On Friday, April 11, assistant professor of music Xak Bjerken leads the Cornell Chamber Orchestra in a free concert featuring a new version of Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals. Held in Barnes Hall at 8 p.m., the concert opens with Alfred Schnittke's Moz-Art à la Haydn, featuring violinists André Allavena and Michael Hunter as soloists. This is followed by Ottorino Respighi's Gli uccelli ("The Birds"), comprising a Prelude and four movements, each about a different bird (dove, chicken, nightingale and cuckoo).
After intermission, the orchestra presents Paul Hindemith's Trauermusik ("Music of Mourning"), featuring violist Melinda Hung. The program ends with Carnival of the Animals, featuring new animals written by Cornell composers (those who have completed their doctoral degrees and those in process), including Spencer Lambright, Brian Robison, Mandy Fang, Diego Vega, Daria Kwiatkowska, Chris Arrell and Yotam Haber. Cornell undergraduate students David Kim and Thomas Pastuszak play the two pianos, with graduate students Gary Moulsdale and Pierpaolo Polzonetti serving as narrators.
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