Special Events

Discovering Daphnis Festival Event Schedule
April 4-10, 2008

Please join the Eugene Symphony for its Discovering Daphnis Festival, a weeklong festival of free, multidisciplinary arts events, culminating in the Symphony’s Eugene premiere of Maurice Ravel’s rarely performed masterwork Daphnis and Chloé. All festival activities are free and open to the public and include live dance and music performances, visual art and presentations by leading experts on music and artwork inspired by Ravel.

Friday, March 28:

• 11:55 a.m. Artsline Interview with executive director Paul Winberg on KWAX (91.1 fm).

Friday, April 4:

• 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Eugene Symphony and Willamalane co-present a youth art show at Eugene’s First Friday Artwalk at the Hult Center lobby (7th and Willamette).
  Celebrity jurors select murals created by four Springfield schools, whose students were inspired to create the murals by listening to Ravel’s symphonic score of “Daphnis and Chloe.” The murals will be displayed in the Hult Center’s lobby through April 11.
• 6:00 - 6:45 p.m. Eugene Contemporary Chamber Ensemble (ECCE) performs music by Ravel at the Eugene Public Library’s downtown branch.
  
  
  • Program includes:
    • Introduction and Allegro
    • Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé
    • Duo for violin and cello
  • ECCE performers include:
    • Flute, Heidi Wait; clarinet, Anna Waite; Jill Windes; flute II, Amy Kerker; clarinet in A, Camille Perezselsky; harp, Laura Zaerr; violin I, Andrew Kam; violin II, Avril Javel; viola, Jayme Kurland; cello, Ralph Stricker-Chapman; cello, Joey Howe; soprano; piano, Ben Krause; Scott Ordway, director.

Sunday, April 6:

• 12:30 - 2:30 p.m. Free screening of the 2005 documentary Ballets Russes at The Bijou (492 E. 13th).
  For many, modern ballet began with the Ballets Russes of Monte Carlo, originally made up of Russian exiles from the Russian Revolution. Diaghilev of Ballets Russes commissioned Maurice Ravel to create a ballet score for the company, and this film tells the story of this landmark company with its stars as well as the power games, rivalries and tribulations that marked its turbulent history.

Monday, April 7:

• 11:54 - 12:08 p.m. Sound-Bytes at the Collier House on the UO Campus (1170 E. 13th Ave.).
  Sound-Bytes, a weekly new music series, has been one of the most talked about cultural events in Eugene. The seemingly odd start time of 11:54 a.m. allows the audience to listen to mini-concerts on their way to lunch! For this installment, the Advanced Dance Improvisation class under the direction of Steven J. Chatfield, PhD, UO Department of Dance, is performing “Dances that Tell a Story: Daphnis & Chloe.” The dancers will perform an improvisation score abstracted from the rich themes of this epic tale of romance. The improvisation will be accompanied by the contemporary music of Smoke City. Sound-Bytes is supported by the UO School of Music and Dance and the Oregon Humanities Center and is curated by Brian McWhorter and David Swigart.
• 8:00 p.m. University of Oregon Faculty and Student 20th Century French Music Recital at Beall Hall at the UO School of Music and Dance.
  
• The program includes:
• Germaine Tailleferre - Six Chansons Francaises
• Olivier Messiaen - Resurrection
• • Laura Decher Wayte, soprano
  • Nathalie Fortin, piano
• Paul Dukas - Villanelle for horn and Piano
• • Sarah Nommensen, horn
  • Hung Yun-Chu, piano
• Maurice Ravel - Chansons de Madecasses
• • Douglas Webster, baritone
  • Laura Barron, flute
  • Victor Steinhardt, piano
• Olivier Messiaen - Dieu Parmi Nous
• • John Jantzi, organ
• Maurice Ravel - Introduction and Allegro
• Maurice Ravel - Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé
• Maurice Ravel - Duo for violin and cello
• • Eugene Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Scott Ordway, director

Tuesday, April 8:

• 11:55 a.m. Artsline Interview with music director Giancarlo Guerrero on KWAX (91.1 fm).

Wednesday, April 9

• 11:55 a.m. Artsline Interview with guest violinist Jennifer Koh on KWAX (91.1 fm).
• 12:00 p.m. Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview with Giancarlo Guerrero and Jennifer Koh.

Thursday, April 10

• 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. Panel Discussion at the Student Forum at Beall Hall at the UO School of Music and Dance.
  Panelists from an array of disciplines discuss how the myth of “Daphnis and Chloe” has inspired so much art throughout the years. Panelists include Giancarlo Guerrero, Eugene Symphony music director and conductor; Kathleen Nicholson, Professor of Art History; Dr. P. Lowell Bowditch, UO Classics professor. The panel is moderated by KWAX’s Caitriona Bolster.
• 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Ballet Fantastique Demi-Concert at The Studio (lower level of the Hult Center).
  Ballet Fantastique company dancers and students perform original choreography to Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloe” score.
• 8:00 p.m. Eugene Symphony performance*
  Join maestro Giancarlo Guerrero, the Eugene Symphony Chorus, and charismatic guest violinist Jennifer Koh, for an exciting evening of music inspired by ballet.
• The program includes:
  • Karol Szymanowski - Violin Concerto
    • Jennifer Koh, violin
  • Maurice Ravel - Daphnis and Chloe, complete

*This is a ticketed event. Tickets start at $15. Buy now!