BRILLIANT CLASSICS, INSPIRING COLLABORATIONS, MACARTHUR FELLOW, VIRTUOSO MUSICIANS HEADLINE AS OREGON BACH FESTIVAL 2019 SETS DATES AND ARTIST LINEUP
CONTACT: Jonathan Eifert
347.741.1913 or pr@jonathaneifert.com
February 6, 2019 – [Eugene, OR] – The internationally renowned Oregon Bach Festival (OBF) and the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance are pleased to announce the 2019 lineup of concerts and artists. The upcoming season, which runs June 28 through July 13, continues the long-standing tradition of presenting the finest choral-orchestral works, extraordinary collaborations, and captivating community events. The Festival will be held in Eugene, with events at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, historic Beall Concert Hall on the University of Oregon campus, and local churches.
The Festival begins with the “triumphant” (Chicago Sun-Times) Mozart Requiem, conducted by celebrated British conductor Jane Glover. Glover will also conduct a cooperative and transformative project with DanceAbility International. “Bach in Motion” on Friday, July 5 will marry dance and Bach’s music to express the equality of humanity beyond the perceived limitations of physical form.
Other exciting 2019 ventures include performances from Brooklyn Rider, Spanish Renaissance music from vocal quartet New York Polyphony, an evening of Radiohead, John Coltrane, and Bach from Portland Cello Project, and a musical exploration of the historical effect of – and access to – Oregon’s landscape on community development by jazz pianist Darrell Grant. On Saturday, July 6, Scottish cellist and composer Peter Gregson will give the Bach Cello Suites a makeover as he offers – through a partnership with Deutsche Grammaphon – a stunning reinterpretation of the 300-year-old masterworks.
OBF is pleased to welcome two virtuoso performers in 2019. World-renowned recorder player Matthias Maute will perform alongside the Berwick Academy on July 1 and, following two years of sold out performances, Grammy-winning organist Paul Jacobs returns to OBF with a program featuring Vierne’s Symphony No. 6.
Also joining the Festival is acclaimed conductor and keyboardist John Butt. Butt, who will conduct two OBF concerts in 2019, including an all-Handel concert, is the musical director of Edinburgh’s Dunedin Consort and received the Dent Medal of the Royal Musical Association. He is a recipient of the Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation’s Bach Prize and was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his services to music in Scotland.
The schedule rounds-out with performances from the elite Berwick Academy for Historically Informed Performance, the Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy, the annual Discovery Series, and family-friendly programming from Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre and international soprano Julia Sophie Wagner.
OBF will close the 2019 Festival with Shakespeare’s tragic love story, Romeo & Juliet, illuminated though the blazing orchestral colors of Hector Berlioz. On the 150th Anniversary of the composer’s death, distinguished American conductor John Nelson returns to OBF to conduct the electrifying and “superb” (Opera News) symphonic poem. Venerated bass-baritone Eric Owens will portray the central role of Friar Laurence.
During the Festival, audiences will also enjoy vocal performances from Julia Sophie Wagner, Sarah Shafer, and Kenneth Overton, amongst others.
Esteemed performer, communicator, and citizen-artist Vijay Gupta will deliver the annual Hinkle Distinguished Lecture on July 9. Gupta is a leading advocate for the role of the arts and music to heal, inspire, provoke change, and foster social connection. He is the recipient of a 2018 MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship, and the founder and Artistic Director of Street Symphony, a non-profit organization providing musical engagement, dialogue, and teaching artistry for homeless and incarcerated communities in Los Angeles.
Additional artists and events will be announced in the coming weeks. Exclusive presale tickets are available beginning mid-February and tickets go on sale to the public in early May.
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University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon’s flagship public university. The UO School of Music and Dance presents more than 250 concerts and events during the academic year featuring scholars, guest artists, faculty artists, and student ensembles. The incredible wealth of concert material ranges from contemporary dance to African dance, early and classical music to contemporary music, world music, and jazz.
Oregon Bach Festival (OBF) has presented the masterworks of J.S. Bach, and composers inspired by his work, to audiences in Eugene and throughout the State of Oregon for nearly five decades. The annual event began as a collaboration between German Conductor and Organist, Helmuth Rilling and former Associate Dean of the University of Oregon School Of Music, Royce Saltzman. In addition to traditional choral-orchestral masterworks, the festival also presents internationally renowned guest artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Pink Martini and Joshua Bell, and offers educational opportunities, children and family programing, and community events.