Festival of American musical masters planned

A two-week “American Masters” symposium will open with the Large Ensembles concert on Monday, Feb. 27 at the State University of New York at Fredonia and will include performances of Copland’s “Appalachian Spring,” “Fanfare for the Common Man” and “Lincoln Portrait.”

Curtain time is 8 p.m. in King Concert Hall. Admission is $2 for the general public and $1 for students. More events continue through Saturday, March 11.

Left to right in photos are Vivian Perlis, Howard Pollock, and Leonard Bernstein.

The symposium is the sixth in the annual NuSound series, a production of the student-run Ethos New Music Society. It will feature two weeks of concerts and lectures celebrating composers such as Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and George Gershwin.

The Ethos New Music Society, founded in the Fredonia School of Music, is dedicated to contemporary music and composition. “Each year, the NuSound festival by Ethos gives a huge boost to the artistic climate at SUNY Fredonia,” said Dr. Karl Boelter, director of the SUNY Fredonia School of Music. “It impresses me that the students are able to organize the event, engage many other students, motivate a broad range of faculty and create something that is consistently profound.”

All other events are:

• Tuesday, Feb. 28 – Chamber Music Concert, 8 p.m., Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall. With Barber’s “Summer Music” and “Nocturnes,” Bernstein’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano and Gershwin’s “Summertime” and “My Man’s Gone Now.” Admission is free and open to the public.

• Thursday, March 2 – Lecture with Vivian Perlis, 10 a.m., Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall. Ms. Perlis is a Yale University historian specializing in the music of 20thcentury American composers and co-author of Composers’ Voices from Ives to Ellington, published by Yale University Press. Admission is free and open to the public.

• Thursday, March 9 – Lecture with Howard Pollack, “Gershwin’s ‘Porgy and Bess.’” 10 a.m., Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall. Mr. Pollack is the author of four books, including the award-winning “Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man.” Admission is free and open to the public.

• Friday, March 10 – Lecture with Howard Pollack, “Copland’s ‘Fantasy for Piano.’” 10 a.m., Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.

• Friday, March 10 – Chamber Music Concert, 8 p.m., Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall. With Barber’s “Sonata for Piano” and “Adagio for Strings,” Copland’s Duo for Flute and Piano and “Four Piano Blues” and Gershwin’s “Fascinatin’ Rhythm.” Admission is free and open to the public.

• Saturday, March 11 – Western New York Chamber Orchestra Classics 4: “And The Trumpet Shall Sound,” 8 p.m., King Concert Hall. Featuring Robert Sullivan, trumpet. With Barber’s “Capricorn Concerto” and Copland’s “A Quiet City.” Admission is $15 adults, $12 seniors, $6 students.