Programming History
Oregon Festival of American Music's thematically-based programming model falls into 3 distinct periods: Under the music direction of Alsop from 1992-96 the festival was largely a summer symphony orchestra pops festival. From 1997-2001 Paul, Hyman and Ralph headed a creative effort that included a balance of orchestral, jazz, historic popular and traditional musical genres with regular commissions that often included ballet. Since 2002 the festival has focussed more specifically on a systematic annual treatment of the Great American Songbook, with a deemphasis of art music in favor of musical theater and concerts that focus on various treatments of the Songbook, ranging from straight vocal interpretations to standards-based jazz. Themes run the range of the American musical landscape:
- 1992 The Real American Folksong: George Gershwin & American Classic Tradition
- 1993 Harlem Rhapsody: James P. Johnson & The Harlem Renaissance
- 1994 On Airwaves & Silver Screens
- 1995 Fiddlers' Cross-Stitch: Classical Needle, Country Thread
- 1996 Broadway Medley
- 1997 Louisiana Gumbo: From Gottschalk to Zydeco
- 1998 Rags, Jazz, Blues & Boogie-Woogie
- 1999 How Sweet The Sound: From Gospel to Swing
- 2000 Le Jazz Hot: Americans in Paris, 1919-1955
- 2001 Loco-Motion: Rhythm & The New World In The Age Of Machines
- 2002 Gershwin Transformations
- 2003 Easy To Remember: The Great American Songbook
- 2004 The Fabulous Fifties
- 2005 Cole Porter Night And Day
- 2006 Irving Berlin's America
- 2007 Richard Rodgers: The Sweetest Sounds
- 2008 Over The Rainbow: The Music of America in Hard Times, 1929-1945
- 2009 Time After Time: Great Moments in American Songbook History
- 2010 Brush Up Your Shakespeare: A Literary Romp Through The Songbook
- 2011 Too Marvelous For Words: Ella, Frank and the Classic American Song
- 2012 Le Jazz Hot: America in the City of Light, 1919-39
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