On Tuesday, May 7, the national service organization Chorus America named Rilling as the recipient of its Distinguished Service Award, given to a member whose long-term service to the choral field has furthered the organization’s mission “to build a dynamic and inclusive choral community so that more people are transformed by the beauty and power of choral singing.”

“Helmuth Rilling has made an indelible impact on the choral arts,” remarked Ann Meier Baker, Chorus America’s executive director. “He combines a remarkable, international career as a choral/orchestral conductor with a strong commitment to the nurture of emerging choral conductors.”

Given only when the organization recognizes a worthy recipient, the Distinguished Service Award was first presented in 2010 to Rilling’s OBF cofounder Royce Saltzman. Since then it has been awarded to composer/conductor Andre Thomas and John Hoyt Stookey, an advisor to venture capital firm Arcadia Partners and founder of the Berkshire Choral Festival.

The award will be presented June 13, during Chorus America’s Annual Conference in Seattle.

On Wednesday, May 8, the Oregon Community Foundation announced Rilling as the winner of the 2013 Eugene Arts & Letters Award. Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy will present the award at the Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene’s BRAVA Breakfast on Friday, June 7 at The Hult Center.

Each year, the Eugene Arts & Letters Award honors an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the arts and culture of Eugene. Recipients are publicly nominated by the Eugene community, and selected by a committee of local artists and community leaders. Lee and Hester Bishop established the award in 1982, and past recipients include Ken Kesey and Marin Alsop. The prize, which includes a designated charitable contribution on behalf of the recipient, is made possible by the Oregon Community Foundation’s Bishop Endowment.

The Rilling celebration reaches full steam June 28 as the maestro conducts Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in the Hult Center to open the 44th Oregon Bach Festival, Rilling’s last as Artistic Director. During the 2013 Festival he also conducts four lecture-demonstrations and a complete performance of Bach’s St. John Passion, a “Passing of the Baton” concert with successor Matthew Halls on July 6, and two performances of Bach’s B Minor Mass in Portland’s Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on July 12, and, as the Festival finale in Eugene on July 14, in the Hult Center’s Silva Concert Hall.

Midori will perform July 7, but withdraw from the OBF July 8 concert for medical reasons. Photo: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

With deep regret, violinist Midori will withdraw from her July 8 Oregon Bach Festival orchestra concert for medical reasons.

In place of Bach’s violin concerto BWV 1042, Chee-Yun, the Korean-born violinist whose honors include winning the 1989 Young Concert Artists competition, will step in and perform the Mozart “Turkish” violin concerto with the OBF orchestra and conductor Jeffrey Kahane.

Midori will still take part in this year’s Festival, leading a master class July 6, which is open to the public, and performing a solo Bach concert Sunday, July 7 in Beall Concert Hall. She will withdraw from the “Let’s Talk” free public Q & A.

“I am delighted to be able to join the Oregon Bach Festival on the 6th and 7th of July,” Midori said. “However, it is a great disappointment to me to have to withdraw from the concert with Jeffrey Kahane and the Festival orchestra on July 8th, in order to take care of a long-delayed medical procedure that is necessary at that time.

“I am grateful to the entire Oregon Bach Festival organization for their kind understanding of this situation, and look forward to joining the Festival orchestra as soon as possible in a future season. I so much appreciate the patience of my listeners, supporters and colleagues in the interim.”

Tickets are still available for Midori’s July 7 solo recital. The program is part of the violinist’s year-long mission to perform all of Bach’s solo partitas and sonatas, celebrating the 30th anniversary of her New York Philharmonic debut—at age 11.

Chee-Yun

Chee-Yun’s first public performance at age 8 took place in her native Seoul, South Korea after she won the Grand Prize of the Korean Times Competition. She made her OBF debut in 2011 as concertmaster in a Mahler program conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

Winner of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, she has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, and the San Francisco, Toronto, Houston, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and National symphony orchestras.

She was featured in the Kennedy Center’s “Salute to Slava” gala honoring Mstislav Rostropovich, the Mostly Mozart Festival’s tour to Japan, and a performance with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas in the inaugural season of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Away from her concert tours, Chee-Yun is an Artist-in-Residence and Professor of Violin at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Two other works on the July 8 orchestra program remain as programmed: Haydn’s Symphony No. 99 and Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto with Kahane as soloist.

Midori at the Oregon Bach Festival

Violin Master Class

2 pm Saturday July 6, Beall Hall (free)

Bach solo recital

3 pm Sunday July 7, Beall Hall ($62-$15)

Chee-Yun at the Oregon Bach Festival

Let’s Talk

12 pm Monday, July 8, The Studio in the Hult Center (free)

Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven

OBF Orchestra, Jeffrey Kahane, conductor

7:30 pm, Silva Concert Hall ($62, $49, $38, $29, $15)

The 2013 event June 24-July 14 celebrates Helmuth Rilling’s 80th birthday and honors his 44th and concluding season as artistic director.

Rilling, who turns 80 on May 29, conducts Beethoven’s monumental Missa Solemnis as the opening concert, Bach’s St John Passion in four lecture-demonstrations and a full concert, and Bach’s B Minor Mass in Portland and Eugene as the Festival finale.

Among the guest artists are violinists Midori and Chee-Yun, pianist/conductor Jeffrey Kahane, the Chuang/Levin piano duo, L.A-based baroque group Bach’s Circle, the Hohenstaufen Quartet (which includes Rilling’s daughters Rahel and Sara), the Czech duo Radim Zenkl and Leo Chern, and soprano Tamara Wilson.

Matthew Halls, who will succeed Rilling as artistic director immediately following the Festival, conducts a “Night at the Opera” July 2 and shares the podium with Rilling in a “Passing of the Baton” July 6, both in Eugene’s 2,430-seat Silva Concert Hall.

Halls also serves as harpsichord soloist in a four-city, all-Bach tour with period-music specialist Monica Huggett and the Portland Baroque Orchestra.

Tickets are available online, over the counter, and by phone through all ticket outlets and event box offices:

Eugene concerts (26) and July 10 Corvallis
Hult Center for the Performing Arts 541.682.5000.

Portland concerts (4) and June 24 Ashland
University of Oregon Ticket Office 541.346.4363.
Tickets for 7/12 B Minor Mass-Portland also available at the PCPA box office, Portland.

Bend (6/25 Bach’s Circle)
Tower Theatre  541.317.0700

Florence (7/11 PBO-All-Bach)
Florence Events Center  541.997.1994

In all the University of Oregon event will produce 31 concerts with more than 50 overall events including lectures, films and gatherings over three full weeks.

Today in Salem the Oregon House of Representatives unanimously passed joint resolutions honoring Helmuth Rilling and Royce Saltzman in this celebratory OBF year.

Rep. Phil Barnhart greets Royce Saltzman and John Evans on the floor of the Oregon legislature

State representative Phil Barnhart took the occasion of University of Oregon day in the capitol to honor the Festival cofounders in Helmuth’s final year as artistic director. As a prelude to the vote, the sounds of Bach echoed through the house floor as the Oregon Brass Quintet played the Gavottes from Bach’s Orchestral suite No. 3, arranged by OBF trumpeter Brian McWhorter.

In his remarks, Rep. Barnhart cited the accomplishments of both men, but emphasized their commitment to education.

“Helmuth and Royce have built into the Festival education opportunities at every level from novice to professional,” he said, “making our state known throughout the music world as a place where, through music, one becomes enriched, not  just  entertained.”

“I’m deeply honored,” replied Royce, who attended the vote. “In my view this is a wonderful gesture by Phil, and his colleagues John Lively, Nancy Nathanson, Chris Edwards, and Floyd Prozanski to bring to the attention of the whole state the achievements and work done by Helmuth, the University, and all the artists, audiences, donors, and volunteers who have contributed to the Festival.”

The joint resolutions will next be presented to the state senate for vote and Governor Kitzhaber to be signed into law.

See the full text of the resolutions

Helmuth Rilling
http://www.leg.state.or.us/13reg/measpdf/hcr1.dir/hcr0021.intro.pdf

Royce Saltzman
http://www.leg.state.or.us/13reg/measpdf/hcr1.dir/hcr0022.intro.pdf

At the time that Beethoven wrote Opus 131 it was considered fiendishly difficult,” says violinist Colin Jacobsen of Brooklyn Rider. “When told by the musicians who first played it that it was really difficult, he said ‘I’m not writing it for you, I’m writing it for the future.”

The New York-based quartet, in the final ChamberMusic@Beall concert Sunday, April 7 at 3 pm, may very well emblemize that future.

Praised for its “stunningly imaginative” performances (Lucid Culture), the adventurous, intrepid string quartet  combines a wildly eclectic repertoire with a gripping performance style that continues to attract legions of fans and draw critical acclaim from classical, world, and rock critics.

NPR credits Brooklyn Rider with “recreating the 300-year-old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble,” and Vice likens Brooklyn Rider to “motocross daredevils who never screw up a stunt.”

At home in both clubs and concert halls, Brooklyn Rider has appeared in venues as varied as New York City’s Joe’s Pub, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Japan’s Todai-ji, the Library of Congress, and the South By Southwest Festival.

Through creative programming and global collaborations, Brooklyn Rider’s “down-to-earth demeanor…demystifies contemporary classical music and invites everyone into the tent” (Time Out New York).

Beethoven’s Opus 131 is the program’s finale and is preceded by Brooklyn Rider’s group composition Seven Steps, upon which it was modeled. Like the Beethoven, it’s divided into seven movements, but it also suggests the spiritual world that Beethoven explored in his later works—in addition to all of the Biblical references to seven, the Buddha was said to have taken seven steps at birth.

The program also includes an original by Rider violinist Colin Jacobson, Bartok’s String Quartet No. 2, and “Budget Bulgar” by contemporary composer Ljova Zhurban, a fiery Klezmer tune inspired by Pete Sokolow, the king of Jewish weddings in New York.

Tickets are $17-$39 and $10 for students. Order online or call 541.682.5000.

In the Digital Bach Project’s new St. Matthew initiative, a listener can actively plumb the depths of the great musical drama in a nearly limitless multimedia experience.

Officially launched on March 21 (Bach’s Birthday) at www.digitalbach.com, the new site incorporates high definition video of conductor Helmuth Rilling’s complete St. Matthew lecture-concerts; poetry, artwork, photography, and scholarship; and a line-by-line animation of the libretto available in 15 languages, set to Rilling’s 1999 recording.

The St. Matthew Passion joins the project’s similar explorations of Bach’s B Minor Mass and Goldberg Variations. John Evans of the Oregon Bach Festival, the site’s executive producer, sees the new component as a fitting prelude to the 2013 Festival, Rilling’s last as artistic director.

“Education has always been paramount to our Festival and to Helmuth Rilling,” Evans said. “This combination of his insights, the scholarship, and the beauty of the interactive elements opens new possibilities in understanding one of the great achievements of western art.”

Within the St. Matthew’s “Cuepoints” section the focal point is a visual representation of a 1681 bible edited and annotated by Abraham Calov, a leading theologian of the time. Page by page, viewers can study Bach’s libretto matched against the German “Calov” bible while hearing the corresponding passage of the music.

Music theorist Tim Smith, the site’s chief programmer and editor, aims for audiences to revisit Bach’s Passion in its original context. “All the elements relate to Passion music’s place in the Lutheran liturgy and how Bach’s congregation might have heard the work,” said Smith, who also authored the project’s B Minor and Goldberg interactive elements.

“I hope to nudge those who perform and love the St. Matthew to more awareness of its existence, and genesis, as an artifact of faith.”

In addition to the animated text study, the St. Matthew project includes

• Rilling’s full three hours of lecture-demonstrations recorded at the 2012 Oregon Bach Festival in high definition video, divided into four parts and 26 chapters.
• Translations of the libretto in 15 languages, including Indonesian, Hebrew, Russian, Hungarian, Swedish, and Swahili. A 16th—Welsh—is to come.
• Nearly 100 pages of scholarly essays and texts, including a sermon by Martin Luther and reflections by poet John Reeves.
• Virtual tours of both the St. Nicholas and St. Thomas churches in Leipzig, where Bach was responsible for the music.
• Interactive music notation and text of the eight different Lutheran chorales Bach incorporated into the score.
• “Stations of the Cross,” a five-day listening guide containing artwork by sculptor Alan Baughman.
• Rilling’s complete Hänssler CD recording featuring the Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, and soloists Michael Schade (Evangelist), Christiane Oelze, Ingeborg Danz, Matthias Goerne, and Thomas Quasthoff.

Partners in the Digital Bach Project include the Oregon Bach Festival, University of Oregon, Hänssler Classic, and Northern Arizona University, where Smith is on faculty. The project is underwritten by Hinkle Charitable Foundation.

Note: the Cuepoints interactive feature requires Flash.

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In 30 concerts and almost 60 total events June 24-July 14 we celebrate Helmuth Rilling’s 44th and concluding season as artistic director.

Jeffrey Kahane conducts July 8

Key works include Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis; a “Night at the Opera” of works by Verdi, Wagner, and Britten featuring soprano Tamara Wilson and conductor Matthew Halls; and concertos with violinist Midori and pianist/conductor Jeffrey Kahane. 

On July 6, Rilling will ceremoniously pass the baton to his successor Halls in a concert where they share the podium in works by Bach, Brahms, and Mendelssohn.

In the finale, July 12 in Portland and July 14 in Eugene, Rilling conducts Bach’s B Minor Mass, followed by a community reception in the Hult lobby.

The latest addition to the schedule is a night of European folk music by the Czech tandem of Radim Zenkl and Leo Chern June 29. Eight chamber music concerts include an art song soiree, the piano duo of Ya-Fei Chuang and Robert Levin, solo recitals by Midori and Kahane, an all-Bach program by the Portland Baroque Orchestra, and the Hohenstaufen Quartet, whose members include Rilling’s daughters Rahel and Sara.

Rilling conducts Bach’s St. John Passion in a four-part lecture series July 1-8 and in a full performance July 10.

With concerts in Eugene, Portland, Ashland, Bend, Corvallis, and Florence, the Festival continues its outreach to audiences throughout the state.

Anyone can become a member of the Friends of the Festival during this advance period. To order, donate, or see more information, call 541.346.5666 or visit our tickets page, oregonbachfestival.com/tickets.

Download a print version (low resolution)

Paul Jacobs performs July 7. Photo: Christina Wilton

Among the featured artists are conductor Helmuth Rilling with the Oregon Bach Festival chorus, orchestra, and soloists; organ virtuoso Paul Jacobs; and the Portland Baroque Orchestra with Monica Huggett and special guest Matthew Halls, who becomes the Festival’s next artistic director later this year.

A performance by the Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy, the Oregon Bach Festival’s national high school choir, completes the four-concert Portland series, in its sixth season.

BachFest PDX tickets go on sale Tuesday March 12 to contributing Friends of the Oregon Bach Festival, May 14 to the broad public.

The Oregon Bach Festival is a program of the University of Oregon, and its BachFest PDX is sponsored in part by All Classical radio. For more information see www.bachfestpdx.com or call 800-457-1486.

BachFest PDX concert schedule

Paul Jacobs All-Bach organ recital

Sunday, July 7, 5:30 pm
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
Tickets $21 advance, $28 door

The only organ soloist ever to receive a Grammy Award (2011), Jacobs made musical history at the age of 23 when he performed the complete organ works of J.S. Bach in an 18-hour non-stop marathon. Here he takes to Trinity’s magnificent Rosales organ for seven of Bach’s most challenging keyboard works.

Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy

Monday, July 8, 5:30 pm
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
Tickets $10

The 90 singers of this national choral training program offer choral classics including O Schone Nacht by Brahms, Turn the World Around by Harry Belafonte, Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb with Trinity organist Michael Kleinschmidt, and Make our Garden Grow from Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. Anton Armstrong of St. Olaf College directs the choir.

PBO, Huggett, Halls, and Bach

Tuesday, July 9, 7:30 pm
First Baptist Church
Tickets $49, $38, $29

Among Bach’s wizardly works performed by violinist/director Monica Huggett and her Portland Baroque Orchestra are the beloved Orchestral Suite No 3, with its famous Air, and Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, with its near-superhuman harpsichord solo. Guest soloist Matthew Halls’ 2012 Linn Records CD of Bach’s harpsichord concertos was a BBC Music Magazine Disc of the Month.

Bach: B Minor Mass

Friday, July 12, 7:30 pm
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Tickets $78, $65, $53, $42, $29

Helmuth Rilling, one of the world’s renowned Bach interpreters, cofounded the Oregon Bach Festival in 1970. He concludes his tenure as artistic director with the B Minor Mass, the grand and glorious summation of Bach’s life, faith, and craft. Fronting the orchestra and chorus are soloists Julia Wagner, Roxana Constantinescu, Nicholas Phan, Tobias Berndt, and Tyler Duncan. Rilling and forces reprise the program July 14 in Eugene as the Festival finale.

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