By Randi Bjornstad
Eugene Concert Choir celebrates its 50th anniversary season on Sunday, March 9, with lots of music that includes a special invitation to the more than 1,000 singers who have raised their voices with the choir: Everyone of them has been asked to be part of a special Reunion Choir that will sing the 4th movement of the Brahms Requiem during the 50th Anniversary Golden Celebration performance.
So far, upwards of a 100 people have accepted the invitation, the ECC announced recently, coming from as close as nearby and as far away as Kenya.
The Eugene Concert Choir originated when a group of people who loved to sing got together under the name Eugene Community Chorus. One of their early performances was Handel’s Messiah, under the direction of Philip Bayles. In 1981, they changed their name to the Eugene Concert Choir, becoming known for an eclectic repertoire of symphonic choral masterworks as well as modern popular vocal music.
The group has been led by artistic director/conductor Diane Retallack since 1985 — therefore celebrating her 40th anniversary on the podium this season — conducting not only the 100-voice concert choir but also Eugene Vocal Arts, a 30-member chamber ensemble inaugurated during her first season as artistic director. A decade ago, the organization also added the Eugene Concert Orchestra to its musical fold. Recently, it has expanded again to include Evocantus, a group of young adult a capella singers directed by Chris Dobson that will have their debut performance at the Golden Celebration concert.
Eugene Concert Choir’s 50th Anniversary Golden Celebration Performance
When: 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 9, 2025
Where: Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center for the Performing Arts, One Eugene Center (Seventh and Willamette streets), Eugene
Guest artists: JohnVavrek, Don Elkington, Shirley Andress, Darline Jackson, Mason Williams, Philip Bayles, Prashant Kakad, Siri Vik, Bill Hulings, Vicki Brabham, Nathan Waddell
Breadth of program: From choral classics by Leonard Bernstein and Randall Thompson to light music and pop tunes from Burt Bacharach to the Beatles
Special activities: Multimedia presentations; special tributes; performance by Reunion Choir of past members
Special message from Eugene Concert Choir: “In addition to honoring our past, we will look to the future, introducing two compositions we have commissioned especially for this grand 50th Anniversary Celebration concert. The debut of these new pieces by distinguished Black female composer Dr. Zanaida Stewart Robles and transgender spokesperson and composer Michael Bussewitz-Quarm (she/they) reinforces the Eugene Concert Choir’s steadfast dedication to advancing inclusiveness and awareness through choral music. These compositions will usher in a new era of impactful music and will stand alongside our past projects, Black is Beautiful, In Celebration of Women, and The Unarmed Child, the work for which we were awarded The American Prize Special Judges Citation for Championing Social Justice.”
Tickets: $29, $38, $47, $56, $12 for youths and students, available online at EugeneConcertChoir.org or hultcenter.org, or by telephone through the Hult Center ticket office at 541-682-5000
Information: EugeneConcertChoir.org
