’t have to learn French just to ask,” he said.

“Bridge Music” is now in its 9th year as a public sound art installation.

Using “Bridge Music” as a proof of concept, Bertolozzi approached the French government (six times) and eventually received permission to “sample” (record) the Eiffel Tower’s surfaces. He and his team of audio and video engineers sampled over 10,000 sounds of the Eiffel Tower, then narrowed those down to about 2,800 “usable” sounds. He next constructed scales and “instrument sets” out of those raw recordings.

Seven years of planning, fundraising and sweat later, “Tower Music” became a reality. It reached No. 11 and No. 16, respectively, on the iTunes Classical and Billboard Classical Crossover charts.

The score for “Tower Music” on the Eiffel Tower itself is written out in standard notation so it can be performed live by 100 percussionists. A possible live performance directly on the Eiffel Tower is currently in development for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but is far from certain.

Meanwhile, Bertolozzi’s new arrangement makes it possible for a percussion 5tet to reproduce the music – for instance, with cymbals standing in for fence crashes, bass drums for booms on the Tower legs with a log and glockenspiel for pings on a pipe.

“This arrangement is important to me, as it will bring live performances of the work into the concert hall, since live performance on the Eiffel Tower itself will be an extremely rare (if ever) event,” Bertolozzi said. “It gives longevity and presence to the music by allowing live audiences to enjoy live performances in an authentic, composer-created arrangement.”

Bertolozzi, joined by SOU’s Longshore and Left Edge Percussion, will also give a free talk about “Tower Music” from 12:30 to 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6, , in the Music Recital Hall.

Longshore and Left Edge Percussion tours and performs throughout the Northwest and actively collaborates on innovative projects with composers and artists of various media. Members of the group have been featured around the globe at prestigious festivals, competitions, conferences and workshops.

Murder at the Cafe Noir: An audience-participation whodunnit from OLLI

October 5, 2018/in The Arts

Members, instructors and community supporters of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at SOU are invited to three audience-participation performances next month of the comedy, “Murder at the Café Noir.” All proceeds of the events will support OLLI’s Campbell Center Renovation Fund.

The dinner play will be performed by the OLLI Improv Players from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 2 and 3, and from 1 to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4. All performances will be in the Diversions Room on the bottom floor of SOU’s Stevenson Union.

Tickets are $55 per person and include appetizers, wine, dinner and entertainment. The meal includes vegetarian and non-vegetarian options.

Reservations may be made online before the deadline of Friday, Oct. 26. A check payable to OLLI must be received within one week of reservations to confirm seats.

Seating will be limited to 70 audience members per performance – seven people at each of 10 tables. Seating preferences will be accommodated when possible.

OLLI at SOU offers a variety of peer-taught, non-credit classes to almost 1,900 members at locations in Ashland and Medford. Membership is open to adults of any age, but the program is geared toward those who are 50-plus. More information is available on the OLLI website.

Flamenco Pacifico One World Performance Oct. 14 at SOU

September 27, 2018/in The Arts

JPR and the Oregon Center for the Arts at SOU will present Flamenco Pacifico at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 14, at the SOU Music Recital Hall.

The performance will offer an unforgettable journey into the fascinating world of flamenco. It will feature flamenco guitarist and composer Berto Boyd, guitarist Grant Ruiz and percussionist Terry Longshore with dance performances by Elena Villa and Melissa Cruz.

Flamenco Pacifico is a dynamic, professional performance group dedicated to bringing the art of flamenco music and dance to audiences in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The group seeks to present flamenco as a cultural event and an art form that invites creative innovation.

“The compositions take you into serene and moving musical landscapes you’ll want to visit again and again,” singer/songwriter Kathy Zavada said. “This is flamenco music at its best.”

With collective musical influences as diverse as Brazilian, jazz, Western classical and Middle Eastern, Flamenco Pacifico offers its unique version of modern flamenco with a world orientation.

The group’s most recent album, “Convivencia,” was nominated for “Best World/Global Fusion Album of 2017” by One World Music Awards.

Tickets are $25 General Admission / $5 SOU Student with valid student ID. Tickets are available online by CLICKING HERE, or at the Box Office: (541) 552-6348.

This story is reposted from Jefferson Public Radio