Ensemble Primo Seicento September 30th

Music To Die For  is down to its last two concerts for 2018. Last month featured a rousing performance by The Grand Ronde String Band, which, to the surprise of everyone, changed the name of their group during the performance! They are now known as Moonlight Jubilee. 

 

Music To Die For programs, featuring local musicians, are presented at 2 PM on the days listed. All dates listed are Sundays. 

 

September 30: Ensemble Primo Seicento:  

      For eight years, Ensemble Primo Seicento has been exploring early 17th century Baroque music for small groups. We'll present several pieces each by Monteverdi, and by the less-known but equally inventive Sigismondo D'India, for two sopranos and harpsichord. In addition, we have pieces by other composers of the period in varied combinations of voices, cornetto, and viola da gamba, with harpsichord.

 

The ensemble is Jane Beaumont Snyder, soprano, Ryan Dixon, soprano, Margret Gries, harpsichord, Anson Brown, archlute and tenor, John Loughran, tenor, Ryan Ponto, viola da gamba and bass voice, and Doug Sears, cornetto and bass.

October 28: Central Horns: 

      A horn quartet playing a variety of music from Classical to Contemporary. They are based at Central Lutheran Church, hence the name of the group.

 

Please arrive early as seating becomes scarce or non-existent,  by 2 PM. There is no parking on the cemetery grounds, so please park on city streets. 

Yellowjacket.

As mentioned earlier, this is a very bad year for ground nests of yellow jackets and hornet nests in the Eugene Masonic Cemetery.

So far at least 24 yellow jacket ground nests have been identified. Additionally, multiple paper wasp nests have been found, some as high as 65 feet above ground.

There is a very real risk of being stung within the cemetery, especially if walking off paths. The landscape crew has marked known yellow jacket ground nests with signs where possible. In some cases, portions of paths have been closed where infestation is bad. Sunny areas where mowing has occurred can have many stinging insects.

So stay on the paths and gravel roads, and be on the lookout for flying insects.

 

S omething unusual happened in Hope Abbey Mausoleum last June . A wedding occurred. Long time Board Member John Bredesen and Betsy Halpern were married in a ceremony presided over by Rev. Bingham Powell.

Bredesen has been an active cemetery board member since 2002, participating in many projects including coordinating the Music To Die For music series. The activity he's most proud of is helping with the restoration of Hope Abbey.

After over two decades of work, the building is again a place of tranquil beauty, illuminated by golden light streaming through the reproduction stained glass windows. Cemeteries are truly as much for the living as for the traditional use, so using the building for their wedding appealed to both John and Betsy. Permission was granted by the Board of Directors, but for now this is the exception to the policy that the EMCA does not allow private functions in the Abbey.

The building was used for both the wedding and the reception. About 75 family members and friends of both the bride and the groom were present, from as far away as Alaska, Minnesota and Washington, D.C.