EUGENE–Oregon Bach Festival co-founder and artistic director Helmuth Rilling will receive more than applause after he conducts the final concert of the 1999 festival, Mahler’s "Resurrection," on Sunday, July 11.

At the end of the 4 p.m. concert at Silva Concert Hall in the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer and members of the UO faculty will present Rilling with the university’s highest distinction, an honorary doctoral degree.

"Helmuth Rilling has done much more than keep the legacy of Bach alive," says Frohnmayer. "Rilling’s artistry gives the spirit and soaring architecture of Bach’s genius a capacity to reinvigorate our souls. Through his talents as a conductor and educator, we learn the power of a lasting legacy to conductors, performers and grateful audiences."

This will be only the third honorary doctorate the UO has granted in the past 50 years. Previous recipients were Mark Hatfield, former U.S. senator and Oregon governor, in 1997 and Corazon Aquino, former president of the Philippines, in 1995.

The university conveys this rare honor only to those who have performed extraordinary service to the nation or the world. The faculty-staff committee that selects recipients of the university’s annual Distinguished Service Awards also occasionally recommends awarding an honorary doctorate. The recommendation must be approved by the University Senate and the Oregon State Board of Higher Education.

The university normally presents honorary doctorates along with other awards during its June commencement ceremonies. But, because Rilling’s international performance schedule prevented his attending spring commencement, he will receive the honor during the Oregon Bach Festival.

The July 11 presentation will include an academic processional with faculty members in full regalia.

When Rilling, a native of Stuttgart, Germany, first came to Eugene 30 years ago, he was a talented organist and aspiring conductor in his late 30s. Today, he is recognized around the world as one of the leading conductors and teachers of the works of J. S. Bach.

In addition to directing the International Bachakademie Stuttgart and three decades of work with the Oregon Bach Festival, Rilling has been a guest conductor with major orchestras around the world. He also has conducted Bach academies in such cities as Buenos Aires, Cracow, Prague, Moscow, Budapest and Tokyo.

A believer in the power of music to cross political and ethnic boundaries, Rilling was the first German conductor to direct the Israeli Philharmonic. In 1995, he received the Theodor Heuss Prize for advancing reconciliation and international understanding.

Rilling co-founded the Oregon Bach Festival at the UO School of Music in 1970 with Royce Saltzman, a UO professor emeritus of music who still serves as executive director of the festival. From a simple workshop for choral musicians, the festival has grown into one of the most expansive celebrations of Bach’s works and influence in America, with a catalog of award-winning compact disc recordings, nationally syndicated broadcasts, internationally recognized performers, and an annual worldwide audience of 30,000 for its two summer weeks of concerts.

Teaching has always been a central focus of Rilling’s work, and the Oregon Bach Festival reflects that interest, offering extensive instructional programs for young composers, conductors and musicians and audience education programs for all ages.

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