By Daniel Buckwalter
You get only one chance to make a lasting impression on your golden anniversary, and the Eugene Concert Choir made the most of it on March 9, 2025.
Under the direction of Diane Retallack, who has led the chorale ensemble and Eugene Vocal Arts for the past 40 years, Eugene Concert Choir hit all the high marks with vigor at Silva Concert Hall in front of an adoring audience to celebrate 50 years of music making. And there has been a lot of music making — in Eugene and abroad.
The program — Golden Celebration: A Retrospective Concert Featuring the Eugene Concert Choir, Eugene Vocal Arts and Guest Artists — touched on all that has made Eugene Concert Choir a staple in the Eugene-Springfield arts community.
From excerpts of major European choral works (near and dear to Retallack’s heart, as she noted in a video interview played to audience), commissioned work from composer Zanaida Robles (Eagle Poem) and selections from popular-themed concerts from the past from the guest artists in the program’s second half, music and fun filled the concert hall.
There also were archival videos of performances past as well as videos chronicling the 50-year history of the choir — its beginnings, its collaboration with the likes of Eugene Ballet Company and others, its tours through Europe and Asia and coping with the pandemic.
The two most touching moments for me came from Philip Bayles and Mason Williams.
Bayles is the founder of the Eugene Concert Choir, then known as the Eugene Community Chorus. He composed a simple four-movement piece for the concert — And So We Sing — that helped establish that music is at once a joyous celebration and a tool for healing. He spoke from the soul to the audience of losing his wife to leukemia late last year, then took to the podium to conduct the full Eugene Concert Choir.
Williams, of course, is a master composer and guitarist who has won three Grammys, as well as two Emmys for his work on the television show, The Smothers Brothers. He’s also, still, a dear friend of the Eugene Concert Choir, having worked with Retallack and the choir on holiday shows throughout the years.
He had to be ushered to the stage from the audience, his remarks were brief and his voice soft. Retallack, clutching a bouquet of flowers she would hand off to him, looked at Williams with adoration.
This was friendship on full display, and it was moving.
The entire afternoon was moving, as a golden anniversary concert should be. Here’s to the Eugene Concert Choir’s next musical chapters.
