Catching Up With BFan's Newest Promoted Soloist Dancer, Jenavieve Hernandez

PHOTO: BOB WILLIAMS

In 2018, Jenavieve Hernandez joined Ballet Fantastique as a Fellowship Apprentice.  Since then, she has quickly risen through the ranks with her beautiful expression and nuance in roles ranging from Princess Jasmine in BFan’s Aladdin: A Rock Opera Ballet, to inventive Toymaker in the premiere of BFan’s Babes in Toyland. This season, she was promoted to soloist.

We had a chance to catch up with Jenavieve after a busy fall season of touring and record-breaking Hult Center productions to hear about the last few months and what she is looking forward to for the remainder of the season.

This has been the first season with four full-length productions since 2020. How has it been coming back to a full season after the unpredictability of the past two years?

Coming back this season with four full length ballets has been so exciting! After being in and out of the studio the last two years, finally getting back to full time work actually in the theater has been wonderful. Not being able to fully immerse myself in company life had left me feeling disconnected from my peers and my work…being back has allowed me to dive in more than ever before and has helped to motivate me as an artist! 

What helped you work through any unexpected challenges this past fall, especially with ramping up so quickly?

Knowing I’d get the chance to perform! Having that end goal of getting to present what we’ve worked so hard for on stage to a live audience is what has kept me motivated through every challenge.

This upcoming spring season sounds equally as fun and challenging!  What are you most looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to our new world premiere, Robin Hood & Maid Marian! It’s always fun getting to put together a new ballet. Being part of the creative process at BFan is so fulfilling. I’m excited to present this next new ballet to our audiences. 

PHOTO: MIKI MARKOVICH

Which part in BFan’s March performance, (The Misadventures of) Casanova, are you working on now? Can you describe a little bit about your character? 

I’m currently working on the role of Lucia in our upcoming production, Casanova. The role of Lucia has been so wonderful to dive into. She and Casanova are young when they fall for one another, finding a love that is unmatched by any of the others. I’ve imagined her presenting herself as the young woman she is, witty and innocent. She engages Casanova with her mind first letting everything else fall into place. I’m so excited to bring this role to life in the upcoming weeks!

BFan always has a fun twist—what is different about this story of Casanova versus the story audiences might be most familiar with? 

The version of Casanova that we get to bring to life shows the woman involved in a whole new light. We get to focus on their side of the story allowing the audience members to take in each woman individually. I love this dynamic and how it recreates the story of Casanova! 

Tickets to see Jenavieve and the rest of the Ballet Fantastique dancers in the first two performances of 2023 are available now!  Do not miss out on the remainder of this legendary season.

23 Casanova Interview with Oregon Mozart Players Music Director Kelly Kuo

Interview with Oregon Mozart Players Music Director / Harpsichord Kelly Kuo

photo by kim o’neill

This spring, Ballet Fantastique brings our original (Misadventures of) Casanova to the Hult Center stage.  The project features decadent live music played by the Oregon Mozart Players with internationally renowned Baroque musicians from across the globe.  Music Director Maestro Kelly Kuo conducts the Casanova soundtrack, including some of the most gorgeous music in history by Antonio Vivaldi, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jean Baptiste de Lully, and Johann Sebastian Bach.  Oregon Mozart Players was founded in over 40 years ago presenting works written for small orchestras and intimate venues, making them the perfect fit for Ballet Fantatsique’s signature chamber ballet dance theater storytelling.

We caught up with Maestro Kuo, to hear his inside perspective on performing alongside BFan’s artists, our guest celebrity stars, and to discover more about the musical fabric for bringing Casanova to life.

Back in 2013 when BFan’s Casaonva premiered, it was with recorded music.  What can our audience expect this time with a live orchestra for the first time?

We asked Jason Fromme to make a special arrangement of the musical works in this production for a chamber orchestra that combines the modern strings of Oregon Mozart Players along with a number of period instruments and a soprano.  Your audience will be hearing fresh new orchestrations that will hopefully bring a heightened sense of intimacy with the dancers on stage!

OMP performed with Ballet Fantastique at the Hult Center for the sold out premiere of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2017.  What are you most looking forward to in this next BFan collaboration?

Crouching Tiger was such a rewarding collaboration and, to this day, it remains one of my favorite musical memories.  This time I’m looking forward to conducting from the harpsichord and contributing to the musical sounds instead of just waving my arms.

What influence does working with dancers have on how you play?

Just as for instrumentalists, there are physical elements that influence the music-making.  From tempi to phrasing, the way the dancers move in their choreography directly relates to how we must collaborate.

PHOTO BY PHILIP GROSHONG

What pieces of music can our audience members expect to hear?  Why is this music important?  Do you have any personal favorites?

The production is filled with music that was written in the same time period in which Casanova lived—so basically, 18th century baroque music.  Works of Vivaldi are well-represented, but Bach, Handel, Lully, and Rameau in addition to an original composition by the established baroque cellist, René Schiffer.

Tell us about the process of choosing instrumentation for this project and the balance of contemporary and traditional baroque instruments.  How did you choose the arrangers for Casanova and what factors into the choices of instruments for the live performances?  I started by familiarizing myself with the original compositions and their respective orchestrations and tried to determine how OMP’s musicians could best serve the music.  For example, the modern instrumentalists on which we perform can affect the pitch and tempi of each work.  Next, I tried to pick period instruments that could provide the most range of color possibilities for the entire program.  I knew I wanted another continuo instrument and a theorbo gives a completely different spectrum of color compared to a harpsichord and also frees me to use my hands to conduct at times instead of being glued to a keyboard.  Given that there were a number of selections that utilized winds, brass, and voice, having a soprano and a wind instrument or two seemed necessary as well.  Baroque percussion is wonderful to add rhythmic spice into energetic works, too.  My friend, Jason Fromme, is a professional violinist, composer, and arranger, and I thought of him immediately when faced with the task of arranging these works for this specific ensemble and he brought his own ideas of orchestrating to this project.

You lead classical music, opera, and unique theater projects across the US and the world.  What makes this project different?

I have admired Ballet Fantastique for its creative choices of music, arrangements, and ensembles for their productions through the years I’ve worked in Eugene.  They are not afraid to rock the boat a little in order to tell their stories in a way that is original and truly authentic to them and they challenge me to think outside the box and push the boundaries of expectation.  It makes for meaningful collaboration!

PHOTO BY DANIEL CAVAZOS FOTO

You can purchase tickets to see Kelly Kuo and the Oregon Mozart Players during Casanova here!

22 Sleepy Hollow Blog Interview w/ Preston Andrew Patterson: Becoming Ichabod

BECOMING ICHABOD

Interview with Ballet Fantastique Principal Dancer Preston Andrew Patterson

Preston performing in Italy with Ballet Fantastique (Photo Credit: Mariano Zinnia)

Join us in welcoming Preston Andrew Patterson back to the BFan stage!  Preston has appeared a number of times with Ballet Fantastique, including starring in Ballet Fantastique’s As You Like It: A Wild West Ballet Italy tour in 2013.  Preston joins BFan from Ballet Austin, where he was a company artist danced from 2010-2022.  We got a chance to catch up with Preston as he prepares for our first performance of the season, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, where he dances the leading role of big city schoolteacher Ichabod Crane. His artistry, wit and humor on stage make him the perfect fit for this challenging protagonist role.

Q&A

Tell us a little bit about yourself! When and where did you start dancing?  What inspired you at a young age to try dancing? 

I took my first dance class when I was around 5 or 6 after seeing a dance class up close in the basement of the church I attended. 

You have worked with Ballet Fantastique before.  What was your experience like?

I guested with Ballet Fantastique in their tour to Italy, and again at the Hult Center. The tour was a whirlwind experience to say the least. I learned that Ballet Fantastique is an all-hands-on-deck team; I recall the camaraderie being really awe-inspiring. It was amazing what we accomplished by working together—and overusing the word “grazie.”

You are currently preparing to dance the leading role of Ichabod Crane for our first performance of the season, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Tell us what that process has been like for you. Have you ever danced in Sleepy Hollow or performed this role before? 

I have not danced the role of Ichabod before…this is certainly a new experience. In general, the opportunity to make a character—especially a character from classical literature—my own has not been too common an experience in my career thus far, so while it’s challenging balancing the stamina and dramatic needs of the role, it’s also refreshing to have a character to bring to life.

What are you looking forward to the most about performing as Ichabod? Any favorite scenes in the show? 

I’m looking forward to the reactions from the live audience! Our depiction of Sleepy Hollow contains a great deal of humor and warmth one might not immediately associate with such a seminally gothic tale. A great example of this is one of my favorite scenes in the second act, the schoolhouse scene, in which Ichabod is obsessing over this dropped handkerchief from Katrina Van Tassel while his students eagerly await his instruction. It’s the first time we see Ichabod in his “element” - academia -  while also being somewhat out of it because he’s enamored with the handkerchief and its person. 

What has been your biggest challenge in preparing for this role? Do you have any advice for dancers who are taking on a big role for the first time? 

The biggest challenge in preparing for this role so far has been building stamina for the breathier stretches of the show. Knowing when to indulge a break in between scenes, preparing physically for the next, and so forth. 

I would say my advice for dancers who are taking on a challenging role for the first time is to breathe, prepare, and think without overthinking; though the latter might not be completely possible. 

Preston performing in 5x5 with Ballet Fantastique (Photo Credit: Greg Burns, Stephanie Urso)

Don’t miss Preston Andrew Patterson bringing Ichabod Crane to life with warmth, humor, and incredible artistry and nuance in Ballet Fantastique’s original Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Oct. 20-23 at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, with live music from Dréos and Gerry Rempel Ensemble. Tickets on sale now!

Pride & Prejudice Artist Roundtable!

Get behind the scenes (2021 style) with some of the artists, dancers, and makers of Ballet Fantastique's Pride & Prejudice: A Parisian Jazz Ballet in this special Zoom conversation about the making of the rollicking RomCom BFan original. Ashley Bontrager (Lizzy Bennette), Gustavo Ramirez (Fitzwilliam Darcy), Adam Goldthwaite (Parson Collins), Leanne Mizzoni (Lydia Bennette), Hannah Bontrager (Co-Choreographer-Producer and Jane Bennette), and composer Gerry Rempel dish about their favorite moments and memories. Welcome to Ballet Fantastique's Pride & Prejudice: A Parisian Jazz Ballet Artist Roundtable!

Fall 2020 Season, Re-Imagined

We’re performing again…and we’re SO excited. See you soon, BFans!

Ballet Fantastique presents two outdoor live concerts for Sept. 2020

Photo: Bob Williams, featuring dancers: Taylor Harrison, Madeline Gambino, Jenavieve Hernandez // Mural artist: Steven Lopez

September 5, 2020: Ballet in the Vineyard — with live music from our friends at Bossanaire

• Saturday, Sept. 5 • 6:30–8 pm

• Silvan Ridge (27012 Briggs Hill Rd, Eugene, OR 97405)

• Tickets: $15/ea — tickets required for ages 2+, available at www.balletfantastique.org/events

• Proceeds benefit Ballet Fantastique’s innovated dance outreach work for K-12 education, innovated for 2020-2021 

Ballet Fantastique and Eugene-based band Bossanaire partner with Silvan Ridge to present a late summer outdoor concert this Labor Day Weekend in wine country, Saturday, Sept. 5. 

“We wanted a way to uplift our community, and we’re so excited to present this innovated, site-specific performance series,” says Artistic Director Donna Marisa Bontrager. “Our audience can enjoy a one-of-a-kind performance of live music and dance as the sun sets behind the rolling hills of beautiful Silvan Ridge.”

Silvan Ridge’s outdoor events informal amphitheater stage and grass space can accommodate 150 guests with extensive social distancing. The performance event, which takes place at sunset, will feature live bossa nova music from Bossanaire. Interspersed through the evening, guests will enjoy a series of uplifting, site-specific choreographic excerpts from the professional dancers of Ballet Fantastique, adapted to the Silvan Ridge grass and stage space. 

Performance excerpts will include choreography originally planned to premiere in Ballet Fantastique’s postponed May 2020 Hult Center performance, Luna Mística, transporting audiences to the beaches of Ipanema and the streets of Rio: “Girl from Ipanema,” “Batucada,” and “Sambando” by Ballet Fantastique choreographer-producers Donna Marisa and Hannah Bontrager. Also on the program is “Walls” by Brazilian choreographer Valéria Ball (1967-2016), a dear friend of the Bontragers and a regular collaborator with Ballet Fantastique, with live music by Bossanaire.

Ballet in the Vineyard patrons will be invited to bring their own picnic chairs or blanket. Dinner will be available for purchase from a local food truck, and outside food and picnics are also welcome. Wine will be available for purchase from Silvan Ridge. 

COVID-19 SAFETY GUIDELINES: We will be following all social distancing protocols throughout the evening, including keeping groups to 10 or less, maintaining a minimum of 6 feet between groups, regularly sanitizing the facility, as well as requiring children to remain seated with their group. See Silvan Ridge Winery’s “Visit Us” page for more details on COVID-19 guidelines in place to keep the winery clean and safe. 

Additional information:

• All tickets are sold in advance.  No groups larger than 10.  Minors allowed until 8 pm (tickets required for children ages 2+).

• Doors open at 5:30 pm. The Tasting Room will close at 5 pm and reopen for the concert at 5:30 pm.

• Ticket price does not include food and beverage.

• Picnics are welcome, but please no outside alcohol. Planktown and Oakshire beer and non-alcoholic beverages also available.

• All seating is first come, first served. Most seating is on the grass, so be sure to bring a blanket/lawn chairs.

• No groups larger than 10.

• Concert begins at 6:30 pm, ends at 8:00 pm.

• Children are welcome, but must have a ticket for capacity safety guidelines, and must remain with an adult at all times and be able to follow social distancing protocols.

September 12, 2020: Ballet on the Green

• Saturday, Sept. 12 • 5–8 pm

• Shadow Hills Country Club (92512 River Rd, Junction City, OR 97448)

• Tickets: $75/ea or $150/couple (includes dinner) — available at www.balletfantastique.org/events

• Proceeds benefit Ballet Fantastique

This Sept. 12, 2020, Ballet Fantastique offers a unique, late summer outdoor en plein air benefit at the gorgeous Shadow Hills Country Club, with custom late summer fare, curated wines, and a live site-specific ballet performance on the green. This event is limited to 50 guests. 

Beginning at 5 pm, guests will be welcomed in the Smith Garden. Following a touchless check-in, guests will proceed to their private cocktail table, where they will enjoy the custom picnic box menu created by Shadow Hills Executive Chef Diana Seligman (served picnic style for a no-contact experience). 

“Our vision for this event is like an outdoor music dinner club experience,” says Ballet Fantastique Executive Director Hannah Bontrager.  “Our audience will get to get out, dress up, support art they love—and do so with the confidence that they are still supporting our community’s safety responsibly, with distancing and in alignment with Governor Brown’s guidelines for outdoor gatherings.”

At 6 pm, guests will proceed to the adjoining fairway, where they will experience special first-release showings of "Amazon Awakenings," "Gaucho," and "Luna," with choreography by Brazilian choreographer Valéria Ball + Ballet Fantastique's Donna & Hannah Bontrager. “Amazon Awakenings” will be accompanied with live music from drummer Jim Reinking. 

“It’s an incredible artistic challenge to create for a space like this,” says Ballet Fantastique Artistic Director Donna Bontrager. “As I’m designing the choreography and the costumes for the green, it acts as its own artistic player in the visual impact. Audiences will truly be seeing dance unlike we’ve ever imagined it before, with the ballet dancers barefoot on the grass, embracing the beautiful expanse of the space.”

Finally, from 6:30-8 pm, guests are invited to a (distanced) garden reception with the artists.

COVID-19 SAFETY GUIDELINES: https://www.balletfantastique.org/ballet-on-the-green-social-distancing-protocols

More information coming soon about the following 2020–2021 Ballet Fantastique offerings:

• Fall 2020: Vault—A Ballet Club

• December 2020: Christmas Carol, Made-for-TV Ballet Movie

Behind the Scenes

Creating a new ballet remix—with a lot of help from the past

By Hannah Bontrager, June 2020

During this time where we’re all in our minds instead of the studio, we’re digging deep into conversations about the BFan creative process. One of the questions we’re asked MOST is: HOW DO YOU DO THIS?

The answer is, it’s complicated. There’s usually an idea that comes forward, sometimes written on a napkin (The Odyssey with live looping electric violin, 2015), or brainstormed across a picnic table (Cleopatra with the music of Beats Antique, 2019), or even on the way to a completely unrelated OSF touring appearance (Cinderella in a 1960’s prom, set to billboard hits, 2012). When it’s time to move the idea from napkin to reality: our process begins, in earnest. NOTE: In an upcoming blog entry, we’ll post our commitment to amplify the voices of BFan’s cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary artists and collaborators. We’re talking a lot—stay tuned.

Before we launch into an exposé of our process, we think it’s important to say that we didn’t “invent” artistic referencing; we’re not the first ones to use it, and we’re not saying it’s necessarily the “best” way. For time immemorial, artists of all mediums have referenced each other. Stravinsky was influenced by Russian folklore and then jazz. Van Gogh influenced Picasso. Socrates influenced Plato. Electro-swing remixes Duke Ellington. We’re definitely no Stravinsky, Picasso, Plato, or Ellington(!). But, like these great artists, our creative process often intentionally references the past.

Part I: Freak out

After we come up with a concept for a performance, we freak out. In fact, my mom and I ALWAYS have at least one conversation entitled “How can we possibly do this?!” Usually, at this point in the creative process, someone ironically stops one of us in line at the grocery store and says “An electro-swing Alice in Wonderland?! I can’t wait to see what you guys do!” And we say with one of the emoticon faces with all teeth (AND IN ALL TRUTH), “We can’t wait to see what we do with that, either!”

IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT BEFORE, THIS IS TRUE.

Part II: A lot of research

Meltdown completed, we move to (extensive) contextual, historical, cultural, and movemental research. We invite experts to our meetings and into the studio. We talk. We learn. We read. We also watch everything we can. Our research stage includes:

• Historical research

• Literary research

• Social dances of the culture/period

• Cultural dances and other theatrical or martial arts forms of the culture/period

• Other, more traditional or “classical” tellings of the story in dance, music, theater, or film

• We also research and play with innovative and intriguing lifts/movements/motifs from great world choreographers, classical and contemporary, to see how a feeling or an energy translates. Like musicians learning music from other composers to evolve something “new,” our team learns together in this way.

Part III: Moving in the studio

We collect our research in what we call our “Planning Database,” which functions sort of like a Pinterest board/digital Vision board/Idea box. This database includes: The characters we’ve chosen // Motifs we’ve chosen to emphasize // Our working scenes list // The music we’re considering matching to each scene.

When it’s time to move into the studio, we share this database with our team. What happens next is a messy artistic process involving playing, building, and editing. Sometimes, we infuse the choreographic process with source material, immersing and engaging BFan’s team of artist-performers directly in the research/inspiration process. We explore and play. In many cases, the final work that evolves out of this exploration process references, tributes, and recycles the source material. Some of these reasons include: Historical and cultural accuracy (e.g., when telling a story about another culture, like Celtic folk dancing in Dragon & the Night Queen); Humor (e.g., “quoting” The Nutcracker “Waltz of the Flowers” scene in our trippy version of flowers dancing in Alice in Wonderland: Remix); or as our own (humble!) homage to another great artist.

Here, we thought it could be meaningful to uncover and share how an incredibly wide range of historical work shows up in Ballet Fantastique’s work to fuse, remix, and reference important voices from the past in our own storytelling.

See for yourself

From hundreds of moments, here are six iconic examples of BFan’s aesthetic source material and movemental references in action. Enjoy!

ABOVE: Cinderella: A Rock Opera Ballet Set in 1964 prom scene: Reference material drawn directly from Dee Dee Sharp's "Mashed Potato Time" TV music video (1962) and converted on pointe for the Stepsisters at Prom. Our Prom scene was also inspired by the feeling of the Mambo! scene in Jerome Robbin's West Side Story for Broadway (1957). Throughout the ballet, we referenced other social dance forms of the time (including The Twist), as well as classical ballet versions of the classical ballet Cinderella (including the Gennadi Ledyax 1960 Bolshoi Cinderella)—especially for the Twist. We loved the feel of Twyla Tharp's remixed ballroom dance scenes with Baryshnikov (1984) for some of our partnering work.

ABOVE: Nevermore: Tales from Edgar Allan Poe — Death scenes: “Annabel Lee,” drawn from Frederick Ashton's Marguerite & Armand death scene, one of the greatest of all time (England's Royal Ballet, 1963). “Fall of the House of Usher” aesthetic drawn from Roger Corman’s 1960 Fall of the House of Usher cult classic film (with Vincent Price). Gustavo was inspired in his interpretation of Roderick Usher by Joaquin Phoenix’s The Joker (2019)

*Note: While this choreography has been used with paid permission from the Ashton Trust, we regret our typographical omission in the Nevermore performance program; the corrected Nevermore world premiere program is linked HERE.

Alice in Wonderland: Remix Queen of Hearts bad girl scene: References the articulate, bossy girls of classical ballet: Black Swan variation from Swan Lake (Kirov Ballet Marius Petipa, 1895) and "Finger Fairy" variation from Sleeping Beauty (Kirov Ballet, Marius Petipa, 1890), remixed with stylizations from Madonna's "Vogue" (1990).

ABOVE: American Christmas Carol — Fezziwig's Party scene: Includes excerpts from Miss Mildred Melrose's Piccadilly Cabaret's "Real Black-Bottom Dance” (1928).

ABOVE: Cleopatra — Temple of Isis scene: Studied reference material from Layla Taj for Youssef Zada, Egyptian Ambassador, Consul Temple of Isis, reconstructed by Ms. Taj from the Ptolemaic Dynasty (as published/shared in 2017).

Thank you for learning with us! We invite your feedback: feedback@balletfantastique.org

Meet Eliot Grasso (Dragon & the Night Queen Musician)

Eliot Grasso is an award-winning performer and recording artist whose performances on Irish uilleann pipes have been delighting audiences around the world for two decades. Contemporaries claim that Grasso’s “intuitive sense of melodic and technical variation make him one of the most creative and dynamic musicians in the contemporary world of Irish traditional music,” and “one of the finest uilleann pipers in the history of Irish music in America.”

He has performed extensively at venues including Constitution Hall, the Library of Congress, the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, National Geographic, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He has collaborated with actor Russell Crowe, Grammy-winning conductor, David Sabee, and NPR personality Garrison Keillor on “A Prairie Home Companion.” For a fuller picture of Grasso’s artistic endeavors, visit www.eliotgrasso.com.

This is his second collaboration with Ballet Fantastique.

Meet Elizabeth Dorman (Nevermore Pianist)

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ELIZABETH DORMAN JOINS BALLET FANTASTIQUE’S MUSICAL ENSEMBLE AS GUEST PIANIST FOR BALLET FANTASTIQUE’S WORLD PREMIERE OF NEVERMORE: STORIES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE (PERFORMANCES OCT. 25-27, 2019 AT THE HULT CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS).

ELIZABETH DORMAN BIO

Praised by Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle for her “crisp, brightly finished” playing and her “elegance and verve,” pianist Elizabeth Dorman received the 2017 Father Merlet Award from Pro Musicis and was a finalist in the 2018 Leipzig International Bach Competition. Appearances in the 2018-2019 season included Leipzig Chamber Orchestra and Folsom Lake Symphony, solo recitals in Washington, California, and New York, chamber music performances with principal players from the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics as well as members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Upcoming recording projects include an album of Scarlatti sonatas, anticipated for release in Fall 2019.

Elizabeth performs frequently as a soloist and chamber musician and is a member of New York’s Bridge Arts Ensemble. Elizabeth was an Artist in Residence at the Banff Centre and has also appeared at summer festivals including Tanglewood, Sarasota, Aspen, Toronto, Icicle Creek, and her live performances have been nationally broadcast on public radio. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestra in San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall, Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall, Leipzig's Hochschule für Musik, Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts, San Francisco’s Herbst Theater, and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Elizabeth was also winner of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Ross McKee competition, and the California Young Artist’s Beethoven Competition.

Elizabeth holds her PhD in music under Gilbert Kalish at Stony Brook University, where she also served as Adjunct Lecturer of Piano Pedagogy. A passionate educator, she has previously held teaching positions at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division and has been piano faculty at summer festivals including the Icicle Creek Music Center and Summer Music West at the San Francisco Conservatory. She has participated in masterclasses with Robert Levin, Robert McDonald, Leon Fleisher, Wu Han, Arthur Haas, John Perry, Menahem Pressler, and Ann Schein. A native of San Francisco, CA, Elizabeth began her training with Paul Hersh at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Why are you excited to have been involved in this performance project, and how is it different from what you've done in the past?

I'm thrilled to be working with you all. First of all, I'm a huge ballet and dance fan and I always love collaborating with dancers. (I even studied dance for a while as an adult because I admire dancers so much!) It's a wonderful program with lots of juicy parts for the piano and I'm excited to see how it all fits together.

What intrigued you about connecting with Ballet Fantastique?
The PNW is very close to my heart as a lot of my family leaves nearby in Oregon and Washington, including my mother. I love traveling to this part of the country and it's always really special when I perform in this area because often my family will come to the performances. I've only been to Eugene once in my life and I'm excited to explore the city more.

Meet Sergei Teleshev (Nevermore Guest Accordion)

INTERNATIONAL AWARD-WINNING ACCORDIONIST SERGEI TELESHEV JOINS BALLET FANTASTIQUE’S MUSICAL ENSEMBLE AS MUSICIAN AND GUEST COMPOSER FOR BALLET FANTASTIQUE’S WORLD PREMIERE OF NEVERMORE: STORIES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE (PERFORMANCES OCT. 25-27, 2019 AT THE HULT CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS).

Tell us about your background.

Official bio: Classically trained in Russia, Sergei Teleshev is one of the most versatile accordion players today, winner of International competitions, US V-Accordion champion. Composing and arranging music in different styles, he collaborates with many recognizable musicians all over the world. He is also a promoter and manager of several international projects from Russia, Sweden, and the US. Sergei has produced more than 100 music videos available on his YouTube channel with thousands of subscribers and millions of views. He is featured on major recordings with major orchestras, including the London Philharmonic.

Why are you excited to have been involved in this performance project, and how is it different from what you've done in the past?

I have played for Ballet Fantastique a number of times and known the company for many years. It's always a pleasure to work with talented, creative, and professional people. I'm excited to be involved to this performance with some other great musicians. There also will be two solo accordion pieces, including my original composition "Waltz for Katya"—which I wrote for my daughter. I'm so looking forward to seeing this piece on the stage with Ballet Fantastique!

Meet Nathan Farrington (Nevermore Original Music Arrangements)

Nathan Farrington joins Ballet Fantastique’s creative team as original arranger for Ballet Fantastique’s world premiere of Nevermore: Stories of Edgar Allan Poe (performances Oct. 25-27, 2019 at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts).

Tell us about your background.

I'm primarily a performer. I've played in the Philadelphia Orchestra's, the LA Philharmonic's, the San Fransisco Symphony's, and the Chicago Symphony's bass sections. I also love to sing, and have enjoyed using the combination of bass playing and singing to collaborate with musicians across many genres. I've arranged works for the LA Philharmonic and Weezer, Dreamworks Entertainment, the Britt Music Festival Orchestra, and the Musicians from Garden Music, and run a music production company called Hazard Audio in Los Angeles.

(PS: Nate’s official bio: Nathan Farrington is a bassist, singer, and composer living in Los Angeles. He regularly appears in the bass sections of many of America's top orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony. Nathan was recently named the Principal Bass of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra under James Conlon and Placido Domingo, and pursues chamber music and solo opportunities avidly. Nathan has appeared at the Marlboro Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Olympic Music Festival, ChemberFest Cleveland, and at the Da Camera Society. In addition to his performance interests, Nathan is deeply interested in Cinema. His LA based audio company, Hazard Audio, connects top classical minds, with the artistic minds in movie and tv production. His life in each of these fields has helped him engage in new and interesting projects across the US.

Why are you excited to have been involved in this performance project, and how is it different from what you've done in the past?

Combining the art forms is powerful. Stacking great music, talented musicians, new arrangements, marvelous dancers, and the sounds/visuals that come along with a ballet performance, enhances all of the individual parts. The results transcend a normal orchestral performance, and an audience with little or no 'music' or 'dance' experience can come enjoy an accessible and inspiring evening of 'high art'.

What intrigued you about connecting with Ballet Fantastique?
Ballet Fantastique’s creative team is uniquely interested in serving their audiences. The thought and consideration they exhibit during the planning process for a new work is inspiring, and the opportunity be a part of their artistic efforts is a real pleasure. I'm so excited to see Ballet Fantastique's evening of dark entertainment come together and am pleased to have been able to contribute.

Meet Edgar Allan Poe (Ballet Fantastique Guest Artist Alastair Morley Jaques)

Guest artist Alastair Morley Jaques is “Edgar Allan Poe” for Ballet Fantastique’s Nevermore: Stories of Edgar Allan Poe world premiere, Oct. 25-27, 2019 at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.

Tell us about your background.

I'm an Oregon native and I studied theatre and literature, with a special focus on the nineteenth century, at the U of O and the Evergreen State College. About ten years ago, I began developing a live, one-person show about early nineteenth century literary great Edgar Allan Poe. This involved not only total immersion in Poe's stories and poems, which I specialize in performing, but also on the biography and the character of Poe the person.

Why are you excited to be involved in this performance, and how is it different from what you've done in the past?

This performance will be an exciting and expansive experience for me. Nearly all of my past performances consist of me standing, moving about the stage, and talking at great length, unaided by any sort of music of visual display. It's really just me and Poe up there most of the time. Ballet Fantastique's blending of music and dance with the dark lyricism and themes of Edgar Allan Poe is a wholly new experience for me and my ever evolving interpretation of the stories and poems. And it's a melding of artistic perspectives of which I think Poe would have approved. Not only did Poe speak of "the pleasure derivable from sweet sounds with the capacity for creating them" in his lesser known but highly influential work "The Island of the Fay," but he also made sure to include ballet dancers among the macabre amusements offered up in "The Masque of the Red Death."

What intrigued you about connecting with Ballet Fantastique and doing a performance in Eugene/the Pacific Northwest?

Well, just as Poe was a proud southern boy, I'm a son of Cascadia and love working with arts and educational organizations of the Pacific Northwest. While my Poe engagements have taken me as far as Chicago this year, it's always to Oregon that I return for the latter part of October. Working with a premier Oregon arts organization like Ballet Fantastique is just the sort of collaboration I try to exemplify in all of my productions, both Poe-related and otherwise: Classic works of American literature, but done in that ineffable but instantly identifiable Oregon way by Oregon artists and craftspersons. Again, Poe was from Virginia and died ten years before Oregon was granted statehood, but he was a weirdo and an outsider…and Oregon loves weirdos and outsiders. We celebrate and glorify them in a way that I think Poe would have appreciated. He did write one piece that talked about the expanding United States and what was, for him, the most far flung boundaries of civilization in the Pacific Northwest in a critical essay entitled "Astoria.”

Alastair Morley Jaques in costume as Edgar Allan Poe.