Feb. 10, 1998 School of Music Contact Scott Barkhurst (541) 346-1163 or John R. Crosiar 346-3135 EUGENE--Musical offerings this week at the University of Oregon School of Music, 961 E. 18th Ave., run the gamut from gospel music, jazz improvisation, musical fairy tales and Near Eastern music to classical vocal and piano artistry, popular vocal jazz and Balinese percussion. For more information, call the UO School of Music weekdays at (541) 346-5678. To confirm concert times and ticket information, call GuardLine from a Touch-Tone phone at 485-2000, ext. 2533, for a 24-hours-a-day taped message of the week's events. Friday, Feb. 20--The University Gospel Choir The University Gospel Choir, under the direction of Julia Neufeld, will give a concert at 7 p.m. in Eugene's First Baptist Church, 868 High St. (corner of Broadway and High). Tickets, available at the door, are $5 general admission, $3 for students and senior citizens. The Gospel Choir, the newest choral ensemble at the School of Music, already has grown to more than 200 voices. Their program will include "On Holy Ground," "In God's Will," "Time Ain't Long," "Heaven" and "The Drum, from Africa to America." Friday, Feb. 20--Chamber Jazz Improvisations Faculty and guest artists will present an evening of contemporary chamber jazz improvisations at 8 p.m. in Beall Hall. Tickets, available at the door, are $7 general admission and $4 for students and senior citizens. Heading the lineup of performers are Synergy recording artists Art Lande, piano, and Mark Miller, saxophones and flutes. Lande and Miller have been playing music together since the 1970s when Miller joined Lande's Bay Area jazz group, Rubisa Patrol. Lande is a pianist, composer, drummer and former band leader. Miller has performed in the United States, Europe and Japan, contributing to more than a dozen recordings. Over the years the two have evolved a precise improvisational language drawn from jazz, 20th-century classical music and various world music traditions. The San Francisco Examiner called their performance "weird and wonderful ... a mesmerizing spiritual experience." Joining Lande and Miller on the program are UO jazz percussion instructor Chris Lee and his wife, vocalist/cellist Colleen O'Brien. As the performing duo Primal Mates, Lee and O'Brien have produced four recordings since 1980, featuring contemporary chamber jazz in which vibes, voice, cello and percussion are used to create a unique repertoire. Saturday, Feb. 21--Children's Concert Series: Fairy Tales in Song "Fairy Tales in Song" will entertain youngsters with musical folklore and fairy tales in a Children's Concert Series program. The one-hour program begins at 10:30 a.m. in Beall Concert Hall. Tickets, available at the door, are $3 for adults, $2 for children and students, or $5 for a family ticket. The program features performances by voice students from the School of Music, including "Curly Locks" sung by Daun Hayes, an African folk tale/folk song performed by Timothy Njoora, "The Doll Song" sung by Eugene Opera star Bereniece Jones, a Brazilian folk tale featuring Angelo Dias, and "Goodbye to a Greedy Dragon," featuring Val Meidinger. Saturday, Feb. 21--World Music Series: Music of the Near East Jihad Racy and Souhail Kaspar will be the featured artists in a World Music Series concert of music from the Near East. Concert time is 8 p.m. in Beall Hall. Tickets, available at the door, are $10 general admission and $8 for students and senior citizens. The guest artists also will present a free lecture-demonstration at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, in the Browsing Room of the Knight Library, 1501 Kincaid St.) Racy, born in Lebanon, is a virtuoso performer, composer and scholar of Middle Eastern music. He has performed on the nay, buzuq, and other traditional Arab instruments in major concert halls, and has composed and performed for the Kronos Quartet and the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra, as well as for feature and documentary films. His music has been released on cassettes and CDs, including three Lyrichord albums, "Ancient Egypt," "Taqasim" and "Mystical Legacies." A professor of ethnomusicology at UCLA, Racy is internationally known for his extensive research and numerous scholarly publications on the music of the Near East. Kaspar, also born in Lebanon, received his early musical training in Syria. He is a highly acclaimed Middle Eastern percussionist, and has performed extensively in North America with celebrated ensembles and vocalists. Since the late 1970s he has appeared with Racy at many cultural events, major concert halls, master classes and workshops throughout the United States. He is a recipient of the Durfee Music Fellowship given to master musicians and teachers. Sunday, Feb. 22--Faculty Artist Series: Milagro Vargas and Victor Steinhardt Internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Milagro Vargas and pianist Victor Steinhardt will give a Faculty Artist Series concert at 4 p.m. in Beall Hall. Tickets, available at the door, are $7 general admission and $4 for students and senior citizens. Vargas will perform groups of songs by several composers, including Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Josephine Lang and Gabriel Fauré, and a set of seven Spanish folk songs by Manuel de Falla. Vargas has been an associate professor of voice at the University of Oregon since 1992. A native of New York, she holds an undergraduate degree from the Oberlin School of Music and a master's degree from the Eastman School of Music. Vargas was a soloist with the Stuttgart Opera from 1983-92, and her other operatic engagements include Komische Oper (Berlin), Heidelberg Schlossfest and Opera de Bastille (Paris), and appearances at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater and Leningrad's Kirov. She has soloed with the Philadelphia, American Composer's and Beethoven Halle (Bonn) orchestras, Residentie Orkest (The Hague) and the Saint Luke's Chamber Players. She has been a frequent guest artist for the Great Performer's Series at Lincoln Center. Her many festival appearances include the Amsterdam Chamber Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Chicago Chamber Players, Da Camera and festivals at Aspen, Marlboro and Cabrillo. Steinhardt is professor of piano at the University of Oregon. One of this area's most popular and acclaimed pianists, he has been a featured artist at the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival in California, the Sun Valley Music Festival in Idaho, the Chamber Music Northwest Series in Portland, Bargemusic chamber series in New York, the Mohawk Trail Concerts in Massachusetts, and the Oregon Bach Festival. Monday, Feb. 23--Guest Artists: Cheryl Bentyne and Corey Allen Pop vocal star Cheryl Bentyne of The Manhattan Transfer and keyboard artist Corey Allen will be featured along with the Oregon Vocal Jazz Ensemble in a concert at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall. Tickets--$10 general admission and $8 for students and senior citizens--are available in advance from The Musician's Depot, 92 Centennial Loop, Eugene, or at the door. Bentyne and Allen (who are husband and wife) will perform both familiar and new material, including a sneak preview of selections from Bentyne's next recording project. "We plan to push the envelope as often as possible," says Allen, who has arranged all the songs. "People will hear a lot of new stuff." Allen will perform on the Kurzweil 12 keyboard, courtesy of The Musician's Depot, which is co-sponsoring the concert. Bentyne and Allen each will conduct a jazz workshop at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the School of Music. For more information on the workshops, contact Nancy Blake, 485-8466. Bentyne's life changed dramatically when she joined The Manhattan Transfer in 1979. Suddenly, she was part of a group with international prominence, singing on great stages to audiences in the thousands, performing all over the world, being asked for autographs and winning 10 Grammy awards with the group. In the Transfer's "Vocalese" album, Bentyne won her own Grammy for "Another Night in Tunisia" (with Bobby McFerrin). In 1988, Bentyne expanded her musical adventures beyond the Transfer. She appeared on bassist Rob Wasserman's highly acclaimed "Duets" album and was nominated for Best Female Jazz Singer by Downbeat magazine. In 1992, she released her first solo album, "Something Cool," on Columbia Records. She recently has taken her music to the symphonic stage, performing with the St. Louis and the Boston pops orchestras. Allen's professional background covers the entire spectrum of the music business--record producer, musical director, composer, performer and arranger. His TV credits include compositions and arrangements for "The Tonight Show," "Late Show with Joan Rivers," "Eye On Hollywood" and "The Pat Sajak Show." He arranged music for Diana Ross' 1989 concert tour; was musical director for Mitzi Gaynor; musical director and arranger for a joint tour of the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the musical "The All Nite Strut," and regularly conducts and arranges for The Manhattan Transfer. As a keyboardist, Allen has performed with some of the most successful names in jazz and show business--Doc Severinsen, Chuck Mangione, Kim Basinger, Jack Jones, Arthur Fiedler, Bob Berg and many others. Allen is currently a performing artist for Kurzweil Music Systems and as such, helped develop Kurzweil's newest addition to their home product line, the Mark 12. He regularly performs concerts and clinics throughout the United States and Canada. Tuesday, Feb. 24--Pacific Rim Gamelan The Pacific Rim Gamelan, a Balinese percussion orchestra, will present a program of world premieres at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall. Tickets are $5 general admission and $3 students and seniors, available at the door. Directed by UO Associate Professor Robert Kyr, the Pacific Rim Gamelan is made up of approximately a dozen UO student musicians performing authentic Indonesian bells and gongs, as well as other instruments from around the world. The unique aspect of the ensemble is reflected in the works performed; all are composed by the students, either collectively or individually. As a result, the musical traditions of Indonesia and North America come together to create music that is cross-cultural and entirely new. Thursday, Feb. 26--The University Gospel Ensemble The University Gospel Ensemble, under the direction of John Gainer, will celebrate its 15th anniversary with a concert at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall. Tickets, available at the door, are $5 general admission and $3 for students and senior citizens. The University Gospel Ensemble, one of the UO's most popular ensembles for years, now is made up of advanced singers performing more difficult pieces from the traditional and contemporary African-American gospel repertoire. Selections on their program include "He's Up There," "Lift the Savior Up," "All I Need," "Love Paid the Price," "Kum Ba Ya," "Believe," "Miracles" and more. Gospel Ensemble alumni also will join the choir for a portion of the anniversary concert. Because of the popularity of the gospel programs, patrons are advised to arrive early; the box office at Beall Hall will open at 7 p.m. -30- #P-2125/A&E