Enjoy Vivaldi and Mozart — and maybe even lunch — when Eugene Vocal Arts and the Eugene Concert Orchestra perform on April 10

By Randi Bjornstad

They’re calling it “musical comfort food” because at mid-afternoon on April 10, Eugene Vocal Arts, accompanied by the Eugene Concert Orchestra, will be serving up a performance of choral gems by Antonio Vivaldi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the Hult Center for the Performing arts in downtown Eugene.

But it’s even more true because concertgoers have the opportunity to partake first of a pre-concert meal in the Composers Hall at the nearby Graduate Hotel, where Eugene Concert Choir founder and director Diane Retallack promisers lunchers will get an “exclusive sneak peek” at her organization’s 2022-23 season.

Retallack promises a “gourmet meal with comfort food favorites,” and an online look at the menu reveals a grilled-cheese bar as well as assorted soups. The musical comfort food to be performed begins with a special tribute to Ukraine, followed by Dixit Dominus by Marianna von Martines’ and then the Vivaldi Gloria and the Mozart Vespers.

Retallack founded the Eugene Vocal Arts group in 1986. It consists of 38 vocalists, selected through auditions. The organization also includes the larger Eugene Concert Choir and most recently, the Eugene Concert Orchestra, which frequently accompanies both of the vocal groups.

The Eugene Concert Orchestra will be performing for the first time since the descent on the world of the global pandemic in 2020, and several professional vocal soloists also are on Sunday’s program: sopranos Emilie Faiella and Abigail Krawson, alto Erika Rauer, tenor Alex Trull, and bass Doremus Scudder.