(Above and below: The Oregon Festival of American Music prides itself on bringing the classics back to life while retaining their original spirit and style; photos courtesy of The Shedd Institute for the Arts)

By Randi Bjornstad

The Shedd Institute for the Arts offers a seemingly unending variety of concerts and classes throughout the year, but the two weeks that span the end of July and beginning of August nonetheless are a special time in The Shedd’s performance year.

This year, the fortnight started out with a production in the roster of The Shedd’s musical theater season — called the Shedd Theatricals — with one of the best-known classics, “Guys and Dolls,” which ran for six performances from July 20-29. (See Eugene Scene’s separate story about that at https://eugenescene.org/its-a-trip-back-to-the-golden-era-of-musical-theater-with-the-shedds-production-of-guys-and-dolls/)

On Aug. 1, the Oregon Festival of American Music opens its 27th annual celebration of music from the Great American Songbook, with more than a week packed full of free events — classic films, talks, and community sing-alongs — as well as ticketed matinee and evening concerts.

Opening day begins with a 5 p.m. talk by The Shedd’s executive director, James Ralph, titled “Masters & Mentors: Intro to OFAM 2018,” followed at 8 p.m. by a gala opening concert called “Live From the Emerald Palace — The Variety Special.”

The variety show, co-directed by Siri Vik and Michael Stone, “is wonderful,” Ralph enthused. “It’s like an old TV variety show that takes us musically from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again.”

The variety show will be repeated as a 1:30 p.m. matinee Saturday, Aug. 11, OFAM’s closing day.

Ralph says that this year’s lineup continues to do what OFAM always has done best, “presenting music by staying true to its historical and cultural context.”

“I have always loved historically informed performance, whether it’s in the baroque, classical, jazz, or musical theater genres, and I think our audiences appreciate that, too,” Ralph said. “We work hard to achieve that not only in our concerts but also through our lectures and discussions, so people have the opportunity to understand and enjoy the music as deeply as possible, with as much context as they care to have.”

One example of that effort has grown out of Eugene musician, arranger and bandleader Jesse Cloninger’s talent for “lifting,” which in recent years has greatly elevated the nuanced performances of the Emerald Jazz Kings, a resident ensemble at The Shedd, he said.

“Lifting is a science — it’s the ability to listen to historic recordings and figure out minute details such as who is in the band, based on style of playing, and then actually recreate the original arrangements just by listening and working it out. And Jesse (Cloninger) is really good at it.”

Ralph readily admits that not much grates on his nerves as a composition and a style that don’t match, “like a classic jazz piece from the ’40s with soloists getting up and playing it like it was post-’90s bebop.”

Through the years, The Shedd’s goal has been “to develop a historical repertory orchestra, and we are always looking to encourage musicians who can traverse these various styles with ease,” Ralph said.

The theme of this year’s OFAM offerings focuses on “what makes a great song great,” he said. “We have gone to many of the people who are participating this and asked them to share what the greatest influences on their performance have been.”

As always, OFAM strives to create richness and complexity in its offerings, Ralph said.

“We are still very thematically based, as far as our goal of preserving the original intent and sound of the music we present, but we are interested in sharing nuances and different points of view,” he said. “Sometimes that’s historical, and sometimes it’s stylistic. My job is to try to create a richness and complexity that everyone can both learn from and enjoy.”

 

Oregon Festival of American Music

Wednesday, Aug. 1

  • 5 p.m. talk — Masters & Mentors: Introduction to OFAM 2018, by James Ralph, in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 8 p.m. opening gala concert — “Live from the Emerald Palace: The Variety Special,” directed by Siri Vik and Michael Stone, in the Jaqua Concert Hall (repeated at 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 11)

Thursday, Aug. 2

  • 10 a.m. film — “A Song is Born” (Samuel Goldwyn, 1948), in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 1:30 p.m. concert — The Heart & Soul of Frank Loesser, directed by Vicki Brabham, in the Jaqua Concert Hall (repeated at 8 p.m. on Aug. 11)
  • 5 p.m. talk — The First Jazz Band, by Ian Whitcomb, in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 8 p.m. concert — Chuck on Vibes: Salute to the Masters, directed by Chuck Redd, in the Jaqua Concert Hall

Friday, Aug. 3

  • 10 a.m. film — Gentlemen Prefer Blonds (20th Century Fox, 1953), in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 1:30 p.m. concert — La Vie en Rose: Edith Piaf et La Chanson, directed by Siri Vik, in the Jaqua Concert Hall (repeated at 8 p.m. on Aug. 9)
  • 5 p.m. talk — Ian’s Top Ten: An Afternoon of Classics, by Ian Whitcomb, in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 8 p.m. concert — Centerpiece: A Life in Broadway Jazz, directed by Vicki Brabham, in the Jaqua Concert Hall (repeated at 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 9)

Saturday, Aug. 4

  • 10 a.m. film — An American in Paris (MGM, 1951), in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 1:30 p.m. community sing-along — The 1920s and ’30s, with Amy Adams & Singing Road Scholars, in the Jaqua Concert Hall; free
  • 8 p.m. concert — Rhapsody in Gershwin: A Tribute to the Master, directed by Ted Rosenthal, in the Jaqua Concert Hall

Sunday, Aug. 5

  • 3 p.m. — The Jazz Party, directed by Chuck Redd, in the Jaqua Concert Hall (cabaret-style seating)

Tuesday, Aug. 7 

  • 8 p.m. concert — Get Happy: Judy Garland & Barbra Streisand, directed by Byron Stripling, in the Jaqua Concert Hall

Wednesday, Aug. 8

  • 10 a.m. film — Summer Stock (MGM, 1950), in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 1:30 p.m. concert — Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues, directed by Byron Stripling, in the Jaqua Concert Hall
  • 5 p.m. talk — Pioneer Singers of American Pop, by Ian Whitcomb, in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 8 p.m. concert — A Night in New Orleans, directed by Byron Stripling, in the Jaqua Concert Hall

Thursday, Aug. 9

  • 10 a.m. film — College Swing (Paramount, 1938), in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 1:30 p.m. concert — Centerpiece: A Life in Broadway Jazz, directed by Vicki Brabham, in the Jaqua Concert Hall
  • 5 p.m. talk — The French Connection, by Jim Ralph, in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 8 p.m. concert — La Vie en Rose: Edith Piaf et La Chanson, directed by Siri Vik, in the Jaqua Concert Hall

Friday, Aug. 10

  • 10 a.m. film — It Happened in Brooklyn (MGM, 1947), in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 1:30 p.m. community sing-along 2 — The 1940s, with Amy Adams & The Shedd Singing Club, in the Jaqua Concert Hall; free
  • 5 p.m. talk — Britain Bounces Back, by Ian Whitcomb, in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 8 p.m. concert — Sinatra & Basie in Redd, directed by Chuck Redd, in the Jaqua Concert Hall

Saturday, Aug. 11

  • 1:30 p.m. concert — Live from the Emerald Palace: The Variety Special, directed by Siri Vik and Michael Stone, in the Jaqua Concert Hall
  • 5 p.m. talk — More on Loesser, by James Ralph, in the Sheffer Room; free
  • 8 p.m. grand finale concert — The Heart & Soul of Frank Loesser, directed by Vicki Brabham, in the Jaqua Concert Hall

Tickets: $25 to $39 (student, package and group discounts available), at The Shedd box office,  868 High St., 541-434-7000, or online at theshedd.org

 

Principal OFAM 218 Concert Artists:

Howard Alden, guitar

Lynnea Barry, vocals

Vicki Brabham, piano, vocals & guest director

Lyn Burg, vocals

Jesse Cloninger, reeds

Bobby Floyd, piano

Nathalie Fortin, piano

Julliette Holliday, vocals

Tony Glausi, trumpet

Bill Hulings, vocals

Torrey Newhart, piano

Nicki Parrott, bass

Chuck Redd, drums, vibes & guest director

Sarah B. Rose, vocals

Ted Rosenthal, piano & guest director

Michael Stone, vocals & guest director

Byron Stripling, trumpet, vocals & guest director

Siri Vik, vocals & guest director

Tom Wakeling, bass

Ian Whitcomb, vocals, lecturer & guest director

Oregon Festival of American Music 2018 promo; courtesy The Shedd Institute for the Arts