A Midsummer Night’s Dream first opera set in the Karen Hille Phillips Center
Fairy high jinks, true love and bewitching spells will play out on stage at the Karen Hille Phillips Center for the Performing Arts January 23-26 when PLU’s Opera series presents Benjamin Britten’s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Originally premiered in 1960 at the Aldeburgh Festival, Britten’s evocative…
PLU choral conductor winner of The American Prize for 2013
Pacific Lutheran University’s professor and choral conductor, Richard Nance, was named the winner of The American Prize for 2013. Richard Nance is the Director of Choral Activities at Pacific Lutheran University where he has worked since 1992. At PLU, Nance conducts the Choir of the…
The Choir of the West and Choral Union perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony three times this May, with three different orchestras
PLU choirs and local orchestras will combine this spring to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony three times this May, with the Everett Philharmonic Orchestra, PLU’s University Symphony Orchestra and the Tacoma Youth Symphony Orchestra. Tacoma Youth Symphony and Everett Philharmonic Orchestra conductor, Dr. Paul Elliott Cobbs,…
Pacific Lutheran University’s Jazz and Wind Ensembles go “Down Under” this summer
The University Jazz Ensemble and University Wind Ensemble will travel to Australia May 28 –June 11, 2013, to discover the “Down Under” and share their music with an international audience. Traveling to Melbourne, Bairnsdale, Canberra and Sydney, 49 students will discover both the rural and…
Greg Youtz: Composing for the cannery – of boxcars, rhinos, and grapes
1973, a 17-year-old Gregory Youtz departed from Sea-Tac International Airport and landed in France. Meritoriously skipping the third grade, the young composer had afforded himself the luxury of a year in limbo – graduating high school a year early and giving himself time to explore…
Student Sings way to Seattle Opera
You may have seen him tearing up the stage in Lagerquist Hall or starting an impromptu concert in the UC. Maybe you recognized him from America’s Got Talent “YouTube Acts Compete.” Or, if you were in Seattle last weekend, you may have seen the young…
The Choir of the West takes to the road
Performing in Washington and British Columbia The PLU Choir of the West will be on tour in Washington and British Columbia later this January and in early February. The repertoire for this year’s Choir of the West tour spans many stylistic eras and genres. Audience…
Pursuing the Dream
By Leah Traxel ’14 Justin Huertas ’09 was ready to “break up” with acting and playing the cello to pursue a steadier paycheck, when fate stepped in. Huertas, who has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from PLU, had worked fairly steadily immediately after graduation.…
Streaming Concerts now a permanent reality
In early September, three small, black video cameras were installed in Lagerquist Concert Hall and on September 25, 2012, PLU streamed its first live concert – the President’s Inaugural Concert. Moving forward, streaming live concerts will become a permanent aspect of SOAC and PLU. These…
President’s Inaugural Concert features our world-class faculty musicians
The Department of Music and School of Arts and Communication honor the inauguration of President Thomas W. Krise in a special concert featuring 31 of our world-class music faculty on Tuesday, September 25 at 8pm in Lagerquist Concert Hall. Performances will feature all the faculty resident ensembles…
WATCH: Drum Taps: Nine Poems on Themes of War
Join us for the closing event in the 2012 SOAC Focus Series. Enjoy a small gallery in Lagerquist lobby with ceramics and printmaking works. These pieces are inspired by the themes around Drum Taps. May 15, 2012 7:00 Attend a pre-concert panel with Composer Greg…
Seattle Opera’s ‘Porgy and Bess’ – five Lutes, one stage, hitting the high notes in fun
Amy Van Mechelen ’08 had just finished up her master’s degree in music at Colorado State University and had moved back to the Tacoma area. She auditioned for the chorus of Porgy and Bess,and didn’t think she’d get a part. But she did. And she…
New piano chair looks forward to a new chapter at PLU
After more than 25 years performing piano, Oksana Ezhokina opens a new chapter of her life as an Assistant Professor of Music and Chair of Piano Studies at PLU. Ezhokina performed in Lagerquist Concert Hall as a guest artist in 2000 for the very first…
Student Musicians Charm European Audiences
PLU’s Choir of the West and KammerMusikere Orchestra toured Germany and France this past summer with great success. The two groups – sometimes playing together, other times apart – performed numerous concerts at beautiful locations such as the Cathedral at Chartres and the Luxembourg Gardens…
Organist off the Grid
Tegels rides his bicycle every day, his common form of transportation, to and from his home close by. By Kari Plog ’11 Tegels, university organist and music professor, humbly underscores his efforts of sustainable living, saying he doesn’t have to go out of his way…
Think faster, work harder, feel more deeply
By Barbara Clements Looking back, Svend Rønning ’89 can’t remember when music wasn’t part of his life. His mother was a piano teacher; his grandfather played the violin. In fact, he still occasionally uses a bow that his grandfather bought from a Sears and Roebuck…
Finding a special place at PLU
By David Robbins It all started so simply, yet signs were there. In the spring and summer of 1969, I was looking for my first college teaching job as I completed my graduate music degree at the University of Michigan. Like so many seeking their…
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