SOMD faculty members Molly Barth and David Riley perform music from their new album "Thorn" with composer David Riley at New York's National Sawdust. Barth serves as associate professor of flute. Riley is associate professor of collaborative piano.
By Steve Fyffe
It’s after hours and most classes on campus are already done for the day, but students in the songwriting workshop course are just getting started.
First-year student Alivia Nelson steps up to the microphone in a darkened studio at the School of Music and Dance and starts to sing her original song “Make Some Room,” while acclaimed jazz pianist and associate professor Toby Koenigsberg records her vocal track into a laptop computer.
By Steve Fyffe
One of the largest orchestral commissions in Oregon history is about to be performed by a unique chamber orchestra that was created to offer students the rare opportunity to be mentored and perform alongside professional musicians and faculty members from the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance.
It’s a collaboration between Orchestra Next and The Eugene Ballet, along with Portland-based composer Kenji Bunch, on a reimagining of Hans Christian Anderson’s classic tale "The Snow Queen.”
For anyone who’s ever wondered what it would be like to perform with the Oregon Marching Band in front of a packed crowd at Autzen Stadium, a new series of 360-degree “virtual reality” videos are about as close as it comes to the real thing.
“Stepping into Autzen is an awe-inspiring event,” said Nick Bonnema, a psychology major from Beaverton who plays trombone in the band. “(These videos) allow them to experience the game as if they’re there, instead of seeing just what the director of the video wants them to see.”
Five high school students from across Oregon were chosen to work with professional composer and Philip H. Knight professor of music Robert Kyr to compose variations on Beethoven's most famous work – the "Ode to Joy" theme from his Ninth Symphony.
Watch their reactions as the Eugene Symphony performs their finished piece in front of a live audience for the first time.
"Musicians must develop a consistent brand to help fans find them, but to also help them to distinguish themselves as artists,” says UO alum Mark Samples of Central Washington University.
"Branding consultants do it for you. I empower students to do it for themselves."
The most wonderful season of all took on a whole different tone the other day. But that’s what happens when traditional Christmas carols are played on decidedly nontraditional instruments. And if there’s anything UO doctoral student Steve Joslin knows how to do, it’s coax music out of things that look nothing like musical instruments.
Legendary trumpet player Herb Alpert, who created the “Tijuana Brass” sound that left an indelible mark on the music scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s, is coming to Eugene to play a one-night show in the Jaqua Concert Hall at the Shedd Institute on January 27, 2017.
'Tis the season. Get into the holiday spirit with this beautiful, a capella rendition of the classic Christmas carol “Deck the Halls,” performed for you by singers from the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance Chamber Choir.
