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.
These workshops and residencies are supported by the Oregon Cultural Trust.
Residency Artists for 2024
Terry & Maxwell Longshore
January 23 - 25
Dr. Terry Longshore, holds master’s and doctoral degrees in Contemporary Music Performance from the University of California, San Diego. He serves as Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University, where he also directs Left Edge Percussion. Maxwell Longshore (aka mackxswell) is a composer/producer who creates a passionate yet emotionally driven style of music that fuses Hip-Hop and Trap together. Maxwell’s work has been featured in a number of advertisements for companies such as Guayaki, The Hundreds, and Half Evil, and is now producing for Portland’s new wave of Hip-Hop artists. Terry and Maxwell will be creating an interactive, collaborative experience for K-12 students in Jackson and Josephine counties, demonstrating dance beats and rhythms with electronic and traditional percussion instruments.
Vision Duo
February 13 - 15
Ariel Horowitz (violin) and Britton-René Collins (marimba) play classical music with a contemporary twist, and seek to contribute to the redefinition of classical music. Vision Duo has attended the prestigious Avaloch Farm Music Institute as artists in residence, and performed for top presenters throughout North America, including the Phillips Collection, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, and Dumbarton Concerts in Washington, D. C. Britton-René was a featured soloist with the Rogue Valley Symphony and educational artist-in-residence with Britt Education last fall, through a partnership with the Rogue Valley Symphony. They will provide lecture/demonstrations with Q & A for high school and college level music students in Jackson county, and will possibly connect with the local AfroScoutz program created by the BASE organization for children of African descent
Members of the Britt Festival Orchestra
February 21 & 22
A string quartet compliment from our BFO will visit three Jackson county high school orchestra classes as part of their BFO Season Announcement and outreach performance contract.
Empire Wild
March 5 - 7
Empire Wild is a genre-bending, crossover trio (cellos and piano) featuring classically-trained musicians as a vehicle for their shared love of musical exploration – fusing the sounds of pop, folk, Broadway and more into their songwriting and compositions. Empire Wild was selected as an Ambassador Prize winner in the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. Individually, all three musicians are committed to community engagement and education. Together as an ensemble, Empire Wild feels that it is important to prioritize community-oriented work and bring creative musical outlets and opportunities to students of all backgrounds and skill levels. Empire Wild will provide lecture/demonstrations with Q & A for high school and college level music students in Jackson county.
Boyd Meets Girl
March 12 - 15
Boyd Meets Girl pairs Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd with American cellist Laura Metcalf. The duo has toured throughout the US, India, Nepal, New Zealand and Australia, sharing their eclectic mix of music from Debussy and Bach to Radiohead and Beyoncé. The duo arranges much of their own repertoire, drawing inspiration from artists across all genres. Boyd Meets Girl will visit Jackson and Josephine county classrooms and appear in a ticketed performance for the community produced by non-profit organizational partner, the Guitar Society of Southern Oregon.
Alexandra Preucil
April 8 - 12
Ms. Preucil is an accomplished violinist, a member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and frequent guest concertmaster in Europe and the US. She has recently performed with the Britt Festival Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Utopia Orchestra, musicAeterna, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Haydn Philharmonie, and served as guest concertmaster with the Cleveland Ballet Orchestra, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Dedicated to music education and community engagement, Ms. Preucil has created and performed programs for all ages. In addition to teaching and giving masterclasses, she served as Director of the Britt Festival Orchestra Fellowship Program and currently serves as the music advisor of the Cleveland Ballet. Ms. Preucil will provide in-depth coaching to all three levels of students in the Grants Pass High Orchestra program.
Duo Violão Brasil
April 16 - 19
Now in our eighth year of partnership, Britt Education joins with Siskiyou Music Project to bring this exciting duo to our valley. Duo Violão Brasil is the result of guitarists Rogério Souza and Edinho Gerber's reverence for Brazilian guitar, the “violão. With repertoire from composers like Pixinguinha, Baden Powell, and Tom Jobim, the duo navigates effortlessly through the many styles of 20th century Brazilian popular music while showcasing original works and inventive arrangements. A master of both 6 and 7 string guitars, Rogério Souza is one of the foremost representatives of the music of Rio de Janeiro. Edinho Gerber possesses a rich musical vocabulary developed in the two countries where he was raised: the United States and Brazil. Navigating effortlessly between the genres of choro, jazz, samba, and blues, he is always in search of the intersection points within his dual cultural identity. The duo will work with high school and college jazz band classes in Jackson and Josephine counties and will be presented in a ticketed performance for the community, produced by Siskiyou Music Project.
Here and Now Project
May
This new education and engagement program will consist of an ongoing series of opportunities for multi-generational members of our community to create and experience music, visual arts, dance, literature, and/or theater in natural spaces where they can feel present and connected. In the inaugural year, we will provide fresh air painting and sound mapping events to the third grade students of Jacksonville Elementary School let by local visual artist Sarah Burns. Sound maps created by Jacksonville students will be given to local musician/composer Bryan Jeffs, who will create graphic scores from the maps for public display.
About Sarah Burns: Sarah is an observation-based painter working in the European tradition, using proven traditional methods and techniques. Burns has exhibited in museums throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond, and has been featured in American Art Collector, among other publications. She was awarded the Hudson River Fellowship and teaches regularly at Project Space and Southern Oregon University.
About Bryan Jeffs: Bryan Jeffs is a southern Oregon based percussionist, educator, and composer. He earned his Master’s degree in percussion performance at California State University, Sacramento, and currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at Southern Oregon University where he teaches percussion and directs the SOU Raider Band. As a composer he has created numerous works for percussion utilizing both traditional and graphic notation while also utilizing a variety of physical media.
Gabriel Globus-Hoenich & Bryan Jeffs
July 8 -15
Gabe is a graduate of The Curtis Institute and specializes in percussion performance, composition, and music education for younger children. Dr. Bryan Jeffs earned his Master’s degree in percussion performance at California State University, Sacramento and is currently an adjunct percussion professor at Southern Oregon University. They will provide a week-long workshop for local elementary summer school students, culminating in a student performance on the Britt Main Stage as part of the Children’s Festival. They will also co-host the BrittKids Klub Booth at the Children’s Festival, provide a master class for summer percussion students at SOU, and host our popular, multi-generational Drumtastic Beats program.
Dmitri Matheny & Holly Pye
October 22 - 25
Dmitri Matheny studied his craft at Interlochen Arts Academy and graduated magna cum laude from the Berklee College of Music. He has toured extensively throughout the US, Europe and Asia, and has performed with some of the most accomplished musicians on the west coast. He is a prolific recording artist and composer, and has distinguished himself as a dedicated educator, presenting clinics, lectures, workshops, and curriculum-based concerts. Dmitri will be joined by renowned jazz singer, Holly Pye. They will work with high school and college level jazz students, and be presented in concert by Britt Education’s long standing non-profit partner, Siskiyou Music Project.
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.