EUGENE–One of the jazz world’s top pianists and a children’s concert introducing the brass family of instruments will join with the top high school marching bands from around the Northwest in performances scheduled 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.

Jazz pianist Kenny Werner, long one of the most in-demand sidemen in jazz, will give a solo concert at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall, 961 E. 18th Ave. Tickets, available at the door, are $10 general admission and $8 for students and senior citizens.

In more than a quarter century of performing, Werner has played with such jazz greats as Bob Brookmeyer, Ron Carter, Joe Williams, Chico Freeman, Sonny Fortune, Peter Erskine, John Abercrombie, Jackie Paris, Bobby McFerrin, Lee Konitz, Billy Hart, Marian McPartland, Joe Henderson, Tom Harrell, Gunther Schuller, Ed Blackwell, Paul Motian, John Scofield, Jack De Johnette, Eddie Gomez, Dave Holland, Charlie Haden and Toots Thielemans. He also has served as pianist, arranger and musical director for the noted film, television, and Broadway star Betty Buckley.

In the early 1980s, Werner toured extensively with Archie Shepp, and in 1984 he joined the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. His appearances also included solo concerts in Europe and New York City and duos with such notables as Rufus Reid, Ray Drummond and Jaki Byard.

Werner received performance grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in both 1985 and 1987, and he was commissioned to compose and conduct a memorial piece for Duke Ellington in New York. Werner also has written compositions for the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, now known as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.

In 1981, he began to play with bassist Ratzo Harris and drummer Tom Rainey–a daring and innovative trio that stayed together for 14 years. Werner feels that much of his musical development, conceptually and rhythmically, was directly due to the experience of playing with these two innovators.

In 1987, Werner joined the faculty of the New School’s jazz department in New York City, where he taught jazz harmony and theory for six years. He has given clinics at many universities in the United States and abroad.

In 1993, he was awarded an NEA grant to present a concert in tribute to Mel Lewis. That same year he also won the Distinguished Artist Award for Composition from the New Jersey Council of the Arts. In 1995, the NEA awarded Werner yet another grant, this one for composing a piano concerto dedicated to Duke Ellington.

Werner’s book, "Effortless Mastery," was published in 1997 and is quickly causing ripples in the music world, changing many musicians’ conception about how to practice, play and listen.

The Northwest’s top high school marching bands will fill Autzen Stadium, 2700 Centennial Blvd., for the 21st annual Festival of Bands, one of the largest marching band competitions in the Northwest. Gates will open at approximately 9 a.m. for the preliminary rounds, featuring a wide variety of music, ranging from selections by Chuck Mangione and Santana to music from "Tarzan" and "Braveheart."

Preliminary rounds will conclude with an exhibition performance by the Oregon Marching Band at 5:15 p.m. Finals are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., concluding around 10 p.m. with another special performance by the Oregon Marching Band. The Oregon Marching Band drum line also will give a clinic and performance during the lunch break. Awards will be given after both the preliminary and final competitions, with a Grand Champion trophy capping the day-long event.

Tickets will be available at Gate B at the stadium on performance day. All-day tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students and seniors. Tickets for those who wish to attend only the final rounds are $8 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Children under five will be admitted free.

Wheelchair-accessible seating is also available, with a courtesy van available for the physically challenged. Parking at Autzen is free, and cars should enter from Entry 2 off of Centennial Boulevard.

Concessions offering food, drink and souvenirs will operate, with all proceeds benefiting the Oregon Marching Band. The Festival of Bands is the Oregon Marching Band’s largest fund-raiser of the year, and it is run entirely by band members and staff.

More than 20 bands from the Northwest will perform. Oregon entries include bands from:

BEAVERTON–Beaverton and Sunset high schools

BEND–Bend High School

EUGENE–Willamette High School

GRANTS PASS–Grants Pass High School

GRESHAM–Centennial High School

LEBANON–Lebanon High School

ROSEBURG–Roseburg High School

SALEM–McNary, North Salem, South Salem and Sprague high schools

SPRINGFIELD–Thurston High School

The competition also will feature bands from Meridian, Idaho, and from Tumwater and Vancouver, Wash.

The Festival of Bands competition is divided into three competitive classes, with one exhibition/novice class. All bands compete in the preliminary rounds during the day. In the evening, the winner of each category plus the nine highest-scoring bands will compete in the finals.

Everyone is encouraged to cheer on the bands and enjoy a full day of exciting music, drill and pageantry. For more information, call the UO band office, (541) 346-5670.

Concert pianist William Doppmann will give a concert and master class at the School of Music. The concert is at 8 p.m. Saturday in Beall Concert Hall. Tickets, available at the door, are $7 general admission and $4 for students and senior citizens.

The free master class is at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, also in Beall Hall.

Doppmann’s program will include Mozart’s "Sonata in A Minor," "Fantasia Chromatica" by Jan Sweelinck, "Sonata" by Charles Griffes and his own composition, "Tocatta In Nominee."

In honor of the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death, Doppmann will devote the entire second half of the program to music by Chopin, including "Nocturne in C-sharp Minor," "Barcarolle," "Etude in F Minor," "Mazurka in C Major," "Waltz in F Major," "Impromptu in A-flat Major" and Ballade in F Minor."

A former winner of the Naumburg, Michaels and Leventritt competitions , Doppmann has concertized in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America and the Far East as a recitalist and as soloist with such major orchestras as the Chicago, Cincinnati, Houston, Detroit, Seattle and Tokyo symphonies.

He has been featured at numerous festivals, including Marlboro, Cleveland’s Blossom Festival, Ravinia in Chicago, the Hong Kong International Festival, Chamber Music Northwest and the Kuhmo International Festival in Finland. His 1986 New York recital at Lincoln Center was described by the Times as one of the most distinctive of the season.

As a composer, Doppmann has received two National Endowment for the Arts consortium grants, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the University of Michigan Alumni Citation of Merit and an ASCAP Annual Award each year since 1993. He has served as artistic director of chamber music at Port Townsend, Wash., for the past 25 years.

Doppmann has made chamber music recordings for Nonesuch, Delos and Finland’s Kuhmo Festival Recordings. About Albany Recordings’ 1998 release of the James Yannatos concerto with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, Stephen Ellis in Fanfare commented: "William Doppmann is an exceptional pianist, one of the great unheralded keyboard artists of our day."

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