Eugene, Oregon

Hear and now, music lovers have a variety of concert options in Eugene and Lane County.

For instance, there is the Eugene Symphony, which was founded in 1966 and performs most of its concerts at the 2,500-seat Hult Center for the Performing Arts. The orchestra plays in front of 27,000 classical music fans each year, and the Hult Center enjoys attendances of more than 91 percent capacity whenever the symphony takes the stage.

Then there are the Oregon Mozart Players. The group performs six concerts each year during its season that runs from October-May, performing in the more intimate 500-seat Soreng Theater inside the Hult Center.

“Everyone thinks that because of our name, we just perform Mozart music – but that isn’t true,” says Larry Wayte, executive director of the Oregon Mozart Players. “We feature a broad spectrum of music, playing everything from baroque to 20th century. All of our musicians are paid, and many also perform for the Eugene Symphony.”

Wayte says most of the group’s concerts also feature soloists who travel to Eugene from throughout the United States.

“Our group’s artistic director, Glenn Cortese, is a conductor and composer from New York who does all of our programming," Wayte says. "Glenn has a broad range of musical interests and provides the Oregon Mozart Players with an excellent eclectic concert lineup each season.”

Wayte says he believes Eugene/Lane County is an ideal community for musicians because it embraces all forms of the arts.

“There are a surprising amount of performance art companies and several nice venues here,” Wayte says. “In addition, Eugene functions as the cultural capital of central Oregon because Portland is two hours away, which is too far for most people to attend concerts.”

Meanwhile, the city is also home to the Oregon Bach Festival, an annual celebration of 18th century composer Johann Sebastian Bach. The event takes place 17 days each summer, on the University of Oregon campus and at the Hult Center.

As for other destinations and musical events in Eugene, the Cuthbert Amphitheatre hosts a number of outdoor performances each year, while another specific celebration is the Oregon Festival of American Music that occurs each August. The festival takes place in a former Baptist church that has an 800-seat concert hall, a 175-seat recital hall and two dance studios.

“We are very involved with the overall arts scene in Eugene; in fact, my wife, Ginevra, was instrumental in also helping to found both the Eugene Opera and the Eugene Ballet Company,” says James Ralph, executive director of the John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts, which presents the annual Oregon Festival of American Music. “Today, our Institute also runs a community music school that averages 550 students each week. Yes, the love of music is truly alive in this community.”