Beginnings
Shaped by Memories
Saturday, October 31 at 2:00 p.m.
Beall Concert Hall | Eugene, Oregon
Please join us for a special community remembrance honoring those whose love and memories continue to shape our lives.
From our soloist, Camille Ortiz - "The act of honoring our ancestors through acts of joyful remembrance is an interweaved thread shared across many cultures and traditions around the world. In my family, song has always been a major channel to pass down our Puerto Rican heritage through generations. I'm honored to share Barber's Knoxville with you and hope you'll join us in celebrating the people whose love and legacy continue to shape our lives."
In the spirit of Día de los Muertos and All Souls' Day, guests are warmly invited to bring a small photograph of a loved one they wish to remember. Before the concert, you are welcome to place it on our community remembrance altar, ofrenda, as we celebrate the enduring connections between memory, family, and music.
Hope, memory, and youthful discovery shape our first program of the season. Copland’s beloved Appalachian Spring opens the program with music of hope and open horizons, portraying a young couple building their life together on the American frontier. Barber’s tender Knoxville: Summer of 1915 follows, setting James Agee’s nostalgic portrait of childhood on a warm southern evening. We conclude with Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, written when the composer was just nineteen—a work filled with radiance, energy, and the unmistakable voice of a young master coming into his own.
PROGRAM
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring
Samuel Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Featuring Camille Ortiz, Soprano
Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major
Camille Ortiz
Puerto Rican soprano Camille Ortiz has garnered international acclaim while captivating audiences in opera and concert. A versatile artist, she equally thrives as a baroque specialist or with standard repertoire, all the while championing new works. She was recently seen as Pamina in Seattle Opera’s Barrie Kosky production of Mozart's The Magic Flute (Christine Brandes conducting; Erik Friedman directing). She has appeared with Opera Lafayette in a Kennedy Center debut, Boston Baroque, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale (Nicholas McGegan conducting), Portland Baroque Orchestra (John Butt conducting), Ars Lyrica Houston, Houston Early Music, The Newberry Consort, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival (Jos van Veldhoven conducting), San Diego Early Music Society, Arizona Early Music, and Music Before 1800 Series (these last three on tour with Ars Lyrica), Opera Orlando, Eugene Opera, Gulfshore Opera, Dallas Bach Society, Festival of the Aegean in Greece, Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina (John Rutter conducting), and at Carnegie Hall with Midam International. An avid recitalist and master teacher of Latin American art song and beyond, she has participated in residencies and festivals at prestigious universities in the United States. She was the soprano soloist for the premier of Colin Pip Dixon’s Invocation with The Elsewhere Ensemble, and currently serves on the voice faculty at University of Oregon, School of Music and Dance.
