The Department of Music is presenting six free concerts, today through March 13.
Cornell Contemporary Chamber Players perform Friday, March 8, at 8:15 p.m. in Barnes Hall. The central work is Olly Wilson's A City Called Heaven, commissioned by Boston Musica Viva and given its world premiere in April 1989. The piece is composed of three movements in a fast -slow-fast arrangement, each of which is inspired by different genres of African-American music transformed by Wilson's own contemporary musical language
Wilson, a Guggenheim Fellowship winner, will participate in a Composer's Forum earlier that day at 1:25 p.m. in 301 Lincoln Hall. His appearance is made possible by a grant from Meet The Composer, which is funded by the Ann and Gordon Getty Founda tion, the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts.
The Cornell Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Edward Murray, will present the Cello Concerto by Lalo and Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz Saturday, March 9, at 8:15 p.m. in Bailey Hall. The featured soloist will be Jean H. Park, a Cornell senior who began cello studies at the age of 9. Park has performed with the New York Youth Symphony.
The Cornell University Symphonic Band & Chamber Winds, under the direction of Mark Scatterday and David Conn, will perform Sunday, March 10, at 2 p.m. in Bailey Hall. The band will play Fisher Tull's Introit, Charles Ives' Fugue in C and Norman Dello Joio's Satiric Dances for a Comedy by Aristophanes. The Chamber Winds will present selections prior to the concert and at intermission.
In his first year as director of choral activities at Cornell, Scott Tucker will con duct the Cornell Chamber Singers in a varied program Sunday, March 10, at 8:15 p.m. in Barnes Hall. The concert features the music of J.S. Bach, Brahms and Stravinsky, among others
The van Swieten Quartet performs the string quartets of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven in Barnes Hall Monday, March 11, at 8:15 p.m. Earlier that day, at 4:15 p.m. in Barnes Hall, the ensemble will present a colloquium, "Prob lems Concerning Performance Practice -- A Musician's Perspective."
The players include violinist Elizabeth Field, who has pursued doctoral studies in historical performance practice at Cornell. She has performed with the Orpheus Cham ber Orchestra and has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon and Sony Classical.
Voice students of assistant professor of music Judith Kellock and doctoral candi dates in the 18th-century performance practice doctoral program will present the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on Wednesday, March 13, at 8:15 p.m. in Barnes Hall.