Rogue Valley Symphony and Oregon Shakespeare Festival: A perfect match for Valentine’s Day

ASHLAND, Ore. — After a very successful Christmas show, OSF-RSV now presents ‘A Love Letter to Shakespeare.’

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Rogue Valley Symphony will perform “A Love Letter to Shakespeare” on Valentine’s Day at the Angus Bowmer Theatre in Ashland at 8 p.m.

With a blend of enthralling melodies and romantic Shakespeare scenes and sonnets, the concert is guaranteed to capture the hearts and minds of those attending the festival.

The extraordinary collaboration will include music from composers Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Carl Maria Von Weber, Leonard Bernstein, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Hector Berlioz, and Felix Mendelssohn. It will also include an all-star cast of OSF actors.

Joelle Graves, executive director of the Rogue Valley Symphony, came up with the idea for the program. April Lowe and Craig Jessen wrote the script that ties the various components of the program together. Rosa Joshi, the creative assistant artistic director of OSF, will direct the dramatic scenes, while Martin Majkut will lead the orchestra.

An Awesome Opportunity

The stars who will make this collaboration possible include Preston Robert Mead, Thilini Ruwangi Dissanayake, Tyrone Wilson, Tim Getman, Donna Simone Johnson, and Caroline Shaffer.

Conductor Majkut said, “It was perfect timing, as OSF and the RVS are off on the night of February 14. We just had to take the opportunity.”

The evening will be filled with music, which will set the mood.

Majkut said, “It is all Shakespeare-inspired. The actors and the orchestra will occasionally interact. Our musicians will also provide background music.”

The symphony performed three concerts of a holiday show with OSF in mid-December. This is its second pops concert of the season.

A Good Collaboration

Majkut remarked, “We discovered that RVS and OSF work well together, and we truly enjoyed working together. Our December collaboration went smoothly. We are both thrilled to have a new outlet for our creativity, and we look forward to organizing more collaborative events in the future.”

Majkut submitted his music proposal after he received the Valentine’s Day concert outline.

Majkut stated, “Rosa Joshi was the director of the selected scenes.” “We got together and adjusted the program to flow. It is a true pleasure working with her.”

Romeo and Juliet

Majkut said, “Shakespeare-inspired music has been in my portfolio over the years, and I look forward to finally performing “Romeo and Juliet. This is the perfect time and place for it.”

He said, “Tchaikovsky’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was never on my schedule until this moment. It is the perfect moment for it.”

All of the actors are members of OSF. They will serve as representations of young, adult, and mature couples.

Tim Getman, Caroline Shaffer, Tyrone Wilson, Preston Robert Mead, Thilini Ruwangi Dissanayake, and Donna Simone Johnson are among the actors. They will act out passages from “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Troilus and Cressida,” “Henry VI,” and “Romeo and Juliet,” as well as recite Shakespeare sonnets.

The musical selections will feature pieces from “West Side Story” by Bernstein, “Beatrice and Benedick Overture” by Berlioz, “Wedding March From A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Mendelssohn, “Oberon Overture” by Weber, “Much Ado About Nothing Suite” by Korngold, and “Romeo and Juliet” overture-fantasia by Tchaikovsky.

Tickets to the concert are sold out.

Find out more about the 2024 Oregon Shakespeare Festival season.