Bach Takes a Break
The 2020 Oregon Bach Festival has been postponed to 2021
For the first time in half a century, Eugene will have a summer without the sounds of Bach. Bowing to the danger of the novel … Continue reading
OBF
A Year After the Firing
A national critic says Oregon Bach Festival lacks vision without artistic director Matthew Halls
You can’t really assess what was at this season’s Oregon Bach Festival without acknowledging what wasn’t: erstwhile artistic director Matthew Halls, the multi-talented conductor whose … Continue reading
Oregon Bach Festival loses Berwick Academy program director
Marc Destrubé quits as director after OBF dis-invites cellist over three-year-old incident
The Oregon Bach Festival has lost the newly appointed program director of its student academy in the complicated aftermath of last summer’s firing of artistic … Continue reading
Dis-invited Oregon Bach Fest Musician Speaks
Dutch cellist Jaap ter Linden was thrilled to be invited to conduct a concert at this year’s Oregon Bach Festival, an event at which he … Continue reading
Slant
RG sold, OBF, auditor and other editorial opinions
• We heard Oregon House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson talk to a gathering of Eugene Democrats last summer after the 2017 legislative session. Williamson said … Continue reading
Let’s shine some light on Bach
Transparency is needed on the Oregon Bach Festival
Berwick Hall, the new home of the Oregon Bach Festival, is an elegant building — small, modern, light-filled, with a performance hall that can seat … Continue reading
Bach for the 21st Century
A rock music writer ponders time, art, relevance and Johann Sebastian Bach at the Oregon Bach Festival
By 1829, nearly 80 years after his death, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach had fallen out of fashion. Think of what we were listening … Continue reading
Bach the House
Some highlights from the musical cornucopia that is the Oregon Bach Festival
This summer, Oregon Bach Festival’s theme could have been “Generations.” The fest features a father-and-son team — Jeffrey and Gabriel Kahane; leaders of two generations of historically informed Baroque violin — Monica Huggett and Rachel Podger; old and new music — from Baroque and early Romantic masters to contemporary composers; veteran visitors conductor Anton Armstrong, pianist Robert Levin and organist Paul Jacobs; as well as today’s rising stars — the terrific singer Nicholas Phan and Artistic Director Matthew Halls; and tomorrow’s musical leaders — Youth Choral Academy, Berwick Acade Continue reading
Puppet Masters
Portland’s Tears of Joy Theatre elevates the art of puppetry with The Jungle Book
What was the last puppet show you saw? An after-school special maybe? Or perhaps a storybook hour staged by librarians with their hands stuck up some glorified socks? Portland’s Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre wants you to throw out that imagery entirely. “There are so many puppet shows out there that I’ve seen that might be great for kids,” says Emily Alexander, Tears of Joy’s executive director, “but the parents are, how shall I put this — not enjoying it. For anyone whose idea of puppets is either Muppets or socks with googly eyes, we’re out to change that.” Continue reading
Gabriel’s Guide to the Galaxy
Composer and singer Gabriel Kahane presents the Oregon premiere of 'Gabriel’s Guide to the 48 States' at OBF
Ever since his sly 2007 breakthrough — the witty Craigslistlieder — songwriter-guitarist-pianist-composer Gabriel Kahane has rightly resisted the classical label originally affixed because of his music’s relatively sophisticated arrangements and instrumentation and the fact that his dad, Jeffrey (with whom he’ll share the stage at the Oregon Bach Festival), is a renowned classical pianist and conductor. Continue reading