Residencies
Britt Education & Engagement offers a variety of residency programs throughout the school year, at no cost to Jackson and Josephine county schools. Local, regional and national teaching artists are brought directly into classrooms to connect with pre-K through graduate level students during each school term. Residencies range from a single school visit to a full year of interactive presentations, lectures, master classes, and affordably priced performances in our community. Many of our residencies are in partnership with other local arts organizations and educational institutions, and all school visits are always free.
If you’d like a celebrated teaching artist to visit your school, contact our Director of Education & Engagement at kay.hilton@brittfest.org
Residency Artists for 2023
Anna Leunis & Petros Karapetyan
January 17 - 19
As part of our ongoing commitment to connect Britt Festival Orchestra (BFO) musicians to our local students during the school year, Britt will bring violinists, Petros Karapetyan and Anna Leunis into rural K-5 classrooms this month. "Petros studied at the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, before earning his Performance Certificate at the Eastman School of Music and his Masters of Music in Violin Performance at Rice University, Shepherd School of Music. Petros was concertmaster of the National Esperanza Azteca, and has continued to stay in close contact with the Esperanza Azteca foundation. Yale School of Music Alumnist, Anna Leunis, is currently a member of both the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and the Sarasota Opera Orchestra, and spends her summers performing at music festivals from Sapporo, Japan to Umbria, Italy. Anna is the Assistant Director of Chamber Music for Young Musicians, a Teaching Artist at Intempo, and on the violin faculty at the Neighborhood Music School, one of the ten largest non-profit community arts organizations in the United States."
Arx Duo
February 3 - 5
Photo by JIM BARCUS
In close collaboration with percussion professor, Dr. Terry Longshore and in partnership with the OCA at SOU, Britt Education brings percussion duo, Arx Duo to the annual Southern Oregon University Percussion Festival. The SOU Percussion Festival is an all-day educational event for student soloists and ensembles from southern Oregon’s middle and high schools. As part of the festival, the students receive coaching and are adjudicated by percussion professors Terry Longshore and Bryan Jeffs. Arx Duo will also provide hands-on coaching for the students. The festival will culminate with student performances and a concert by Arx Duo. "Arx Duo (Mari Yoshinaga and Garrett Arney) is dedicated to the expansion of percussion chamber music repertoire through the creation and performance of new works and the education and inspiration of young artists. They have been guest faculty at Peabody Conservatory, Michigan State University and are currently on the faculty at Curtis Institute of Music – Young Artists Summer Program."
Jâca
March 1 - 3
Britt is launching a new partnership with the local non-profit arts organization, the Guitar Society of Southern Oregon (GSSO), and this will be our first collaborative Residency. Jâca will visit local classrooms and be presented by GSSO in a ticketed performance for the community. "Jâca is a clarinet and guitar duo that combines classical and world music to bring an adventurous, passionate, and completely original musical style to the stage. Jâca’s music reflects the versatility of their instruments, using Western Classical training as a base to combine with their diverse musical and cultural heritage. Jâca is passionate about adding meaning to their music, founding the Jâca Cultural Exchange Program (JCEP) in 2019 to support underserved musical communities worldwide. They also host the prestigious Emerging Composers Competition to create new music for clarinet and guitar. In an effort to promote positivity around multiculturalism in America, they launched Imaginary Boundaries in 2020. The project involves ongoing commissions of compositions from accomplished composers of various cultural backgrounds. For more information about the concert, go here.
Erich Heckscher & Jennifer Nelson
March 7 - 9
BFO Principal Bassoon Erich Heckscher and former BFO Principal Clarinet, Jennifer Nelson come to the Rogue Valley to provide lecture/demonstrations and coaching for high school band and orchestra students. Erich Heckscher holds Principal Bassoon positions at the National Philharmonic. Erich has been Adjunct Professor of Bassoon at the University of Maryland and woodwind coach for the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras at Strathmore Hall since 2012 in addition to previously serving as Adjunct Professor of Bassoon at Texas A&M University Commerce. Jennifer Nelson is currently the Principal Clarinet for the Auburn Symphony and Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestras. She has been an Affiliate Artist Faculty in Clarinet at the University of Puget Sound for the past 23 years, and during her tenure she has remained committed to providing music education and access to live performances to underserved populations in the greater Seattle, Washington area.
Dr. Terry Longshore
April 4 - 20
Longtime Britt Education collaborator Dr. Terry Longshore brings his flexible percussion program to several K – 12 classrooms in Jackson county this month. Dr. Longshore holds masters and doctoral degrees in Contemporary Music Performance from the University of California, San Diego. His education includes significant study of Spanish flamenco and the classical music of India, including study at the Ali Akbar College of Music. He serves as Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University, where he directs Left Edge Percussion and is Chair and Graduate Coordinator of the Music Program.
Teddy Abrams & Alexandra Preucil
May 2 - 5
Ashland, Phoenix, South & North Medford, and Grants Pass High School orchestra & band classes are visited by Teddy & Alexandra to launch the Britt Star Award competition for the current school year. Teddy works with the student ensembles on pieces they have been rehearsing for competitions and performances while Alexandra works with students on their string technique and section cohesiveness.
Summer Artist-in-Residence: Gabriel Globus-Hoenich
June 28 - July 10
This will be Gabe’s 7th summer with Britt Education. Gabe is a graduate of The Curtis Institute and specializes in percussion performance, composition, and music education for younger children. Gabe will create a present a BrittKids Koncert, co-host the BrittKids Klub Booth at the Children’s Festival with SOU percussion professor Bryan Jeffs again this year, provide a master class for summer percussion students at SOU, and will continue our Drumtastic Beats program, which offers free drumming classes for all ages in Ashland Parks and the Britt Performance Garden.
Residency Program Sponsor
"We often provide outreach in addition to concerts, but this particular residency was extra meaningful. In addition to being very well-organized, we were accompanied to each school visit, and were matched with relevant schools and programs so we were able to offer our educational outreach to the students who most benefited from interacting with us. We had some of the best engagement we've ever seen, and walked away from each school buzzing from the comments from students. It's a wonderful feeling to know you have impacted a young student, and we felt like we connected with and inspired various students at each school we visited." - Jača
Fellowship Artistic Advisor & Mentor, Alexandra Preucil, performs at the Rogue Valley Manor in July of 2021 with members of the Grants Pass Orchestra Program after three days of coaching sessions.
The Anderson Brothers Trio improvises with the Phoenix High School Jazz Band.
Students enjoy the Meriwethers Residency at Sunny Wolf Charter School.