By Daniel Buckwalter

Resplendent in a hot pink gown, she strides to center stage in the melodic opening sequence of the song Where or When, from the musical Babes in Arms.

It is showtime, and, as always, Siri Vik is in command. Listening to Vik weave stories and sing in her expressive soprano voice is always a highlight for me at the Oregon Festival of American Music. No one locally does it better.

She was at it again on Aug. 2 at The Shedd, along with a seven-piece band directed by pianist Vicki Brabham. For 90 minutes before an appreciative matinee audience, Vik displayed perfect pitch for all of her stories and all 16 song selections. Be it whimsical numbers, tender melodies and even one ruthlessly comedic piece, the audience saw Vik having fun, and they went along with her for the ride.

My Funny Valentine is a program that salutes lyricist Lorenz Hart, someone of whom Vik has spoken fondly before on stage and a man who partnered with composer Richard Rodgers in the 1930s and ’40s for some magnificent hit songs and musicals. The program allows the Eugene native to showcase her wide range of talent.

There’s the hardscrabble Ten Cents A Dance and the love song My Heart Stood Still, and there is, too, the melancholy that is It Never Entered My Mind and My Funny Valentine.

The humor comes with the tune, To Keep My Love Alive. It is, Vik says by way of introduction, “a murder ballad,” and she’s not kidding. A woman just keeps murdering her husbands so as to remarry and — well, keep love alive. It’s from the musical, A Connecticut Yankee.

Vik’s show, My Funny Valentine repeats on Aug. 10 at The Shedd, and fittingly, it’s the finale concert for this year’s OFAM 2024 program. It is best, I think, to have Siri Vik usher you into the night.

OFAM repeats: My Funny Valentine with Siri Vik to close out OFAM 2024

When: 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024

Where: Jaqua Concert Hall, The Shedd Institute, 868 High St., Eugene

Tickets: $12.50/$15/$17.50/$19.50/$25/$30/$35/$39, available at the ticket office, by telephone at 541-434-7000, or online at theshedd.org