This week, a terrible crash at Amazon Park took the life of a beloved member of the Eugene community. Sharon Schuman, who died at age 79, was an accomplished musician, professor, community volunteer, mother and grandmother.
Rebecca Schuman described her mother as a force to be reckoned with.
“She never stopped. If there were some people to be helped or good to be done in this city and she saw any avenue at all to either do it herself or band people together to raise enough money to do it,” she said. “She didn’t stop until it was done.”
Rebecca’s brother, Ben Schuman, agreed.
“She was a very accomplished musician, a scholar, a leader in the nonprofit community and just a force for positive change in a number of different people’s lives,” he said.
Schuman played violin with Oregon Mozart Players, where she also served on the board. She also played in the Eugene Opera orchestra and for the Oregon Bach Festival. She served on the board of directors for Square One Villages in Eugene. She taught literature at the University of Oregon and was an author.
Schuman co-founded Chamber Music Amici 17 years ago. Amici is Italian for "friends" and it was a group of her friends who came together to play music.
Cellist and professor Steven Pologe has been part of Chamber Music Amici since the beginning.
“She was such a strong, forceful, motivated, organized mind. Initially, she was the leader of the Chamber Music Amici group, but eventually she was just one of the musicians,” he said. “But as a board member, she was still a leader.”
Eunhye Grace Choi joined the group about 6 years ago. She said Schuman was a great friend and mentor. They worked closely together in the last few weeks.
“I’m still missing her voice in my head. ‘Great. Okay. That sounds good. Oh, that makes sense.' So I will greatly miss her,” she said.
Choi said their most recent concert earlier this month was a passion project of Schuman’s—a commissioned piece based on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
“This concert was like one of her dreams ... that she played and she really enjoyed,” Choi recalled. “And then after the concert, ‘Grace, I think I did it!’ I still hear that!”
Choi is still processing the fact that that was Schuman’s last performance. She said a concert scheduled in June was set to be a celebration where Schuman announced her retirement. Now, it will be a celebration of Schuman’s life.
Schuman leaves behind two children and three grandchildren. Her son, Ben Schuman, has a boy and a girl and lives in Austin, Texas. He said whenever his mom visited, the room lit up.
“Just like every other aspect of her life she always had the ability to use time wisely and to make the most of the time that she was putting into anything,” he said. “And I would say her grandparenting was a perfect example of that as well.”
Rebecca Schuman said her mom had a lot more to give.
“She had so much left to do,” she said. “She had so much left to give to the community. She had so many friendships that she cherished and that cherished her. And she had time that needed to be had with my daughter, my niece and nephew, her grandchildren. She was an absolutely doting grandmother and it’s just really tragic and heartbreaking that she was taken from us in such a violent way.”
(In the close of the audio piece, you can hear an excerpt from "The Rooster and the Fox" by Colin Pip Dixon from Chamber Music Amici's concert "Old and New" on April 14, 2025 at the Wildish Theater in Springfield)
Update: There will be a celebration of life for Sharon Schuman on Monday.
The celebration is at noon at the Wildish Theater in Springfield. There will be speakers, and musical performances by Chamber Music Amici and friends.
There's also a drop-in open house from 2 to 7 pm afterwards at the Public House in Springfield.
