BlueTower Arts 

painter

Wesley Hurd

Wesley Hurd was born in Claremont, California in 1946. He studied fine art and art education at Southern Oregon College graduating in 1967. Wesley and his family have lived on the west and east coasts of the U.S. and London, England. He and his wife, Carol, have lived in Eugene, Oregon since 1977. He began his present studio practice in 1989. He has a graduate degree in theology and a Ph.D. in education concentrating in educational philosophy and social thought. He received his M.F.A. in painting from the University of Oregon in 2000. Wesley was a recipient of two graduate fellowships at the University of Oregon. He has taught as an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Oregon. He retired as a tutor at Gutenberg College, Eugene, Oregon in 2012. Wesley is currently a free-lance lecturer and mentor specializing in modern and contemporary visual art, and serves on the board of Gutenberg College.

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Dréos

composer • Uilleann piper

Eliot Grasso

Eliot Grasso is one of the foremost Irish musicians in North America. Critics have described his playing as “remarkably compact and precise, tastefully embellished with a restrained creativity and inventiveness,” in that it demonstrates a “superb technical ability” through “a startling depth, consistency, and clarity of tone.” Contemporaries claim that Grasso’s “intuitive sense of melodic and technical variation make him one of the most creative and dynamic musicians in the contemporary world of Irish traditional music,” and “one of the finest uilleann pipers in the history of Irish music in America.”

Grasso has performed for the National Heritage Awards, for President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton at the National Endowment for the Arts Awards, and for Irish President Mary Robinson, Irish Ambassador to the United States Sean O hUigin, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, President of Sinn Féin Gerry Adams, and other heads of state. Eliot has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Constitution Hall, the Library of Congress, the National Building Museum, National Geographic, the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (Dublin, Ireland), Sterling Castle (Sterling, Scotland), and the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, MD). He has also appeared as a guest artist on National Public Radio for “A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor, and for RTE’s Irish traditional music program “The Rolling Wave,” presented by Peter Browne in Dublin, Ireland. Eliot has performed with renowned actor Russell Crowe, The Chieftains, the Green Fields of America, Distinguished Global Professor of Ethnomusicology Dr. Mick Moloney, and Ensemble Galilei.

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Dréos

Violinist • Fiddler

Brandon Vance

Brandon Vance is one of North America's most versatile fiddlers. He is a two-time national Scottish fiddling champion and, at age 14, is the youngest American in history to receive this honor. He has been a recipient of multiple fellowships, and holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Violin Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has performed and recorded with international folk, jazz, and early music masters, including John Reischman, Alex Fedoriouk, Eliot Grasso, and Stephen Rice.  Brandon collaborates regularly with Early Music Vancouver, is a member of Pacific Musicworks, Northwest Sinfonietta, and helped found the Celtic-Eastern European folk and early music crossover group, “Alchymeia” with Nadia Tarnawsky. His composition, “Twin Towers Lament” from his debut album "Beyond the Borders" received a nomination for “Best Celtic Instrumental Song” from “Just Plain Folks Music Awards” in LA, and he has premiered his composition “Gael Storm” for fiddle and orchestra with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra at Severance Hall. 

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