As the remodeling of Lincoln Hall comes to a conclusion and campus ensembles start their spring performances, the Portland State music department has many traditions that are looking forward to the changes and improvements the music department will see over the next year.
One regular performance opportunity on campus is the Thursday noontime concerts, currently taking place at the Old Church. They feature students and faculty as well as community members and professionals with a connection to Portland State.
These performances, which span over a wide variety of instruments and genres, have been a longstanding tradition on campus, with over two decades of performances accredited to the weekly recitals. With the focus of giving music students a chance to observe performances and learn, these weekly concerts have become a well-attended and important staple of the Portland State music community.
“The Thursday ones are actually related to a class called MUS 188,” said assistant department chair Joel Bluestone. “We feel it is in [the student’s] best interest to see concerts, so we make them go to like eight out of ten every quarter.”
The performances are set up with fall and winter terms featuring the faculty-focused performances, and spring term including mostly student ensembles. Within that arrangement, faculty connections with professional musicians as well as community performers have been the key to many guest performances throughout the year.
Bluestone, who is the administrator of the Thursday concerts, says that these performance opportunities have been available as long as he has been teaching at Portland State.
“I’ve been here 21 years and it’s been going all 21 years…It is part of our curriculum,” Bluestone said.
The combination of integrating the music program with the performances and making sure the music community is aware each week has made the weekly concerts a well-attended event with a diverse audience.
“For one thing, it’s a class with all the music majors so there’s always 200 people there…Plus, the community comes,” Bluestone said.
This week, woodwind coordinator and music history instructor Barbara Heilmair will take to the stage at the Old Church. Heilmair, who is also known for touring with the Oregon Ballet Theater and the Oregon Symphony, has taught previously at University of California Los Angeles and California State
University in Long Beach.
Similar to many of the performances that Bluestone and the Portland State School of Music have brought to perform, Heilmair will bring big stage talent to a small venue. These performances are open campus-wide and have made the PSU School of Music a growing and unique environment for learning.
Barbara Heilmair
The Old Church
1422 SW 11th Ave
Thu, noon
Free
All ages