Oregon Festival of American Music

Chuck Redd is a professional percussionist capable of wowing any audience with his jaw-dropping solos. He’s an expert on musical stylings, arranging, improvisation and technique, and his friendly demeanor and warm personality make him approachable and easy to ask questions.

Amy is Director and Conductor of the Oregon Festival of American Music Songsters. A graduate of the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance, Amy has been involved in music education and Eugene’s performing arts community for over twenty years, including acting as chorus manager for the Eugene Symphony Chorus. She is a freelance accompanist and can usually be found at home covering her favorite jazz and pop tunes, accompanying community choruses, singing Mozart and Bach or preparing children’s choirs to sing with orchestras.

Matt Treder’s love affair with the piano began as soon as he could reach the keys. At home in almost any musical milieu, he has played in jazz combos, toured in a country band, co-founded Eugene cult rock band ToneDawg and composed music for video games. He is on faculty at The Shedd Institute and serves as music director at the Spiritual Growth Center of Eugene. He primarily plays be ear and has fun taking different to demonstrate what we mean by “standards-based jazz”.

An educator by profession and arts supporter by avocation, Ginevra Ralph helped to found both the Eugene Opera and Eugene Ballet in the 1970s. She is the co-founder of The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts, the only community music institute in the state of Oregon outside of Portland. A long-time advocate and teacher of students with cognitive and physical disabilities, Ginevra applied this teaching experience as she developed curriculum and instructional principles for The Shedd to include all ages and abilities.

James Ralph co-founded the Oregon Festival of American Music in 1991 and serves as the executive director and principal artistic leader of The Shedd Institute. He developed its innovative, thematically-based festival programming approach, which features multiple artistic directors and cultural projects that incorporate multiple genres of music, literature, history, criticism, fine art, dance, musical theater and film into single festival structures. Jim has a B.S. in anthropology and an M.A. in medieval church history. He loves teaching and providing lifelong learning opportunities to his community.

Howard Schuman is a senior human resources and institutional development consultant with over 30 years of international project management experience; he has assisted with projects in over 35 countries. Howard is also a member of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute’s film committee. He speaks Thai, Indonesian and Malay, and is author of the career development book “Making It Abroad – the International Job Hunting Guide.” Howard makes sure that in addition to bringing his laptop, his subscription to Netflix is up-to-date during all of his travels.

Heidi Turnquist is the Shedd Music School Administrator. She participated in the Oregon Festival of American Music as a member of the Young Artist Academy vocal ensemble from 1998-2001. Her college background includes curriculum development as well as musical theatre, musical comedy, improv, and dance. She is active in the local theatre scene, and has performed in musicals, operas, choirs, and more around the Eugene area.