Opening Reception
Wednesday, October 11
6:00 p.m.
Portland Art Museum

Devin Phillips

Devin Phillips is constantly pushing the borders of what is considered modern jazz today. Phillips carries a torch passed to him by a long lineage of New Orleans masters. Refusing to play music over the heads of his audience, Devin’s approach somehow manages to bring together elements of American culture old and new. Avid jazz fans will enjoy the tradition that is so prevalent in his sound, while people new to his music always find it accessible and engaging. Phillips’s ability to convey emotion through his music shines through and truly displays a voice all his own. http://devinphillips.com/

Opening Plenary Session & Roll Call of the States
Thursday, October 12
9:00 a.m.

Elizabeth Woody, Oregon Poet Laureate

Elizabeth A. Woody is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon, of Yakama Nation descent, and is “born for” the Tódích’íinii (Bitter Water clan) of the Navajo Nation. Her paternal grandfather’s clan is Mą’ii deeshgiizhinii (Coyote Pass – Jemez clan). Woody received the American Book Award in 1990 and the William Stafford Memorial Award for Poetry, and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards in 1995. She has published three books of poetry, writes short fiction and essays, and is a visual artist.

Woody earned a master of public administration degree through the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government’s Executive Leadership Institute of Portland State University and a bachelor of arts in humanities from The Evergreen State College. She studied creative writing and two-dimensional arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Woody has taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts and at Portland State University. She is an alumna of the first Kellogg Foundation fellowship through Americans for Indian Opportunity’s Ambassadors program. She leads writing workshops and lectures and has served on multidisciplinary art fellowship jury panels for several foundations and arts organizations nationally. Woody is on the board of directors of Soapstone: Celebrating Women Writers and the Willamette University Advisory Council for Native Programs in Salem, Oregon. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/elizabeth-woody

PHAME

The PHAME Rock Ensemble is an inclusive group of singers and musicians with and without disabilities performing original music and cover songs primarily based in rock and pop. The group’s director, Matthew Gailey, collaborated with singers and musicians from within PHAME’s program to found the group in 2016. The group’s mission is to demonstrate the high level of artistry that can be achieved when artists, regardless of disability, perform together on a professional level. The PHAME Rock Ensemble has performed at venues like TEDx and McMenamins Edgefield while sharing the stage with the likes of Pink Martini, Storm Large, Tim Perry (Ages and Ages), The Bylines and other prominent groups from the Northwest. http://phamepdx.org/

Donor Reception
Thursday, October 12
6:30 p.m.

BRAVO Youth Orchestra

BRAVO transforms the lives of underserved youth through intensive orchestral music instruction emphasizing collaboration, promoting self-confidence and creating a community where children thrive. (Photo by Richard Kolbell) http://oregonbravo.org/

Closing Plenary Session
Friday, October 13
3:30 p.m.
Winningstad Theatre

Pink Martini

Drawing inspiration from music from all over the world, and crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop, Thomas Lauderdale founded Pink Martini in 1994. Featuring a dozen musicians, Pink Martini performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America and North America. Pink Martini made its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony in 1998 under the direction of Norman Leyden. Since then, the band has gone on to play with more than 50 orchestras around the world, including multiple engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Boston Pops, the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, the San Francisco Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony at the Sydney Opera House and the BBC Concert Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall in London. Pink Martini has released nine albums, including Sympathique, Hang On Little Tomato, Get Happy and its most recent, Je dis oui! (Photo by Chris Hornbecker) http://pinkmartini.com/about/