Morten Lauridsen’s Residency with the Oregon Repertory Singers, Portland, OR, October 2018

In fall 2018 I had a sabbatical from teaching and my other regular duties at California Lutheran University. One purpose of a sabbatical is to enable a faculty member to engage deeply with a project he or she cares about; at the time I had already begun my book project on Morten Lauridsen’s music, and so I spent much of my time researching and writing. In October, I took a trip to Portland, Oregon to shadow the composer during his residency with the Oregon Repertory Singers. This was a very important residency, because the Oregon Repertory Singers was releasing a new CD, Shadows on the Stars: Music of Morten Lauridsen and Pacific Northwest Composers. The Portland area is also where the composer grew up. Prior to the first rehearsal, the composer and I drove to nearby Beaverton, his specific “hometown.” I saw the schools he had attended, the two neighborhoods where he lived, and his church, Bethel Congregational. After the trip to Beaverton, I met Dr. Ethan Sperry, who had studied under Lauridsen at the University of Southern California, and pianist and singer Naomi LaViolette.

Cover of Shadows on the Stars, Released October 2018
Oregon Repertory Singers in Rehearsal with Ethan Sperry.
Copyright © 2018 by James Arthur Bond.
Morten Lauridsen & Ethan Sperry. Copyright © 2018 by James Arthur Bond.
Pianist Naomi LaViolette.
Copyright © 2018 by James Arthur Bond.
Ethan Sperry in rehearsal.
Copyright © 2018 by James Arthur Bond.

Morten Lauridsen inspiring the singers. Copyright © 2018 by James Arthur Bond.
Morten Lauridsen and Naomi LaViolette. Copyright © 2018 by James Arthur Bond.
Morten Lauridsen speaking to the audience. Copyright © 2018 by James Arthur Bond.
Morten Lauridsen telling a moving story to the choir. Copyright © 2018 by James Arthur Bond.


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