The Eugene Weekly published a cover story on the local jazz scene, featuring interviews with associate professor of saxophone and jazz studies Idit Shner, senior instructor of jazz history Carl Woideck and jazz program alum Torrey Newhart. Read the entire article here.
When is a classroom not a classroom? When it’s a world-class sound studio. At the UO’s School of Music and Dance, undergrads learn music production by actually producing music.
Click here to read the entire story in Around the O.
By Katrina Sarson | OPB Oregon Art Beat
“When people think gospel music, a lot of people think South. You know, or the East Coast,” says Andiel Brown, the director of gospel ensembles at the University of Oregon. “But gospel music is universal.”
When he first arrived at the university as a freshman, Brown wasn’t thinking of a career in music. He was a psychology major who walked onto the football team.
By Steve Fyffe
Assistant professor of voice Craig Phillips was watching a documentary about the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” when he had a lightbulb moment of his own.
We were saddened to hear the news that our great supporter and alumna Leona DeArmond (BS '51, vocal performance) passed away on Tuesday, September 5 at 88 years of age.
"She was the kindest person," said Brad Foley, Dean of the School of Music & Dance.
"She really loved the University of Oregon."
Donations may be made in Leona's memory to the U of O Foundation, School of Music Piano Fund, 1225 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403.
Jon Bellona, Instructor of Audio Production
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.”
