NOTE TO EDITORS: Scanned images of Gregory Mason and the Oregon Brass Quintet are available by calling Scott Barkhurst at (541) 346-1163.

EUGENE–A Baroque ensemble hailed as the United Kingdom’s most dynamic, theatrical and outrageously different, headlines the five concerts scheduled this week at the University of Oregon School of Music, 961 E. 18th Ave. Also on tap are performances featuring jazz and French and Latin chamber music, as well as repertoire for wind ensemble and brass quintet.

For more information, call the music school 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.

The Oregon Brass Quintet will give a Faculty Artist Series recital at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall, 961 E. 18th Ave. Tickets, available at the door, are $7 general admission and $4 for students and senior citizens.

The group will perform "Quintet No. 3" by Victor Ewald, Anthony Plog’s "Four Sketches," and selections from "West Side Story" by Leonard Bernstein. Members of the quintet are trumpeters Steven Dunn and David Bender, hornist Ellen Campbell, trombonist Jeffrey Williams and tubist Drew Gamet.

Red Priest, hailed as the United Kingdom’s most dynamic, theatrical and outrageously different Baroque ensemble, will give a Chamber Music Series concert titled "Priest on the Run" at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall.

Reserved-seat tickets range from $10 to $25, available in advance from the Hult Center, (541) 682-5000, or from the Ticket Office at the Erb Memorial Union, 1222 E. 13th Ave., 346-4363. A limited number of discounted student tickets will be sold at the music school the day of the concert.

The concert will be preceded by "Musical Insights" at 7 p.m., with Professor Robert Hurwitz offering a free audience-friendly talk about the evening’s repertoire, which includes "The Witches’ Dance" by Robert Johnson, "Mystery Sonata for Violin" by Heinrich Biber, "Variations for Solo Recorder" by Jacob Van Eyck and "Gypsy Sonata" by Telemann, as well as selections by Purcell, Bach, Vivaldi, Corelli and others.

Formed in 1997, Red Priest has developed a thrilling, no-holds-barred approach to music of the 16th through 18th centuries, delighting audiences in many of the world’s most prestigious festivals and concert halls. The group combines the extraordinary talents of Piers Adams (recorders), Julia Bishop (violin), Angela East (cello) and Howard Beach (harpsichord). Its programs are varied and colorful, with titles such as "Nightmare in Venice," "Wild Men of the Seicento" and "The Electric Baroque Show." The performers are attired in contemporary dress, move about the stage and talk frequently with the audience.

The result is an energetic and engaging performance, with enough surprises to keep the audience on its toes throughout. In the words of broadcaster and music critic George Pratt, "If nobody goes over the top, how will we know what lies on the other side?"

Red Priest is giving more than 50 concerts in 15 countries during its current season–including performances in London, York, Birmingham, Bruges, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Copenhagen, Lucerne, Kiev, Prague and New York–as well as radio and television broadcasts, and compact disc and video recordings.

The Oregon Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Associate Professor Robert Ponto, will give its winter 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 program includes "The Solitary Dancer" by Warren Benson, "Lincolnshire Posy" by Percy Grainger and a transcription of Henry Purcell’s "Funeral Music for Queen Mary." Graduate student conductor Suzanne Gindin will lead the ensemble in "After a Gentle Rain" by Anthony Ianncone.

Pianist Gregory Mason will be joined by four faculty colleagues in a Faculty Artist Series concert titled "An Evening of French and Latin Chamber Music." The program begins at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall. Tickets, available at the door, are $7 general admission and $4 for students and senior citizens.

Mason, who assembled the program, says it contains "lots of color, excitement and razzle-dazzle." Latin chamber music is not performed often, particularly in this country, and the French repertoire adds a different, more urbane, ingredient to the mix. Selections include "Papeana No. 1 and No. 2" by Alberto Ginastera, "Sonata for Oboe" by Francis Poulenc, "Le Grand Tango" by Astor Piazzolla and a show-stopping finale, "Violin Sonata in D Minor" by Camille Saint-Saëns.

Joining Mason will be violinists Kathryn Lucktenberg and Fritz Gearhart, oboist J. Robert Moore and cellist Steven Pologe, all of whom are members of the UO music faculty.

Mason is a member of the UO piano faculty, where he teaches accompanying and chamber music. Among his recital credits are tours of Central and South America; performances in Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon; and concerts at the Casals Festival, the United Nations, the Yale Collection of Historic Instruments and Carnegie Recital Hall. Mason has also given recitals in Chicago, Cincinnati, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and Reno, and has done a PBS recital with baritone William Warfield.

Mason worked for seven years as coach and accompanist in New York City, where he was pianist for the American Music Competition, the Vincent La Selva opera classes at the Juilliard School, and a Placido Domingo master class at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1999, Mason performed a recital of German lieder in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall with Grammy Award-winning soprano Susan Dunn.

The Oregon Jazz Ensemble will be the featured ensemble in a children’s program titled "Music and All That Jazz." 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.

Steve Owen, director of jazz studies, will lead the program. The Oregon Jazz Ensemble, the premier jazz instrumental group at the School of Music, will demonstrate how music can imitate certain sounds, such as a train in Duke Ellington’s "Happy Go Lucky Local." They also will teach youngsters in the audience the song "I Am a Fine Musician" and then turn it into a jazz version.

The UO Children’s Concert Series is designed to introduce young people and their parents to different kinds of music and help them develop good listening skills. For more information, contact Kathleen Jacobi-Karna at 346-3769 or the music school’s publicity office at 346-5678.

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