Eastman School of Music’s student-run new music ensemble to present free concert Feb. 21

Eastman School of Music’s student-run new music ensemble to present free concert Feb. 21February 16, 2009Erica Blustesblust@syr.edu

Ossia, the Eastman School of Music’s student-run new music ensemble, will present a concert of works by Eastman faculty composers Saturday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. The free concert is sponsored by the composition department in the Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music in Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA).

The concert will feature work by David Liptak, Robert Morris, Allan Schindler, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez.

Liptak’s “Starpoints” for solo violin and “The Trees Have Spirits” for solo bass explore the full expressive potential of these string instruments from opposite ends of the size spectrum. “The Trees Have Spirits” is dedicated to Daniel S. Godfrey, professor of composition at the Setnor School.

The concert will also feature Morris’ “Roundelay” for flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin and cello; Schindler’s “Take Me Places;” Zohn-Muldoon’s “Flores del Viento,” a setting of poems for baritone, cello and piano inspired by the myth of Quetzalcoatl, a powerful pre-Hispanic god and a historical figure in Toltec culture; and Sanchez-Gutierrez’s “Trio-Variations” for flute, clarinet and piano.

Since it was formed in 1997, Ossia has produced more than 60 professional-quality concerts of contemporary music. Its goal is to bring concert audiences into contact with works by underrepresented composers and to support the development of young composers by commissioning new works. It is an entirely student-run organization, financially supported by the Howard Hanson Fund.

Each spring, Ossia invites the general public to submit proposals of single works, concerts and special projects for future concert seasons. For more information, visit http://www.ossianewmusic.org.

For more information about the concert, contact Elizabeth A. Kelly of Ossia at (734) 645-0173, or Bobbi Lonobile of the Eastman School of Music at (585) 274-1052.