By Melissa Wagoner Right about the time Lexi Tucker was learning to talk, she was also learning to sing. Raised on a farm near Stayton, it didn’t take long before Tucker’s mom noticed her daughter’s talent and enrolled her in voice lessons. “I always took the chance to sing in talent shows,” Tucker said, recalling that, even when the family […]
By Melissa Wagoner “If you could have any superpower, what superpower would you choose?” That was the question students in Doug Ousterhout’s theater program asked a group of fourth graders in 2010. “One kid said, ‘to find the remote control,’” Ousterhout said, recalling how that answer went on to influence that year’s Children’s Theater Show titled, Captain Remote, which toured […]
By Melissa Wagoner There is magic in the air at Chesterton Academy of the Willamette Valley – a private Catholic school located on South Main Street in Mount Angel – as the students prepare to present the school’s first musical performance, Mary Poppins. “I think most people who love the original Mary Poppins movie or books will find a lot […]
By Melissa Wagoner Since opening its doors in 2015, SoundStream Music – which offers a variety of music and theater instruction to students of all ages in Silverton – has helped fund student scholarships with the ticket sales from an annual performance. “We usually have three to five students throughout the year who end up needing financial help,” owner Corey Christensen said […]
By Brenna Wiegand Michael Husser is approaching 60 years as a professional bass guitar player, but he’s been entertaining as long as he can remember. For his high school graduation in 1964, Husser asked for an electric guitar to accompany himself and better his odds with the opposite sex. Yet, upon starting guitar lessons, he discovered that, due to an […]
By Kevin McCarty Today I’d like to write about guitars. I have owned many, and I have definitely had my favorites. The qualities of a guitar, like many musical instruments, are not limited to the music that it makes. Each that I have owned has had its own identity; a kind of personality that is unique. It might sound a […]
By Melissa Wagoner Growing up, Marta Hazekamp performed nearly every role in the Unger Academy of Ballet’s annual production of The Nutcracker – and she loved it. “Then as a teenager, the Salem Ballet Association [now disbanded] partnered with Eugene Ballet Co. and hosted the children’s roles so that kids from all over the valley could dance with professionals on […]
The Brush Creek Playhouse is holding auditions for its holiday production, Ebenezer, A Ghost Story of Christmas, an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ ”A Christmas Carol.” The show, adapted by Michael Wood, runs Dec. 1 – 17 at Brush Creek, 11535 Silverton Road NE. Brush Creek auditions for the show are on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 1 p.m. and Monday, Sept. […]
By Melissa Wagoner When it comes to the Oktoberfest Dance Troupe, getting kids involved is the main priority. “[The Troupe] gives them ownership in the festival,” manager Kelly Grassman explained. “It teaches them about volunteering, giving of their time and doing something for others.” Created by a small group of women in 1990 the O’Fest Dance Troupe has grown exponentially during the […]
By Melissa Wagoner A dedicated space to dance and create is something Brianna Taylor has wanted for a long time. But living the life of a professional dancer, first in San Francisco and then in New York, meant finding that space – much less paying for it – was just out of reach. “Dance takes space,” she pointed out. “So, […]
By James Day The Classical Guitar Immersion (CGI) workshop is coming back to the Mount Angel Abbey for a second season. The program, now in its 18th year, matches up classical guitar teachers, led by Scott Kritzer and Mario Diaz, with students in a nearly year-long process that culminates with the “immersion” at the Abbey, a week-long series of instruction […]
By Melissa Wagoner Silverton singer-songwriter Michael Paul Reed’s album, The Process of Illumination, has been a long time coming. “We started recording this at my place to get some demo level stuff going in November 2021,” Reed recalled. “Then we decided to get a professional studio.” But those statements only speak to the recording process, the music itself – which […]
By Melissa Wagoner The Silverton Friends of Music’s Children’s Choir is finally back after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic. “We felt it was finally time,” board president Sarah Weitzman said. “And we wanted to roll it out at the beginning of the school year.” Opening for enrollment in early September, tryouts for the three choirs – beginners, […]
The 57th annual Oktoberfest in Mount Angel runs Sept. 15 – 18, and event organizers are promising a festival celebrating “The Joy of Being Together.” The festival welcomes back musical friends from Germany, Donaumusikanten. Band members travel from Bavaria. Donaumusikanten is known for traditional Bavarian folk music as well as modern rock songs. After two years away due to pandemic […]
By Melissa Wagoner Hunter Noack is an award winning and incredibly accomplished classical pianist but he’s also an avid outdoorsman who spent his childhood in Sunriver hunting, fishing and kayaking with his family. The problem – the two don’t really mesh. If you play the guitar, you can take it outside, Noack’s mother, Lori, said. But a piano isn’t nearly […]
By Brenna Wiegand Jon Deshler, jazz trumpet player, globally published photographer and inspiring teacher, feels he has a lot to give. The purchase of Mt. Angel Theater & Studio gives him a place to do so. Built in 1912 as a silent movie theater, the 2,900-square-foot space at 220 E. Charles St., has been owned by Stu Rasmussen since 1982. […]
By Melissa Wagoner It’s been two years since the last performance of Brush Creek Playhouse, The True Tale of the Sleeping Beauty, was shut down mid-season due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the iconic red building – built in 1895 as a school house on the corner of Brush Creek Drive and Silverton Road – has […]
