The annual Oregon Bach Festival promises to be especially memorable this year, with a “passing of the baton” among conductors.

The 2013 event June 24-July 14 celebrates Helmuth Rilling’s 80th birthday and honors his 44th and concluding season as artistic director.

Matthew Halls, who will succeed Rilling as artistic director immediately following the Festival, conducts a "Night at the Opera" July 2 and shares the podium with Rilling in a "Passing of the Baton" July 6, both in Eugene’s 2,430-seat Silva Concert Hall.

The University of Oregon School of Law will hold 2013 commencement exercises at 1 p.m. on Saturday (May 18) at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Eugene. A reception will immediately follow the ceremony at the Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St.

Pouring rain and cooler temperatures didn’t stop volunteers from participating Thursday in University Day, the campus-wide beautification project that occurs each year.

Started in 1905 to improve the grounds before commencement, the day has evolved to celebrate and preserve the natural beauty of the campus.

Environmental, health and engineering experts from across Oregon will discuss the impacts of fuels and cooking throughout the world at the inaugural Spark Initiative showcase, to be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today (Friday, May 17) at the University of Oregon's Erb Memorial Union.

Just as undergraduate students complete a week of events celebrating their research efforts, younger budding scientists from grades 1-8 in the Eugene 4J School District will invade the University of Oregon on Saturday. They'll be showing off their experiments and inventions.

The second UO Science and Invention Fair will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the atrium of Willamette Hall, 1371 E. 13th Ave. The public may attend free of charge and view some 60 entries, which will be judged by a panel of UO scientists and graduate students.

Three of the UO’s premier large musical ensembles are featured in the May 19 annual spring concert: the University Symphony, University Singers, and Oregon Wind Ensemble.

University Singers, under the direction of Sharon Paul, will sing a set entitled, "Songs Sung Skyward," which will feature three composers' musical considerations of the heavens: Johannes Brahms' "Warum," Josephine Poelinitz' setting of the gospel song, "City Called Heaven," and Eric Whitacre's "Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine."

A bill recently passed by the Oregon Legislature and awaiting the signature of Gov. John Kitzhaber will make money available to the University of Oregon and Oregon State University that was originally set aside for the two institutions more than 150 years ago.

Under House Bill 2033, the State Treasury will turn over to the Oregon University System $109,877 from funding earmarked for UO purposes in 1859, and another $326,543 from a fund designated for OSU in 1862.

"Oregon Archaeology," written by three archaeologists at the University of Oregon's Museum of Natural and Cultural History, earned a 2013 Oregon Heritage Excellence Award from the Oregon Heritage Commission.

The award recognizes the book as a definitive text on Oregon's human history and as an outstanding contribution to the field of archaeology in the state. The award was one of eight given May 9 during the Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards banquet in Portland.