Helmuth Rilling and Royce Saltzman honored by Oregon Legislature, UO supports cultural trust

UO graduate and State Representative Phil Barnhart (D-Eugene) has introduced two resolutions honoring the founders of the Oregon Bach Festival. House Concurrent Resolution 21 “honors [the] achievements of Helmuth
Rilling in [the] 44th and culminating year of his artistic directorship of [the] Oregon Bach Festival.” Rilling has served as the artistic director of the Bach Festival since 1970. The resolution highlights Rilling’s stewardship of the Bach Festival from a single concert with a $2,500 budget into an internationally acclaimed arts festival with 60 events over a three-week period. The festival includes choral-orchestral masterworks, guest artists, chamber music, social events, and education programs. The annual event hosts as many as 35,000 audience members and more than 500 musicians, and contributes more than $ 6 million annually to the economy. 

House Concurrent Resolution 22 honors Director Emeritus H. Royce Saltzman for his work on the Oregon Bach Festival. The resolution speaks to Saltzman’s leadership in growing the Oregon Bach Festival into one of the “preeminent classical music festivals in the United States.” Both bills have been tentatively scheduled for floor hearings in the Oregon House on April 11 to coincide with UO Day at the Capitol.

On March 12, the Oregon Bach Festival joined the UO Libraries, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the UO Museum of Natural and Cultural History, and the Oregon Folklife Network in submitting written testimony in support of SB 319, which would extend the sunset for tax credits to the Trust for Cultural Development. The Oregon Cultural Trust was established to support, stabilize and protect Oregon culture and enhance the lives of Oregonians by increasing opportunities to experience Oregon’s unique cultural offerings. Since that time, $12.7 million dollars have been distributed and 980 grants have been awarded, helping bolster 60,000 creative sector jobs in Oregon. More details about how the Oregon Cultural Trust supports UO programs is include in the written testimony.