University Lectures to present ‘A Conversation with James Conlon’

Kelly Homan Rodoski
(315) 443-3784

James Conlon, one of today’s pre-eminent conductors, is leading an effort to raise public consciousness regarding the significance of the works of composers whose lives and compositions were suppressed by the Nazi regime.

Conlon will visit Syracuse University Oct. 23-24 to talk about his work with this project and the extensive programming of this music in North America and Europe. “A Conversation with James Conlon: The Story Behind the Recovered Voices Project,” a University Lectures presentation, will be held on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the Rose and Jules R. Setnor Auditorium in Crouse College.

The event, sponsored in cooperation with the College of Visual and Performing Arts‘ Distinguished Lecture Series, is free and open to the public. Reduced-rate parking will be available in the Irving Garage.

Conlon will conduct a master class on the Recovered Voices Project for dramatic arts, music education and Holocaust education students on Friday, Oct. 24, at 10 a.m. in Setnor Auditorium. The event is open to the public.

Conlon’s visit is also part of the “Symposium on Holocaust Education: A Tribute to the Voices Lost,” a week of Holocaust education events Oct. 23-31 that will bring together a diverse group of people-from scholars to performers-to build knowledge and understanding about the realities of the Holocaust. The symposium is sponsored by Marilyn Ziering G’56 and the Ziering Family Foundation.

Conlon has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire, and has developed enduring relationships with many of the world’s most prestigious symphony orchestras and opera houses. Since his New York Philharmonic debut in 1974, Conlon has appeared as a guest conductor with virtually every major North American and European orchestra, and has been guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera for more than 20 years. He is music director of the Los Angeles Opera; music director of the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and has been music director of the Cincinnati May Festival since 1979.

Now in its eighth year, University Lectures maintains its tradition of bringing to the Syracuse University campus some of the most influential movers and shapers from around the world for the 2008-09 season. Eight distinguished speakers have been invited by the University Lectures this year to educate in the areas of human rights; the 2008 presidential election; race and American public schools; innovation; and exploration. The series is supported by the generosity of the University’s trustees, alumni and friends. For more information, visit http://lectures.syr.edu.

The College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Distinguished Lecture Series brings dynamic and influential leaders from the areas of art and design, drama, music, and communication and rhetorical studies to campus to interact and engage with students and the larger University community.