James Brooking Rich, artistic director of the Oregon Bach Collegium, died suddenly on June 23, 2013 at his home in Takilma, Oregon at the age of 68. The OBC community mourns his death, and will carry on his vision of historically informed music making.
Jim’s skills as blacksmith, tall ship sailor and early music musician all reflected his deep interest in the culture of the eighteenth century and the recovery of the artistic goals of the period. A graduate of Northwestern University and Hunter College of CUNY, Jim produced numerous recordings for the Musical Heritage Society in the 1960s and early ’70s, before moving to southern Oregon to establish himself as a blacksmith. Many of the recordings produced for MHS represented his interest in bringing the riches of early music to the public. Jim applied these same “period-performance” intentions to his work on tall ships, including as crew on the Lady Washington, the Bill of Rights, the Lynx, and most recently as Captain of the Royaliste. Inspired by the historical novels of Patrick O’Brian, Jim studied everything about tall ships, about historical gunnery, about everything connected with the royal navy and was generous in sharing all of his knowledge with others. As a farrier and blacksmith for almost forty years at his Takilma Forge and Wagon Works, he recreated a one-man historically designed workplace. Jim made durable hand-forged wrought-iron ware using the traditional tools of the craft: bellows-blown coal fired forge, hammer and tongs. Jim also provided exquisite hand-forged hardware for a number of contemporary harpsichord makers.
A founding member of Early Music America, Jim eagerly looked for opportunities to sing and play. After moving to Takilma Jim developed several small period-performance ensembles in the Illinois Valley, eventually founding his Jefferson Baroque Orchestra in 1994 as a means of presenting larger-scale works by well-known composers. In 2007 he encouraged the formation of Oregon Bach Collegium in order to support early music performance throughout Oregon. The success of both JBO and OBC revealed Jim’s skill in developing a community that would share his enthusiasm for early music. Jim’s kindness, his humor, his gentlemanly demeanor, and his ability to tell the contextual history behind the music brought us all into his world of delight. Of course, setting up concerts always involved a whirlwind of driving, moving harpsichords and music stands and seeing to all of the details of a self-produced performance. Yet Jim always appeared calm and focused on his goal. His broad smile and elegant carriage, even when dressed in his sailor’s slops, set the tone for all of us. In his extemporaneous introductions to our programs he amazed us all with his instant recall of dates, names, places and events. More than that, he performed beautifully both as a singer and instrumentalist.
His broad-ranging intellectual acumen, and unaffected and contagious joy in all aspects of early music will be deeply missed. We intend to carry forth his vision for our ensemble, maintaining Jim’s commitment to historically informed performances of the music he loved.
–Margret Gries, Music Director, OBC