May 5, 1998 School of Music Contact Scott Barkhurst (541) 346-1163 or John R. Crosiar 346-3135 EUGENE--Jazz, gospel, percussion and band music, including a weekend celebration of the musical contributions of the late long-time UO band director Robert Vagner, are featured among eight events this week at the University of Oregon School of Music, 961 E. 18th Ave. 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, May 15--Guest Artists: The Kevin Hays Trio The Kevin Hays Trio will give a jazz concert/clinic at 3:15 p.m. in Room 186 of the Music Building, 961 E. 18th Ave. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend. Pianist Kevin Hays was born in New York City, working first with saxophonist Nick Brignola and the Harper Brothers. He has toured and recorded with Joshua Redman, Joe Henderson, Benny Golson and Roy Haynes. In 1995, he joined Sonny Rollins and in 1996, worked in guitarist John Scofield's group, making several international tours. Hays has several CDs under his belt on the Blue Note label. Bassist Doug Weiss has studied with Rufus Reid, and he has performed, toured and recorded with Toshiko Akiyoshi, Mose Allison, Marc Copland, Kenny Drew Jr., Billy Hart, Lee Konitz, Joe Williams and others. Drummer Jeff Ballard has worked with such artists as Bobby Hutcherson, Ray Charles and Freddie Hubbard. Since moving to New York, he has been an important figure on the jazz scene, performing with Danilo Perez, Buddy Montgomery, Dianne Shure and Lou Donaldson. Friday, May 15--The Oregon Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Bands The Oregon Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Bands will give a special Family Weekend jazz concert at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall, 961 E. 18th Ave. Tickets, available at the door, are $5 general admission and $3 for students and senior citizens. Heading the concert is the award-winning Oregon Jazz Ensemble, directed by Associate Professor Steve Owen. Jazz Lab Band II and Jazz Lab Band III, directed by graduate students Pat Dixon and Chad Sullivan, also will perform. The program will contain a wide selection of traditional and contemporary big band jazz, including music by Thad Jones, Maria Schneider, James Miley and others. Saturday and Sunday, May 16-17--Robert Vagner Celebration A two-day musical tribute to the late Robert Vagner, former music professor and director of bands at the University of Oregon, will be held at the School of Music. A concert by the Eugene Symphonic Band and the Oregon Wind Ensemble will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Beall Concert Hall, and a special Vagner Alumni Band will perform at 3 p.m. on Sunday, also in Beall Hall. Admission to both concerts is free and open to the public. An outstanding teacher, musician and conductor, Vagner served for more than a quarter century (1950-1978) as professor of clarinet and director of bands at the UO School of Music. Under his direction, the University of Oregon Wind Ensemble became a top-ranked musical organization, renowned for the high quality of its performances. During his tenure in Eugene, Vagner also founded the Eugene Symphonic Band, a community ensemble that still thrives today. Vagner served as president of the College Band Directors National Association and, in 1972, was awarded the Citation of Excellence by the National Band Association for outstanding contributions to bands and band music. In 1986, the Oregon Band Directors Association honored him with their Distinguished Service Award, the same year he received the Distinguished Master Teacher Award from the University of Oregon. For more information on the Vagner celebration activities, call 346-2138. Sunday, May 17--Voice Class Recital Voice students of Associate Professor Ann Tedards will perform in a free class recital at 2 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge at Gerlinger Hall, 1468 University St. Featured on the recital are graduate students Daun Hayes, Ling-guang Lin and Jeanie Neven and undergraduates Erin Anderson, Catherine Gunderson, Nicholas Kangas, Maria Karlin, Carrie Korn, Amber Naramore, Melody Vogel, Rose Wang and Stacy Winn. Monday, May 18--Oregon Percussion Ensemble Percussionist Charles Dowd will conduct the Oregon Percussion Ensemble in a concert of contemporary and avant-garde classical percussion chamber works 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 Oregon Percussion Ensemble is one of the premier contemporary ensembles on the West Coast, specializing in avant-garde classical percussion chamber music. The ensemble has been broadcast worldwide by WGBH Boston and, in 1996, was nominated for the Laurel Leaf Award by the American Composers Alliance in New York. The concert is titled "Rip-Off!" and the title selection is a work by San Francisco composer Richard Kvistad, a founding member of the Blackearth Percussion Group. The concert's guest artist is Los Angeles marimba-vibraphone virtuoso David Johnson, who is a former member of Blackearth and who now performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, California Ear Unit, XTET of Los Angeles and the Cabrillo Music Festival. Johnson will perform "Memoria e Fado" by Brazilian composer Egberto Gismonte. Also on the program is the world premiere of "Tapas" for six percussionists and voice by Elyzabeth Meade, a prolific composer working on her doctorate at the University of Oregon. Other selections include "Coyote Builds North America" by John Luther Adams, "Reflections on the Nature of Water" by Jacob Druckman, "Bonham" by Christopher Rouse, and "Encounters III" by William Kraft. Tuesday, May 19--Oregon Composers Forum The Oregon Composers Forum will present an evening of new music by graduate composition students at 8 p.m. in Beall Hall. Admission is free. The program consists of pieces written for brass octet, vocal quartet, solo guitar, jazz sextet, voice-piano duet and a variety of mixed ensembles involving strings, woodwinds and percussion instruments. Composers represented on the program include Joseph Fancher, Jared Burrows, Brian McCarren, David Tsai, Dima Gharaibeh and Daniel Heila. Wednesday, May 20--The Oregon Wind Ensemble The Oregon Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Associate Professor Robert Ponto, will give its spring 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 "Scherzo for a Bitter Moon" by Gregory Youtz; "When Jesus Wept" by William Schuman, based on the music of William Billings; "Fantasia in G" by Timothy Mahr, based on "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony; "Armenian Dances, Part 1" by Alfred Reed; and "Music for Prague 1968" by Karel Husa, written in response to the 30th anniversary of Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. Graduate student conductors Christopher Mudd and Timothy Reynolds will assist Ponto on the program. Thursday, May 21--University Gospel Choir The University Gospel Choir, directed by Julia Neufeld, will give its spring 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 200-voice choir will perform "Take up Your Cross," "Falling in Love," "Jehovah Jireh," "Oh Happy Day," "Higher," "Bless the Lord" and many more. Student soloists featured include Autumn Olson, Indongesit Ekwere, Thierry Renoux and Randy Fulkerson. -30- #P-2187/A&E