Chat With Composer Rebecca Oswald
Posted By: Liz Goodrich
Date Posted: 5/1/2007
As part of the Deschutes Public Library’s A Novel Idea … Read Together, the Deschutes Public Library Foundation presents Conversations With A Composer on May 9, 2007, at 6:30 p.m. in the Brooks Room of the Bend Public Library. The presentation is part of the Novel Idea … Read Together, community-reading project offered by Deschutes Public Library and the Deschutes Public Library Foundation.
Rebecca Oswald, composer of the symphony Bowerman: Man of Oregon, is an award-winning composer with many areas of expertise and excellence. In 1998 she earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Music Theory and Composition, summa cum laude, from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. In 2001 she completed her Master of Music degree in Music Composition from the University of Oregon School of Music in Eugene, where she held a Graduate Teaching Fellowship for three years. From 2002-2004 Rebecca was on the adjunct faculty at the University of Oregon School of Music, teaching composition, orchestration, and upper-level aural skills. Since 2004 she has been a full-time composer, arranger, orchestrator, and producer. Her works have been performed across the United States, as well as in Canada, France, Finland, and the Dominican Republic. In fall 2005 Rebecca released October Wind, a CD of works for solo piano which she wrote, performed, and produced.
Bowerman, Man of Oregon, Oswald’s current work in progress, is a 20-minute symphonic biography for chamber orchestra honoring the life of Bill Bowerman, famed inventor of the waffle-soled running shoe, co-founder of NIKE, and University of Oregon and U.S. Olympic track and field coach. The Central Oregon Symphony will play a preview excerpt of this piece on their May 2007 concerts. During her presentation Oswald will talk about the process or writing a symphony and the research she did in preparation.
Now in its fourth year, “A Novel Idea...Read Together” has become the premier community reading program in Oregon. This month-long reading and discussion event is organized by the Deschutes Public Library and funded by the Deschutes Public Library Foundation with the support of other community sponsors. The purpose of the event is to build community by broadening and deepening appreciation of literature through reading, participation, and discussion.
The 2007 selected book, Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, describes the life of Bill Bowerman, the University of Oregon’s legendary track coach and co-founder of Nike. The book celebrates the spirit of Oregon through the life of this incredible man who faced life with genius, humor and grit. Author Kenny Moore, a former senior writer for Sports Illustrated and a world-class runner under Bowerman’s tutelage, delivers a fully realized portrait of Bowerman. More than 20 programs will highlight this year’s book, each of which is designed to enhance the participant’s knowledge of the book and the man whose legacy touched our lives in a variety of unexpected ways.
For a complete listing of Novel Idea programs, please visit www.dpls.us or call 312-1032.
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