(Members of the Oasis Ensemble, left to right: Dawn Weiss, Andrew Cannestra, and Louis Lowenstein)
By Daniel Buckwalter
It was a blissfully sunny Sunday spring afternoon. There were bike rides or walks to be had, countryside drives, or casual dining outside at a favorite restaurant.
Anything to smell the cool, fresh air.
Spending time indoors seemed counterintuitive, but on April 27, Oasis Ensemble made it worthwhile, even enjoyable, with a concert at First United Methodist church in Eugene that celebrated the Pacific Northwest as well as music by Maurice Ravel and Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel.
Oasis — a cello, flute and piano trio featuring Louis Lowenstein, Dawn Weiss and Andrew Cannestra — performed in front of a small but appreciative audience, with understated and skilled professionalism that spoke eloquently for their love for the music. It was a treat to hear.
From the opening three-movement Northwest Sketches, a premiere by Oregon composer Brent Weaver and commissioned by Oasis, the trio softly and skillfully evoked wonder in the sometimes turbulent, sometimes serene and always majestic Pacific Northwest.
The ensemble continued its march through Ravel’s Ma Mere L’Oye (Mother Goose) as well as the four-movement Trio in D minor by Mendelssohn-Hensel, which, as Cannestra noted, was originally scored for cello, piano and violin but works well with a flute transcription.
Oasis Ensemble has veteran leadership in Weiss and Lowenstein. She was Principal Flute with the Oregon Symphony and has rich experience nationally and internationally. Lowenstein was a longtime member of the Chicago and Pittsburgh symphonies and has collaborated with jazz composers Marvin Hamlisch and Bobby McFerrin.
Cannestra is the young one among the three, but he has produced one album, with a second on the way, and is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in piano performance at the University of Oregon. He has also performed at Vermont’s Manchester Music Festival and the Oregon Bach Festival.
Oasis Ensemble has a rich sound to it that I find remarkable, and I hope to hear them again. It does have a crowded schedule, in Eugene and throughout Oregon. Their full schedule is online at OasisEnsemble.com.
The April 27 performance was part of the Concerts at First series at First United Methodist in Eugene. Two concerts remain, and information about those is online at ConcertsAtFirstEugene.com.
