On March 23, the Oregon Mozart Players will remember Holly Spencer — her energy and passion — with a program called Breathe in the sanctuary of Central Presbyterian Church. Spencer was a tireless longtime advocate for youth in music who died in January. The first piece in the program is, indeed, called Breathe, composed by Carlos Simon in 1986 and which features members of the Eugene-Springfield Youth Orchestra playing alongside the Oregon Mozart Players. Spencer served on the board of EYSO and was its executive director for almost a decade. She also founded and directed for seven years the Cadenza Clarinet Choir for middle and high school students as well as private teaching. If that wasn’t enough, Spencer even did administrative work and publications editing at The Resource Innovation Group in Eugene. In addition to honoring Spencer, OMP will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra with Alice Blankenship on violin (pictured below) and Arnaud Ghillebaert on viola. The program ends with Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A Major.
