Arts: Page 240

Musicking Around

A plethora of early music performances hits Eugene

Music
Siri Vik

Eugene has long been one of the beacons of so-called early music, which includes basically anything composed (in Europe) before J.S. Bach died and Mozart was born in the mid-18th century. The Oregon Bach Festival has been the big kahuna, but the city boasts an indie early music scene consisting of historically informed performance practice musicians in outfits like the Oregon Bach Collegium, Vox Resonat and the University of Oregon’s splendid early music program. Continue reading →

Back Beat

Music

In music venue news, The Barn Light East (845 East 8th Ave.) has announced they will be hosting live music.  Barn Light co-owner Thomas Pettus-Czar tells KVAL-TV: “As opposed to other environments in which [music is] sort of in the background, this is an opportunity where folks can grab a beverage, sit down and really pay attention to the artists.” Look for show announcements soon.  Continue reading →

Her Aim is True

Cottage Theatre hits the bull’s-eye with Irving Berlin’s classic musical Annie Get Your Gun

Theater
Stephanie Philo Newman in Cottage Theatre’s production of Annie Get Your Gun

It’s not necessarily downbeat to claim that a given theatrical production is completely carried by one performance in particular — to lavish praise on an actor who puts the play on her back and carts it expertly and, of equal importance, joyously from her first appearance on stage to the proverbial drop of the velvet curtain. This is especially true in community theater, a distinctly democratic institution where the egalitarian instinct gives a nudge to tender swaths of talent that blend in a stew of ability, some of it realized but not always. Continue reading →

Arts Hound

Visual Arts

There’s no question that artist and filmmaking couple Zackary Drucker and Rhys Ernst live and breathe their art, describing themselves as “extreme collaborators.” Their relationship will be on view in Relationship, a voyeuristic photo series opening April 20 at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. The collection of 26 photographs, which originally were not intended for public viewing, documents five years of their lives together (2008-2013), as Drucker transitioned from male to female and Ernst transitioned from female to male. Continue reading →

Shadow & Light at Beall Hall, April 8

Performing Arts

The capacity crowd at Beall Hall Friday night was only satisfied after not one, but two standing ovations for Joan Szymko’s new work “Shadow & Light”, performed beautifully by the Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble, the Eugene Concert Orchestra and soloists Marietta Simpson, Sarah Joanne Davis and Brendan Tuohy, under the direction of artistic director and conductor Diane Retallack.  Continue reading →

The Midas Touch

Film

Jonathan Gold is the first and only food critic to win a Pulitzer Prize. Let that marinate for a moment.  Then disabuse yourself of any notions of what a food critic of that caliber might be like — perhaps an uptight gourmand enamored with his own palette or some self-important foodie.  Gold is none of that, so it’s no wonder filmmaker Laura Gabbert chose to wrap a film around the writer and the myriad flavors of his beloved hometown Los Angeles. He has a penchant for suspenders, wrinkled shirts and his green pickup. Continue reading →

Alt-Rock Double Bill

The sensual rock tunes of Cape Cod’s Highly Suspect and Luz Elena Mendoza

Music
Highly Suspect

Get ready to feel some serious butterflies from the sensual rock tunes of Cape Cod’s Highly Suspect and Luz Elena Mendoza (of Y La Bamba) coming to WOW Hall April 9.  Mendoza has a wispy, sultry voice that will woo you into a trance. She’s also very Portland alt-rock. Her songs are stories that build by layering vocals with sometimes whimsical, sometimes dark, melodies. Now on her third album with Y La Bamba, Ojos Del Sol, Mendoza has a sound that is easy to swallow but at any given moment could send chills down your neck.  Continue reading →

Coldest White Rapper

G-Eazy talks to EW about being poor, being rich and being white in the rap game

Music
G-Eazy

G-Eazy is such a big deal that iconic rapper Lil Wayne remixed a song from his new album last week and NBA superstar Kobe Bryant greeted him at a recent Lakers game. On Billboard’s website, Nielsen Music charts hip-hop and R&B songs using a metric that calculates radio airplay, streaming and music sales. Each week since Feb. 20, G-Eazy’s “Me, Myself & I” ranked higher than any other rap song save Drake’s “Summer 16” and Rihanna’s “Work” (which also features Drake). Continue reading →