The University of Oregon Opera Ensemble will present “The Old Maid and the Thief” and “Trouble in Tahiti,” short operas with complex female leads.

Also, the School of Music and Dance will present the Imani Winds, appearing in concert as part of the ChamberMusic@Beall series; Dance 2014, the annual faculty concert; and visiting cellist Jeffrey Zeigler will offer the capstone event of his weeklong residency.

The UO School of Music and Dance is located in the Frohnmayer Music Building on the UO campus, 961 E. 18th Ave, Eugene. For more information or for a complete calendar of events, call 541-346-5678 or visit music.uoregon.edu.

Andrew Clark, principal horn with the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra, will interact with UO horn students in a public master class. Highlights of Clark's career include many years of playing principal horn in the London Classical Players, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Academy of Ancient Music. As a soloist Clark has made several commercial recordings. He was also a horn teacher at London’s Royal Academy of Music for seventeen years and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London for ten years. He has been coaching horn students at the University of British Columbia since 2010.

A presentation of the THEME colloquium. A talk by Marc Vanscheeuwijck, associate professor of musicology at the University of Oregon. The Baroque cello as we know and have played it for the past sixty years is actually the instrument and technique from the 1730s. Vanscheeuwijck's research deals primarily with the two centuries of bass violin playing before 1730. Conclusions offer a very different picture of what we have assumed for too long about the early cellos, and have already had a deep repercussion upon playing. Founded by Professor Steve Larson at the University of Oregon, THEME is an interdisciplinary colloquium of faculty and student researchers in music theory (T), musicology/music history (H), ethnomusicology (E), and music education (ME).

UO combos of undergraduate and graduate students will perform jazz and pop compositions as well as original material at The Jazz Station in downtown Eugene.

Tickets are available at the door or in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363. Featuring UO music faculty members Lou DeMartino, clarinet; Fritz Gearhart, violin; Melissa Peña, oboe; David Riley, piano; Steve Vacchi, bassoon; and Lydia Van Dreel, horn. Repertoire will include a world premiere work for oboe and piano by Yuri Bortz, as well as selections by Beethoven, Schumann, and Poulenc.

Tickets are available at the door or in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363. Under the direction of Dr. Karen Esquivel, the award-winning UO Opera Ensemble will present two one-act, English-language operas, "The Old Maid and the Thief" by Gian-Carlo Menotti and "Trouble in Tahiti" by Leonard Bernstein. Each opera focuses on a woman who has been shaped by her circumstances and the culture around her, leading to a desire to escape into fantasy and questionable choices. The results range from the hilarious to the tragic.

In a special music program designed to complement the themes of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum's exhibition Emancipating the Past: Kara Walker's Tales of Slavery and Power, the Tardis Ensemble will perform a combination of historical and contemporary compositions drawn from or addressing the Antebellum period, including William Grant Still’s Lyric Quartet, Frederick Tillis’s Spiritual Fantasy No. 12, Brooke Joyce’s Sorrow Songs, and Valerie Coleman's Maombi Asante.  Immediately following the recital, UO musicology instructor Larry Wayte will facilitate a discussion of race, identity, and the experience of African-American composers in Western classical music, drawing on the writings of William Grant Still, Olly Wilson, and others. The Tardis Ensemble is a chamber music collective founded in 2011 with the purpose of engaging audiences through thematic programs that explore distinct time periods, countries, or genres.  Ensemble members are Sophia Tegart (flute), Catherine Lee (oboe), Helena Kopchick Spencer (bassoon), Casey Bozell (violin), Holland Phillips (violin/viola), Clark Spencer (viola), and Valdine Ritchie Mishkin (cello).

Co-sponsored by Central Presbyterian Church. Rescheduled from a snowed-out performance in December 2013, funds raised at this concert will go to support Opportunity Village, a project that provides transitional housing for homeless individuals and couples. University of Oregon student brass chamber groups will perform a benefit concert alongside their faculty members in the Oregon Brass Quintet.

The UO's annual faculty dance concert will feature UO dance students in works by members of the UO dance faculty. Tickets are available at the door or in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363. The 2014 concert will feature the work of over fifty dancers, and will focus on collaborations—some of them familial, others across artistic disciplines, and all of them compelling.

A presentation of the THEME colloquium. A talk by Lauren Jennings, Provost's Postdoctoral Scholar in the Humanities and postdoctoral scholar of musicology at the University of Southern California. Jennings' talk addresses the transmission of 14th-century Italian song texts in manuscripts of music and manuscripts of poetry. Jennings proposes that the body of literary manuscripts in which these song texts circulated without notation and the world of vernacular, mercantile reading they embody provides a new and fruitful context in which to consider two important musical sources: London, British Library 29987 and one small fragment preserved amongst notarial records housed in Bologna’s State Archives. Founded by Professor Steve Larson at the University of Oregon, THEME is an interdisciplinary colloquium of faculty and student researchers in music theory (T), musicology/music history (H), ethnomusicology (E), and music education (ME).

Audience members are invited to a free pre-concert "Musical Insights" talk at 2:10 p.m. delivered by UO graduate student Helena Kopchick Spencer. The Imani returns to Beall Concert Hall having established a lofty place in the classical world with dynamic playing, culturally poignant programming, and inspirational outreach programs. The group has successfully bridged the classical repertoire with European, American, African and Latin American traditions. Repertoire for this concert will include Piazzolla's "Libertabngo," Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," and Debussy's "Bruyeres." Tickets are available in advance from the Hult Center (541-682-5000) or the UO Ticket Office (541-346-4363).

A concert in the annual Art Song series featuring singers in the Vocal Studies program at the UO School of Music and Dance.

The University of Oregon is honored to welcome Jeffrey Zeigler, renowned cellist of the Kronos Quartet. As part of his weeklong residency, Zeigler will work with UO cello students on perfecting their craft. Free and open to the public. The UO School of Music and Dance has named Zeigler a 2014 Robert M. Trotter Visiting Professor, a mark of distinction reserved for honored guest artists and scholars. Jeffrey Zeigler has been cellist for the Kronos Quartet, one of the most celebrated and influential ensembles of our time, for eight seasons, performing thousands of concerts worldwide. He has released over a dozen recordings, is the recipient of notable prizes and awards, and has appeared as a soloist with numerous symphonies. Zeigler holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester and a Master of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

This event is part of the Eugene Symphony’s Laura Avery Visiting Masters Program. Fumiaki Miura, the First Prize Winner of the Hannover International Violin Competition of 2009 was born in Japan in 1993, and  began playing the violin at age three. Miura studies at the Vienna Conservatory, and has performed with many orchestras including the NDR Radiophilharmonie, Polish Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, and the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra. Miura also won second prize in the All Japan Students’ Music Competition. In 2006, he was awarded second prize at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition for Young Violinists. When participating in the Music Academy in Miyazaki he was awarded as one of the best performers in 2008 and 2009.

Tickets are available at the door or in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363. UO musicologist and performer Eliot Grasso will be joined by guest Scottish fiddle player Brandon Vance for an evening of Traditional Irish and Scottish music. Backing Eliot and Brandon on guitar is Glen Waddell from Skye fame, the sadly-missed local band that played the northwest for fifteen years before their final recording, Storm Watch, in 2009. Eliot Grasso has performed extensively across North America and Europe, including at the the National Endowment for the Arts Awards and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Grasso has also appeared as a guest artist on National Public Radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" and on RTE’s Irish traditional music program "The Rolling Wave." Brandon Vance is a two-time U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion, and at fourteen, was the youngest to received the award in the competition’s history. He holds an MA in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Vance is a member of the Northwest Sinfonietta and Tacoma Symphony in Washington. His discography includes "Beyond the Borders" with Mark Minkler and Alchymeia’s debut album.

Scottish fiddle player Brandon Vance will work with UO fiddlers in a public master class. Vance is a two-time U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion, and at fourteen, was the youngest to received the award in the competition’s history. He holds an MA in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Vance is a member of the Northwest Sinfonietta and Tacoma Symphony in Washington. His discography includes "Beyond the Borders" with Mark Minkler and Alchymeia’s debut album.

The University of Oregon is honored to welcome Jeffrey Zeigler, renowned cellist of the Kronos Quartet. As part of his weeklong residency, Zeigler will work with an ensemble of UO faculty members including Molly Barth, flute; Brian McWhorter, trumpet; Melissa Peña, oboe; David Riley, piano; and Steve Vacchi, bassoon in interpreting new works by UO student composers. The UO School of Music and Dance has named Zeigler a 2014 Robert M. Trotter Visiting Professor, a mark of distinction reserved for honored guest artists and scholars.

A presentation of the THEME colloquium. A talk by Frank M. Diaz, assistant professor of music education at the University of Oregon. Pedagogical strategies in higher education are often passed on through tradition, with little to no critical examination of their efficacy or relevancy in modern educational contexts. When these strategies are ineffective, students become disengaged from the learning process, resulting in negative outcomes for both students and their instructors. Diaz's presentation will focus on research and applications of effective learning strategies in higher education. Research-based suggestions will be provided for instructors hoping to improve student engagement, learning, and retention in college-level courses. Founded by Professor Steve Larson at the University of Oregon, THEME is an interdisciplinary colloquium of faculty and student researchers in music theory (T), musicology/music history (H), ethnomusicology (E), and music education (ME).

Students in the UO’s Jazz Studies program will perform in a variety of jazz combos. Tickets are available at the door or in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363.

The University of Oregon is honored to welcome renowned cellist Jeffrey Zeigler for a recital in historic Beall Concert Hall, a capstone event of a weeklong residency. Tickets are available at the door or in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363. The UO School of Music and Dance has named Zeigler a 2014 Robert M. Trotter Visiting Professor, a mark of distinction reserved for honored guest artists and scholars. For this event, an ensemble of UO faculty members including Molly Barth, flute; Melissa Peña, oboe; and David Riley, piano will join Zeigler. Repertoire will include avant garde works for solo cello and electronics, a premiere by composer Jesse Jones, and works by David Lang.

Part of the UO Vanguard Concert Series. Tickets are available at the door or in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363. Fireworks is a new music ensemble known as "the bridge between the contemporary classical ensemble and the mainstream popular audience." This innovation ensemble has led the charge to bring a fresh perspective on chamber music to a new generation of listeners. With a repertoire that includes Frank Zappa’s instrumental rock, dance music from around the world, classic cartoon music, traditional Americana, and reinventions of 20th-century orchestral works such as Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Fireworks presents a distinctly American vision of chamber music. The ensemble tours throughout the United States each year and has appeared venues ranging from Carnegie Hall and The Library of Congress to nightclubs such as New York City’s (le) Poisson Rouge and Tonic. Passionate about education and outreach, Fireworks has participated in Chamber Music America’s Residency Partnership Program and Carnegie Hall’s Musical Connections program, and was an ensemble-in-residence at the Oregon Bach Festival 2013 Composers Symposium. Fireworks records for Entertainment One, which will release the ensemble’s project of Frank Zappa’s instrumental music in 2014.

Tickets are available at the door or in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363. Award-winning marimbist Eriko Daimo is a driving force in today's generation of young artists. She has won top prizes in numerous competitions, including 1st prizes at the International Marimba Competition 2004 in Belgium, Japan International League of Artists Competition, Japan PAS 20th Annual Percussion Solo Competition 2004, and Japan Soloist Music Competition. In addition, Daimo has given concerto performances, recital tours, and master classes with prestigious festivals and symphony orchestras the world over.

Award-winning marimbist Eriko Daimo will work with UO percussion students in their master class. Open to the public.

Tickets are available at the door or in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363.

Eric Wiltshire, conductor.

- from the UO School of Music and Dance