On Sunday, July 14, following his last performance as the Oregon Bach Festival artistic director, Helmuth Rilling was honored for his contributions to the University of Oregon.
As President Michael Gottfredson described at a small reception at McMorran House, the University of Oregon has three awards that commemorate the university’s greatest individual honors. In 1956, the faculty established the Distinguished Service Award. In 1989, the president established the Presidential Medal, and in 1991, the faculty established the Honorary Doctorate Award.
“Each in its own way memorializes the very best in human endeavor,” said President Gottfredson. “Tonight, you [Maestro Rilling] become the first person in the history of our university to have been honored with all three of these awards.”
Rilling received the UO’s Distinguished Service Award in 1985; an Honorary Doctorate in 1999 (one of only four individuals who has achieved the honor to date); and now the University of Oregon Presidential Medal.
Earlier in the day, Rilling conducted the final concert of his tenure as artistic director. He chose Bach's B Minor Mass, called the composer's greatest work by many music enthusiasts, which was performed by 75 musicians at the Silva Concert Hall at the Hult Center. The performance was the 13th time that Rilling had conducted the piece in his 44 years at the Oregon Bach Festival.
Following the B Minor Mass, Rilling was toasted by nearly 2,000 concert goers in the lobby of the Hult Center. They raised a glass while Rilling was presented with a hand-bound score of “Alleluia" by Scottish composer James MacMillan, written in Rilling's honor and premiered on July 6 during a Festival concert.
Being presented with the UO Presidential Medal capped a year in which Rilling celebrated his 80th birthday and received an honorary proclamation from the State of Oregon, the Chorus America distinguished service award, and the Eugene Arts and Letters Award.
- Story by Julie Brown, Strategic Communications