Erika Rauer and Eduardo Moreira offer an afternoon of repertoire for piano and voice, beginning with Messiaen’s cycle Poèmes pour Mi for dramatic soprano and piano. This 30-minute cycle features original texts which fuse religious symbolism, New Testament language and surrealist poetry. The songs are written in Messiaen’s inimitable harmonic language and feature his extended rhythmic vocabulary.

They will honor the recent passing of preeminent American composer George Crumb with his cycle Apparition, set to poems by Walt Whitman’s from Walt Whitman's Memories of President Lincoln in “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd”. This cycle for singer and amplified piano pushed the boundaries of classical art song when it premiered in 1979 and still sounds cutting edge today.

Finally, they offer Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge’s Cinco canciones negras, five songs that give voice to the Caribbean experience of colonialism and transport the listener to a different time and place.

  • Eduardo Moreira

    Hailing from southern Brazil, Dr. Eduardo Moreira is a soloist and collaborative pianist in the Eugene area. His accolades include several first prizes in piano competitions, such as International Piano Competitions in Brazil and France and the University of Oregon Concerto Competition. He has performed with the Symphonic Orchestra of Porto Alegre, Symphonic Orchestra of Bahia and the University of Oregon Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has served on faculty at the University of Oregon where he taught undergraduate and Masters’ students.

    His studies have spanned three continents. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from the Federal University Grande do Sul, Brazil. Upon graduation, he relocated to Strasbourg, France, where he received a Master’s of Music degree and a Performer’s Certificate from the University of Strasbourg and the Strasbourg Conservatoire, respectively. While studying in Europe, Eduardo performed regularly as a solo and collaborative pianist, and taught piano lessons at both the Conservatoire and public music schools. In 2013, he moved to Eugene where he obtained a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Oregon.

    Eduardo currently lives in Eugene with his wife Victoria Moreira, where he teaches piano and performs regularly.

    eduardomoreira.net/

  • Erika Rauer

    Soprano Erika Rauer is acclaimed for the "iridescent" (Financial Times) sound she brings to both concert and operatic literature. The Boston Globe has commended her "great stage face and strikingly individual timbre." The Schenectady Daily Gazette remarked on her "dark and sultry" sound and stated of her performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14, "Rauer's voice is perfectly suited for a modern score and she sang with unbridled passion."


    Recent credits in Eugene include George Crumb’s Apparition and Ravel's Chansons madécasses on the Hope on the Butte series produced by A-Squared Productions, as well as chamber works by Pizzetti, Chausson, and Lekeu with Chamber Music Amici this past summer. In fall she performed Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Cantatas 152 and 191 with the Emerald Chamber Orchestra. Upcoming performances include the alto solos in the Vivaldi Gloria and the Mozart Vespers with Eugene Concert Choir at the Hult Center in April.


    Ms. Rauer’s operatic credits include the title role of Salome at Oper Bremen in Germany, Abigail Williams in The Crucible with Opera Boston, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Tanglewood Music Festival, and Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters with Opera Company of Philadelphia and Gotham Chamber Opera.
    Chamber music highlights include Messiaen's song cycle Harawi, a recital of Chinese yage at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Shostakovich cycles “From Jewish Folk Poetry” and “Seven Romances on Songs by Alexander Blok” at Ravinia, and the New York premier of Hermann Reutter's “5 Antike Ode” for viola, piano and voice.


    Ms. Rauer is an advocate for arts education with experience teaching opera and music in public schools in New York City. She served as Staff Teaching Artist and later, Director of Education for New York City Opera. She also held positions at major arts institutions including Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. She is best known to the Eugene community in her capacity as Executive Director of Eugene Opera.


    Ms. Rauer received professional training as a member of the Young American Artist’s Program at Glimmerglass Opera, a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival for three seasons, and a Chamber Music Fellow at the Steans Institute at Ravinia. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in religion from Swarthmore College and her Master of Music in voice from the Yale School of Music.

    erikarauer.com/