Magnus Lindberg, Finnish composer and pianist, will perform on Nov. 17

Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg, right, and cellist Anssi Karttunen, currently on an international tour, will give a concert Nov. 17 on campus.

Modern Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg will perform Dos Coyotes and other works on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m. in Barnes Hall auditorium. In concert with him will be Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen. The recital is free and open to the public.

Energy, color and a thrilling density of material are the hallmarks of Lindberg's recent style. His music is helping to define a new classical language, winning converts around the globe through performances by the world's great orchestras and numerous recordings on Sony, DG and other labels. Lindberg's collaborator for more than 20 years, cellist Karttunen, has been called "mesmerizing," "an ultramodern world-class virtuoso," his playing imbued with "an improvisatory quality that veritably sparkles." Less well known, perhaps, is the fact that Lindberg himself is also a formidable pianist.

The program includes Lindberg's works for cello solo and piano solo, along with two duos for cello and piano. The music ranges from an early work, Stroke for cello solo from 1984, to the most recent, a new transcription prepared by the two musicians of the 1993 piece Coyote Blues, under the new title of Dos Coyotes. The recital at Cornell completes a tour that included Helsinki, Brussels, Stockholm, New York, Paris, Berlin and Tokyo. It will be preceded by a discussion at 7:15 p.m., also in Barnes Hall.

After attending the Sibelius Academy in his native Finland, composer Lindberg studied with Gérard Grisey and Vinko Globokar in Paris and attended courses given by Franco Donatoni (Siena) and Brian Ferneyhough (Darmstadt). In 1997 he was featured at the Ars Musica Festival in Brussels and the Strasbourg Musica Festival. Among the many prizes his music has won are the Prix Italia, the UNESCO Rostrum, the Nordic Music Prize and the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for large-scale composition. His music is available on the Finlandia, Ondine and Adès labels.

Karttunen studied under William Pleeth, Jacqueline du Pré and Tibor de Machula and also studied classical and baroque styles with Cornell's Malcolm Bilson and John Hsu. A soloist and chamber-music player who performs extensively around the world, he also is the principal cellist of the London Sinfonietta. His CDs range from the complete Beethoven works for cello and fortepiano (on period instruments) to 20th-century works for solo cello.