Celtic harps,
rare instruments and
wondrous stories
a benefit for OregonFlora

The multi-instrumentalist duo of Lisa Lynne & Aryeh Frankfurter present an afternoon of music with Celtic Harps, Swedish Nyckelharpa, Ukrainian Bandura, Bouzouki, Cittern and more. Join these international performers and recording artists in an evening benefiting OregonFlora, a program that provides resources about the plants of the state. Appetizers, silent auction, and wine raffle are featured.

OregonFlora provides information about the native and naturalized plants of our state through its website, wildflower identification app, and Flora of Oregon books. Our work promotes plant awareness, gardening with native species, and restoration to support sustainable agricultural practices.

American Roots
Music Festival

The American Roots Music Festival, taking place on November 2nd at The Tabernacle in Turner, OR (directions) is a showcase of music styles that are part of our cultural heritage but that are underexposed in today’s media. The original Festival ran from 2004 – 2009.

The event is a fundraiser for Keeping the Arts, a non-profit that provides financial support to youth arts programs throughout Oregon.  As of April 2019, we have funded $150,000 in grants for such programs. 

The Festival starts on November 2, 2019 at 9:30am, with a free Educational Youth Concert (The History of The Fiddle In American Roots Music) for K-12 students primarily in the North Santiam, Cascade, Salem-Keizer, and Albany school districts. We will provide free ticket information to each of the districts to circulate among the schools and invite the music teachers to also attend the concert. We will provide a synopsis of the content of the Youth Concert so music teachers can incorporate in their curriculum prior to youth attending the Youth Concert.

The festival features four daytime performers representing different genres of American Roots Music.  They are: Mary Flower – Blues; Lauren Sheehan-Americana; JazzArts Combo-Jazz; and Fern Hill-Bluegrass.  Our headline evening concert features The Western Flyers, one of the top Western Swing bands in the country.  Tickets are $20 for adults, Youth 18 and under are free.

American Strings:
An Evening
with Carlene Carter

Hosted by the GRAMMY Museum’s Bob Santelli, director of popular music in the OSU College of Liberal Arts and the Majestic Theatre, the conversation and performance that comprises each segment of American Strings makes for a one of a kind opportunity to appreciate and know better the great American music tradition. This month will feature the daughter of June Carter Cash of the Carter Family and the step-daughter of American music legend Johnny Cash.  Carlene Carter blends her traditional roots with her own take on country music. Join Bob Santelli for an American Strings evening of conversation and music as a bit of Nashville comes to Corvallis.

The American Strings series brings renowned artists from around the U.S. to Corvallis and Oregon State University for an in-depth look at how and why stringed instruments play such a profound role in American music.

Sarah Lee Guthrie

As the daughter of Arlo Guthrie and the granddaughter of the legendary folk artist Woody Guthrie, Sarah Lee Guthrie’s lineage is undeniable. But if you close your eyes and forget that her last name is synonymous with the river-legacy of a widening current of American folk music, you’d still be drawn to the clarity and soul behind her voice. There is a gentle urgency to her interpretations of the songs she sings and the classic music of her heritage. It flows from the continuity of her family, her vital artistic life today and the river of songs that have guided her to where she now stands.

(I’ve seen her solo, with her husband, and with her dad, Arlo, and she’s well worth seeing)

Join host Bob Santelli, at this rare opportunity to witness the growth of one of American’s finest young folk singers, through a conversation and live performance.

People’s State of The Union

The Arts Center and the Corvallis-Albany Chapter of the NAACP, along with partners in the community and organizations across the country, invite the public to #PSOTU2020. Community members from the Mid-Willamette Valley will take part in Story Circles, sharing experiences that reveal the state of our union. Neighbors are invited to share their stories about how belonging or exclusion has played a role in their communities.

In January of most years, the President delivers a State of the Union Address highlighting the past year and suggesting priorities for the coming year. In an era of this country’s history that has seen division and distrust among neighbors and within families, looking each other in the eye and sharing our stories matters even more than usual. In such moments, being able to cross political divides and remain in dialogue is a worthy challenge. Who are we? What touches our hearts and minds? What do our communities need, and what do they need to hear from us? We may know our own answers, but do we know each other?

The People’s State of the Union, initiated by the US Department of Arts and Culture (a people-powered organization), is an invitation to together host a national conversation in our own homes, schools, houses of worship, and community organizations. Between February 4 – 14, 2020, individuals and organizations across the U.S. will sign up to host Story Circles.

Story Circles are open to all community members who wish to tell their stories and listen to others. The free event will take place from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm in the main gallery of The Arts Center. After the Story Circles, participants who wish can upload their stories and images to an online platform, yielding a body of stories that can be searched and shared, inspiring new ideas and new actions. This repository of stories will also provide the source material for the Poetic Address to the Nation, collaboratively composed and performed by local authors and poets.

The Arts Center is a non-profit arts organization and gallery in the heart of downtown Corvallis. Our mission is to foster creativity and engagement with the arts to inspire personal growth and community well-being.
The Corvallis/Albany Branch of the NAACP in Oregon is part of the non-profit national organization and shares its mission to  ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.

Celtic Harps, Rare Instruments & Wondrous Stories
with Lisa Lynne & Aryeh Frankfurter

Workshop: Intro to Swedish music for all instruments:

Lisa Lynne & Aryeh Frankfurter are a multi-instrumentalist duo with Celtic Harps, Swedish Nyckelharpa, Ukrainian Bandura, Bouzouki, Cittern and more. They hail from Oregon and tour extensively, have performed with some of the biggest names in folk and acoustic music and have sold well over a million albums combined. Audiences are spellbound and enchanted with their unique show of breathtaking music both Traditional and original, with wondrous stories and humor entwined.

Lisa Lynne is a multi-instrumentalist and performer who has gained worldwide recognition for her original music featuring her Celtic Harp. She is widely acclaimed for composing memorable and heartwarming melodies on the Windham Hiill/Sony music labels that have repeatedly placed in the Top 10 & Top 20 on the Billboard New age music charts. Lisa tours year round performing at large US festivals and performing art centers. Her work in Therapeutic music has gained recognition from NBC, CNN, Fox News Atlanta and numerous newspaper and magazine articles including Wall Street Journal. Lisa’s music is heard throughout the award winning PBS special “Alone in the Wilderness,” amongst many other soundtracks for commercial television and independent films. She performs regularly as a solo artist, with Aryeh Frankfurter, Patrick Ball and the Windham Hill tours. She was recently named one of the 50 most inspiring women by Los Angeles Magazine. https://www.LisaLynne.com

Aryeh Frankfurter is a renowned Celtic harper and multi- instrumentalist who went from virtuosic progressive rock violin to intricate Swedish folk and Celtic Music. He began with Classical violin at the age of three, and studied music throughout his life. He has 17 albums to his credit, works on film and television scores as composer and arranger, and continues to teach himself to play a variety of instruments most recently the rarely seen Swedish Nyckelharpa. He earned his masters in philosophy as he was becoming one of the most successful street performers in the US. He is a full time musician and producer whose uncommon approach to the Celtic harp and folk harp repertoire, his critically acclaimed albums have earned him high regard as an artist of extraordinary talents and abilities. www.Lionharp.com

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED

Salem Folklore Community’s

34^th Annual

Westwind Weekend

of music and dance

A beautiful setting on the Oregon Coast.  A pristine, sheltered beach, tidepools galore, wildlife in the water, woods, and air, hikes that lead to superb vistas up and down the coast.  It’s a weekend at the beach, with music and friends old and new.  It’s always sunny at Westwind, AND it almost always rains.  Which is to say, any weather can happen.

A growing, family friendly community.  More than a fourth of those who attend the Westwind Weekend are young people.  Kids bring their friends.  They dig in the sand, play Frisbee, hike, play cards, dance, play music, drink hot cocoa, help out, hang out, and build lasting memories.

Non-stop music jams.  At any moment you’ll find swing favorites on the front porch, old-time in the shed, and Irish/contra tunes in the kitchen.  Some of the finest musicians in the Willamette Valley come to Westwind and are joined by folks just learning to play and everyone in between.

Contra dancing and more.  Friday and Saturday evenings feature the Westwind All Star Orchestra playing tunes, and dance programming that’s aimed at all ages and abilities. Expect family dances, contras and squares, and a set of Scandinavian favorites. Also find musicians jamming and swing or zydeco dancing underway outside the main hall.

Camper-led workshops.  Gumboot dancing, daisy chain squares, swing chords, beach talk, favorite folk songs: come with your special talent to share or learn something you’ve never heard of before. Sunday morning expect time for singing the gospel of our non-denominational love of community.

A Saturday camper concert. Enjoy listening to the crazy, creative, and sublime as your fellow campers perform, or put together your own high or low art performance and step up onto the whale bone stage.

Happy, hearty vegetarian food.  Beth Littlewolf has been our cook for 25+ years. She makes wonderful fare that brings us all together in the historic Wilson Lodge for family-style meals.  Meals at Westwind include snack Friday evening, breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday, and early-wake up breakfast fare plus brunch on Sunday.

Jimmie Vaughan

Jimmie Vaughan performing in Florida. By Gage Skidmore.

A founding member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds and the older brother of Texas blues legend Stevie Ray, Jimmie Vaughan brought renewed attention to Texas blues in the 1980s, ultimately leading to Austin, Texas becoming a major American blues center. A multi-GRAMMY Award winner, Vaughan’s “Baby, Please Come Home” was a 2020 GRAMMY nominee in the Best Traditional Blues Album category. He also won a Blues Music Award for Best Male Blues Artist this year.

Hosted by Bob Santelli, Oregon State University’s director of popular music and performing arts, the American Strings series offers a unique opportunity to learn about a variety of genres from across the American music tradition.

If you have any questions or require special accommodations, please contact Isabelle Nissen at 541-231-5820 or OSUFEvents@osufoundation.org.

This annual folk festival will be conducted online over 2 consecutive Sundays, Sept. 13 and Sept 20.   Takoma Park, Maryland, is adjacent to Washington DC and has been presenting its festival since 1978.  It is now available to people all over the world, including Corvallis.  Click here or on the logo for more information and to access the festival.

Rosanne Cash

One of the country’s pre-eminent singer/songwriters, Rosanne Cash has released 15 albums of extraordinary songs that have earned four GRAMMY Awards and nominations for 11 more. She is also an author whose four books include the best-selling memoir Composed, which the Chicago Tribune called “one of the best accounts of an American life you’ll likely ever read.” Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, the Oxford-American, the Nation and many more publications. In addition to continual worldwide touring, Cash has partnered in programming or served as artist in residence at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, San Francisco Jazz, the Minnesota Orchestra and The Library of Congress.

Hosted by Bob Santelli, Oregon State University’s director of popular music and performing arts, the American Strings series offers a unique opportunity to learn about a variety of genres from across the American music tradition.

If you have any questions or require special accommodations, please contact Isabelle Nissen at 541-231-5820 or OSUFEvents@osufoundation.org.

This annual folk festival will be conducted online over 2 consecutive Sundays, Sept. 13 and Sept 20.   Takoma Park, Maryland, is adjacent to Washington DC and has been presenting its festival since 1978.  It is now available to people all over the world, including Corvallis.  Click here or on the logo for more information and to access the festival.

Sarah Jarosz

With her captivating voice and richly detailed songwriting, three-time GRAMMY award winner Sarah Jarosz is one of the most compelling musicians of her generation.

In a break from a life of touring since she was 16 years old, Jarosz recorded her new album, “World On the Ground,” while at home during quarantine. Collaborating with producer/songwriter John Leventhal, a five-time GRAMMY award winner known for his work with Elvis Costello, Shawn Colvin and his wife, Rosanne Cash, Jarosz crafted a subtle tapestry of sound perfectly suited to her lyrical storytelling.

Sarah will talk about her creative process and perform some songs from this new album — a collection of stories from her hometown of Wimberly, Texas — revealing her remarkable gift for slipping into the inner lives of others and patiently uncovering indelible insight.

Get comfy at home, turn up your speakers and join host Bob Santelli as we get to know better this contemporary Bluegrass/Folk/Americana superstar through an intimate evening of music and conversation.

Hosted by Bob Santelli, Oregon State University’s director of popular music and performing arts, the American Strings series offers a unique opportunity to learn about a variety of genres from across the American music tradition.

If you have any questions or require special accommodations, please contact Isabelle Nissen at 541-231-5820 or OSUFEvents@osufoundation.org.

Shemekia Copeland

Providing a soundtrack for our time, Copeland sings about the world around her, blending blues, R&B and Americana into a sound that is all her own. Her riveting new album, “Uncivil War” was recently nominated for five Blues Music Awards, including Song of the Year. It builds on the musically and lyrically adventurous territory that Copeland’s been exploring for over a decade — tackling the problems of contemporary American life head on with nuance, understanding, and a demand for change. It also brings Copeland’s fiercely independent, sultry R&B fire to songs more personal than political.

The Chicago Tribune’s famed jazz critic Howard Reich says, “Shemekia Copeland is the greatest female blues vocalist working today. She pushes the genre forward, confronting racism, hate, xenophobia and other perils of our time. Regardless of subject matter, though, there’s no mistaking the majesty of Copeland’s instrument, nor the ferocity of her delivery. In effect, Copeland reaffirms the relevance of the blues.”

NPR Music calls Copeland “authoritative” and “confrontational” with “punchy defiance and potent conviction,” and says “It’s hard to imagine anyone staking a more convincing claim to the territory she’s staked out—a true hybrid of simmering, real-talking spirit and emphatic, folkie- and soul-style statement-making.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer succinctly states, “Shemekia Copeland is an antidote to artifice. She is a commanding presence, a powerhouse vocalist delivering the truth.”

The American Strings series is free and open to all via Zoom. Register below.

Register Here