Join us for a series of lectures and performances to commemorate the 100th birthday of Billy Strayhorn; celebrate jazz greats Strayhorn and Duke Ellington; and explore a creative partnership unique in the history of music.
Presented by the 23rd International Duke Ellington Study Group Conference in partnership with Reed College. All events are free and open to the public. Registration is requested for planning purposes only but is not required. Please note that registering does not guarantee you a seat at the events, which are first-come, first-served.
November 6–8, 2015
Visiting scholars and performers include Walter van de Leur, author of Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn; jazz horn master Willie Ruff; clarinetist David Shifrin, and, for the first time together, two of Portland's international jazz stars, Rebecca Kilgore (vocals) and Darrell Grant (piano), performing songs by Billy Strayhorn.
Friday, November 6
4 p.m.
Kaul Auditorium
Keynote: Walter van de Leur, "'After All': Strayhorn Studies in the 21st Century." Van de Leur is professor of jazz and improvised music at the University of Amsterdam and author of Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn
Eliot Hall chapel
7:30 p.m.
Kaul Auditorium
Concert: Performances by Darrell Grant (piano) and David Shifrin (clarinet), arranged by David Schiff; Matt Cooper (piano); and Darrell Grant (piano) and Rebecca Kilgore (vocals). Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 7
Scholarly Session
10–11:45 a.m.
Performing Arts Building 320
Lisa Barg, "Invisibility Blues: Searching for Strayhorn in the 21st Century”
Luca Bragalini, "Harlem: Sounds from the Big Court"
Walter van de Leur, "People Wrap Their Lunches in Them: Ellington and Notation"
Chair: Mark Burford
1–2 p.m.
Performing Arts Building 320
Willie Ruff, "The Duke Ellington Fellowship at Yale inaugurates The Conservatory Without Walls"
Willie Ruff, professor of music at Yale University School of Music, organized the Duke Ellington Fellowship at Yale that has honored forty legends in the story of African American music. Professor Ruff will discuss that momentous gathering in 1972 and its continuous strivings.
Scholarly Session
2:15–3:30 p.m.
Performing Arts Building 320
Carl Woideck, "Pseudo-African or African? Ellington in Dakar, 1966"
David Schiff, "Going South? Re-hearing the Deep South Suite"
Chair: Morgan Luker
4 p.m.
Eliot Hall chapel
Matt Cooper, "Duke Ellington: The Piano Player in the Band." Cooper is professor of music at Eastern Oregon University, a classical pianist, and author of Duke Ellington as Pianist: A Study of Styles
Sunday, November 8
Discussion and Coffee
10 a.m.
Performing Arts Building 332
International Duke Ellington Study Group, "What might we gain or lose if we viewed Ellington and Strayhorn as individual artists rather than collaborators?"
Steven Lasker: "New Discoveries and Rarities of Early Vintages"
Geoff Smith: "The Stockpile Recordings"
Ken Steiner: "The Goal Was Impact: Duke Ellington's Radio Shows"
David Palmquist: "Recent Discoveries While Chronicling the Duke's Travels"
Chair: Geoff Smith