During 2000-01, the Oregon Festival will present programs about the Paris arts scene and its impact on jazz and American music. Two additional concerts will focus on his jazz works, with discussions following the performances. Other Festival activities related to Tribute will be two lectures, a published program book on Bechet's life and music, video presentations of historic material, a photographic exhibition, a Bechet unit as part of the OFAM's teacher training program for use in the classroom, and several OFAM Young Artists Academy recitals featuring Bechet's work. The project will continue into the fall through OFAM's American Music Institute and SchoolLinks programs that will be designed in conjunction with the summer festival. The summer performances and activities will reach 10,000 audience members, and the educational activities will reach over 6,500 students in the 25 elementary, middle, and high schools of Lane County, Oregon.
Students are prepared for Quartet visits through classroom background education and discussion.
The sequenced sessions are followed by a master class and string workshops, which have in the past produced striking results. During the 1998-1999 residency, four students who had not met before the day of the master class came together to perform as a quartet. They have since continued to work together in school as a formed group, coaching and practicing together. The residency culminates in a community-wide evening performance by the Portland String Quartet, for which audiences often total over 300. During 2000-2001, Young Audiences and Meet the Composer, Inc. will offer training, performance opportunities, and professional development for ten teachers, five composers, and 400 students in Kentucky, Missouri, Massachusetts, northern New York State, and Indiana.