July 2026 Letter From Tim

MusicOregon Listening Session in Bend: June 22, 2026

The Power of Connection

Friends,

For 25 years, I served as Executive Director of Western Arts Alliance, a booking conference connecting artists or their agents with performing arts centers and university presenters across the West. Again and again, I watched what happened when artists, presenters, and music professionals got into the same room. Relationships formed. Opportunities opened up. Careers took unexpected turns. I came to deeply appreciate connection as a powerful force in a creative community. When the right people find each other, something close to magic can happen.

That belief is a big part of why the MusicOregon listening tour moved me the way it did.

Over the past several weeks, we traveled to seven communities across the state. Every conversation was unique: different economies, histories, and scenes. Yet one theme emerged and energized us: people want connection. With collaborators in their communities. With musicians and venues statewide. With resources, opportunities, and relationships that help their work grow.

This interest showed up in a lot of forms. Musicians are eager to collaborate across genres and markets, venue operators are interested in building relationships with counterparts across town or in nearby communities, and talent buyers see real potential in regional touring routes that don't yet exist. What we found was not a sector in retreat. It was a sector with momentum and appetite, seeking better infrastructure to support the work already happening.

That's what MusicOregon is being asked to help build. The goal is not to be the hub of everything. Instead, it's to help create conditions for deeper and broader connections: a statewide directory, regional convenings, advocacy, and shared visibility into resources and opportunities across Oregon.

I've seen what's possible when a creative community connects and organizes. Oregon's music community has everything it needs to get there. We just heard it in seven cities. 

Join us.

Song of the Month: Blind Pilot’s Believe Me

Tim Wilson

MusicOregon Board President