Gamelan, Christmas carols and Donald Byrd's music featured this week

The Department of Music will feature performances this week from jazz to Christmas carols, as well as a gamelan tribute to those killed in recent struggles in Indonesia.

From Dec. 3 to Dec. 9, the department is presenting eight different concerts, all free and open to the public. (See the calendar for events, times and locations.)

Here are some of the week's featured events:

·Friday, Dec. 4, will feature living jazz legend and trumpet virtuoso Donald Byrd. Byrd will give a lecture, "Music Is Math Is Art -- A Theory of Music," at 3 p.m. in Barnes Hall. And at 8 p.m., also in Barnes, music of Byrd's will be performed by the Cornell Lab Ensembles, under the direction of Karlton Hester, the Herbert Gussman Director of Jazz Studies, along with works by Jusef Lateef, Charlie Parker and other jazz greats.

Byrd is hailed as one of the most creative and influential jazz musicians of all time. In the 1950s his career flourished in the realm of bebop and hard bop, and in the early 1970s he established himself as a pioneer of the jazz fusion movement.

At age 23, Byrd already was collaborating with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He also worked with such giants as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Lionel Hampton, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock. He began recording on the legendary Blue Note label in the late 1950s, and his artistry on that label is exemplified by the classic album "Black Byrd," which became the largest selling album in the history of Blue Note.

In addition to being a major force as an artist, with more than 60 albums to his credit, Byrd also has been a seminal figure at the forefront of jazz education. He helped bring to fruition jazz programs at institutions such as Rutgers University, Howard University, Oberlin College and Queens College.

·Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m. in Barnes Hall, the Cornell Gamelan Ensemble will present its 26th annual fall performance of Indonesian gamelan music. The performance, by the students of ensemble director Martin Hatch, associate professor of music, will be dedicated to the memory of Indonesians who have died or have been wounded in the struggle for democracy and social justice in Indonesia.

People who wish to contribute to the American Committee to Support Indonesian Victims and Volunteers will be able to do so at the concert.

Hatch teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Indonesian music, popular music, ethnomusicology and jazz and researches the performing arts of Southeast Asia.

·On Sunday and Monday, Dec. 6 and 7, at 8 p.m. music-lovers can get into the holiday spirit at the traditional Sage Chapel Christmas Program, with the chapel decorated for the season and aglow with candle light. Organist David Yearsley and the Sage Chapel Choir, directed by Thomas Folan, are the featured performers. The program includes Biblical readings about the first Christmas by Cornell community members, anthems and vespers performed by the Sage Chapel Choir and carols sung with audience participation. Celebrated readers for the Sunday performance include President Emeritus Frank H.T. Rhodes. President Hunter Rawlings and Vice President Susan Murphy are among the Monday evening readers. The Sage Chapel Christmas Program CD also will be on sale at the end of each program.