Welcome To CHERRY BLOSSOM MUSICAL ARTS!
Cherry Blossom Musical Arts is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization located in Eugene Oregon. Founded in 2003, we create and perform new music in collaboration with a wide spectrum of performing artists.
We believe that the music sometimes called "classical" is alive and thriving in 2016! We also believe that collaboration across artistic disciplines makes for really interesting shows. So let's take a look at the last few years to see what we mean:
In 2012 we teamed up with the "Alt-Classical" music scene in Portland, OR. "The C's Have it" was performed at the Bodyvox theater in conjunction with Portland's March Music Moderne! The concert included an amazing performance by Brian McWhorter of an avante guard work for solo trumpet by Robert Ericson, video by Agnieszka Laska to music by Jack Gabel, performances from Bodyvox Dance Company and Portland Festival Ballet to music by Paul Safar, and the world premiere of "The Coast of Oregon" a theatrical storytelling song cycle by Derek Healey, composed specifically for Nancy Wood. The show met with a great review by Brett Campbell in Oregon Arts Watch which you can read on our press page. Listen to the interview from All-Classical FM on our music page.
2013-14 was a year of reflection for Cherry Blossom Musical Arts. In this time of reflection however, things keep happening, and we are proud to announce that our Music Director, Paul Safar, was honored with the Oregon Music Teacher's Association "Composer of the Year" award for 2013-2014, and the OMTA commissioned a new work from him which was performed in the summer of 2014 at the Oregon Music Teacher's yearly convention and again in the fall with Cascadia Composers. Titled "The Warbler Sings" the piece featured the poetry of Basho, sung by Nancy Wood.
In April 2015,Cherry Blossom produced "Birds, Blossoms, and All Things Living: The Music of Paul Safar". This concert was a celebration of the years of creativity flowing from Paul's musical brain. It was also a celebration of collaboration, as the lyrics, the stories and the voice of Nancy Wood have been an essential part of Paul's compositional life. This concert featured Nancy's singing and stories, and it also featured The Delgani String Quartet, who have since performed numerous pieces by Paul, including commissioning him to write 4 works for their "Man of Words" concert which took place January 26 2016.