Dolly Parton symphonic show brings star power to Eugene's Hult Center

Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony gave the Hult Center a marquee Friday night, putting the Eugene Symphony at the center of a crossover event in Silva Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. The show was built to pull more than one kind of audience into downtown Eugene, with Parton on screen, guest vocalists and musicians, and new orchestrations of songs that many listeners know by heart.

The production was not a standard concert listing. The Eugene Symphony described it as a multimedia experience built around “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You,” with additional personal favorites and a selection from Parton’s upcoming Broadway musical. Parton co-produced the show with Schirmer Theatrical and Sony Music Publishing, and Eugene was one of only 12 orchestras chosen for the inaugural tour.

That put the local stop in unusually rare company. The Eugene Symphony said the 2026 tour featured 27 performances across 12 cities, alongside appearances with orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony and Oklahoma City Philharmonic. For downtown Eugene, the value was bigger than one night of entertainment. A Friday performance at the Hult Center sends ticket holders, diners and rideshare traffic into the city core, where the venue still anchors a large share of the local arts calendar.

The local resonance went well beyond star power. Eugene Symphony executive director Dave Moss said Parton played Eugene in 1972 while touring with Porter Wagoner and the Wagonmasters. Moss said about 1,500 people attended at the Lane County Fairgrounds agricultural building, Parton was ill at the start of that stop, then came out to perform after being moved by the audience’s warmth. He said her first standing ovation came after she sang “Coat of Many Colors,” and that she later wrote “Eugene, Oregon” in response to the visit.

That history gave the Hult Center show a different kind of appeal from a routine symphony date. Country fans got a familiar catalog, symphony regulars got a major multimedia production, and casual locals got a rare marquee night that tied a national icon back to Eugene itself. Backing from the Nils and Jewel Hult Endowment and the Arts Foundation of Western Oregon Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation helped make the concert part of the Hult Center’s featured early-May lineup.