On the occasion of the completion of our long-planned Jaqua Concert Hall remodel, The Shedd Institute is formally reengaging the world of art music with a new series, Shedd Classical. European art music, and especially the European art music tradition in the 20th century and the Western Hemisphere, has been in the DNA of The Shedd since our founding in 1993, and although we've touched upon this dimension of our musical heritage regularly over the years as a part of our commitment to championing and celebrating the rich diversity of American music, we have missed the close and intensive involvement with this tradition during the past decade. We are thrilled to be back!
Each year, in addition to our other performance series, we will offer a series of concerts, called Shedd Classical, specifically dedicated to concerts in the European art music tradition. We definitely "lean" American, but certainly not exclusively so. Our mission for our work in classical music is as it has always been with everything we take on -- to discover and celebrate the best, most vital, and most meaningful and compelling music in any tradition, be it Bluegrass, jazz, rock, American Songbook, Hawai'ian, classical or whatever… That was our mission back in 1993 when we were almost exclusively a classical music summer festival. And that is our mission today! We are thrilled to add, formally, the European art music tradition back into our game, and to be a part once again of the rich mix of classical music which happens each year in the Eugene-Springfield community. We were founded because we felt we had a unique contribution to make to the classical music mix back in the early 1990s, and we believe that is still true today. Please join check out our programs. We are eager to share them with you!
Shedd Classical will feature a variety of concerts and artists. Some will be self-produced featuring wonderful local artists with whom we work on a wide variety of projects each year; others we will present, featuring artists from around the world. A very special component of Shedd Classical will be the microphilharmonic, a unique chamber music ensemble created by Michael Anderson and Alice Blankenship. At least 2 concerts each year--our goal is three!--in Shedd Classical will feature the microphilharmonic and Michael's intriguing vision. Please join us!