MEDIA CONTACT: Judy Moore at (847) 491-4819 or at jkm229@northwestern.edu

January 27, 2004

New Music Northwestern Programming Kicks Off Jan. 26

EVANSTON, Ill. --- The Northwestern University School of Music’s New Music Northwestern winter programming will entertaining concerts on the Evanston campus, celebrating renowned and novice composers of our time.

Stephen L. Syverud coordinates an Evening of Improvisation featuring the sounds of jazz at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive.

Elliott Carter’s 95th Birthday concert celebration at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, coordinated by music faculty member Amy Williams, will honor America’s leading contemporary composer with works spanning more than 50 years of his career. Soloists Ursula Oppens (harpsichord) and Amy Williams (piano) and Northwestern’s Contemporary Music Ensemble, led by guest conductor Jan Williams, will be featured during a performance of Carter’s groundbreaking Double Concerto. The Contemporary Music Ensemble also will perform Carter’s Triple Duo. Pianist Winston Choi will play Carter’s early and late solo works. Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker ‘s 1980 documentary film about the Double Concerto will be screened at 6:15 p.m. Feb. 19, at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive. Admission to the Block screening is free.

The Northwestern Percussion Ensemble, directed by guest conductor Jan Williams, a well-known percussion pedagogue, will perform “The Music of Lou Harrison” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, at Pick-Staiger. The ensemble explores Harrison’s mix of Asian and Western styles, performing his Labyrinth no. 3 (1941), a work featuring 11 percussionists, as well as his quartet, Fugue (1941).

The works of Northwestern School of Music students will be featured during the Student Composer Showcase at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at Regenstein Recital Hall, 60 Arts Circle Drive. Members of Northwestern’s Contemporary Music Ensemble, led by guest conductor Daniel Farris, will play solo and chamber works by undergraduate and graduate composers.

Single tickets for each of these concerts are $6.50 for the general public, $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff, and $3.50 for full-time students. To order single tickets by phone, call the Pick-Staiger Ticket Office at (847) 467-4000.