There are more than 5,700 miles between Medford and Vienna, but soon, musicians from throughout Southern Oregon will close the gap by traveling to compete in the music capital of the world. First, though, the 30 students aged 10-26 in the James M. Collier Siskiyou Violins group will premiere their Vienna program at the Green Show at OSF on Friday.
Two of Ashland’s most prolific, socially conscious artists — chamber opera composer Ethan Gans-Morse and his co-writer, poet-librettist Tizania DellaRovere — are celebrating the heritage, struggles, triumphs and stories of immigrants in an opera film premiering June 22 and 23 at the Varsity Theatre in Ashland.
In a world seemingly becoming more and more disconnected, with polarized camps retreating to hostile corners, Marla Estes wants to be one of those building bridges — and is working to make it so many others are, too. Most recently, she’s launched a monthly presentation and conversation on the second Wednesdays of the month at Rogue Valley Metaphysical Library on Ashland Street in Ashland.
There are only two weeks left for families to apply for a Habitat for Humanity project in Ashland. Applications are due by June 14 and available now on Habitat for Humanity’s website.
Southern Oregon VegFest: Come for the food and festivities — stay to learn about local businesses and nonprofits. Now its second year, Southern Oregon VegFest features even more Rogue Valley vendors, food trucks and kids’ attractions from crafts to face painting. Admission, parking and activities are free Sunday in Phoenix.
Before the nonprofit Parker House opened in 2018, there was no established place in Ashland for women and children in crisis to turn. Now in its sixth year of changing lives for women and women with children by providing, according to its website, “a Transitional Housing Program that helps women regain emotional well-being, independence and permanent housing by providing support, individual case management and a safe home environment.”
The artist behind a Black art installation planned for Ashland Creek Park hopes the piece will, once erected, serve as a cultural anchor of belonging for the Black community in Ashland and the surrounding Rogue Valley, while welcoming those from all races and ethnic backgrounds.
Catty Corner: For those who are unhoused or at risk, it can be challenging to take good care of their furry family members. For more than 10 years, Rogue Valley Street Dogs has been helping humans and their companion animals get access to spay/neuter surgeries as well as food, medical care, and supplies. Learn about their work, as well as the mobile vet clinics in partnership with the Street Dog Coalition.
True to its name, the nonprofit organization Beautiful Music in the Park will bring, well, beautiful music to Lithia Park again this year, the second season for the program founded by longtime park cello busker Daniel Sperry, starting Saturday, May 25. The piano quintet “Friends of Flare” is set to play from 11 a.m. to noon on the small field past the lower duck pond, affectionately nicknamed the “cello lawn” after Sperry’s frequent busks.
A developmental reading from a modern verse translation of “Hamlet” by the theater ensemble Universes will be presented Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2, at the SOU Main Stage Theater by the Ashland New Plays Festival.
Those driving through downtown Ashland Thursday afternoon may have encountered a traffic disruption at the corner of East Main and North Pioneer streets when first responders closed off some traffic lanes while they investigated what was initially reported as a structure fire.
The recently completed $750,000 Bear Creek River Mile 19 project wasn’t intended to have a strictly surface level effect, but to create a nuanced restoration of eight acres of wildland urban interface within the Almeda Fire scar.
The Ashland Independent Film Festival kicks off its four-day run Thursday, Oct. 3, with the centerpiece film for the festival, ‘Including Us,’ set for its world premiere Saturday. The film, made by local director Brandon Givens, is about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production of “Hairspray: A Broadway Musical” in 2019. The story focuses on four actors with disabilities who starred in the musical, along with the rest of the cast.
Electric Department Head Tom McBartlett presented a master plan to keep the city of Ashland’s electric department safe, reliable and capable of meeting future demand at the Ashland City Council study session Monday. The plan projected that, with a few changes, the city’s electric system would be capable of handling the projected population growth and with a few potential upgrades and alterations — such as an expansion of the Mountain Avenue substation and a potential upgrade to its transformer.
After narrowly making it back to Southern Oregon on one of the last flights out of Asheville, North Carolina, before remnants of Hurricane Helene touched down last Thursday, Ashland resident Ashley Brown is hearing devastating news directly from friends in the area.
Rough patches of pavement along about a mile of North and East Main streets and Lithia Way were ground up and taken away, replaced by freshly laid inlays of asphalt Monday and Tuesday during a joint project of the Oregon Department of Transportation and the city of Ashland.
(It’s free)
