Contact: Vickie Hamilton-Smith, School of Fine Arts, (785) 864-9742.
LAWRENCE - The University of Kansas Department of Music and Dance opens its season with a program of piano concertos at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept.10, at the Lied Center.
Four undergraduate piano majors have been selected to perform concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofieff and Clara Schumann with the KU Symphony Orchestra. The Schumann concerto is a Kansas premiere.
Student piano soloists are Brenna Barkley of Overland Park, Melitta George of Bloomington, Minn., Julie Mealiff of Beloit, and Amir Khosrowpour of Irvine, Calif. They are students of music and dance faculty members Alice Downs, Richard Reber and Jack Winerock.
KU Symphony Orchestra conductor Brian Priestman will serve as emcee. He will speak to the audience about each work being performed and explain the process of a soloist performing with an orchestra.
Admission to the Sept. 10 concert is free. For more information, contact the Department of Music and Dance at 864-9751.
Other music and dance events in September are:
Sept. 14: Koto and Shakuhachi recital, 8 p.m., Swarthout Recital Hall, Murphy Hall, free admission, co-sponsored by the Department of Music and Dance, International Theatre Studies Center and Center for East Asian Studies.
Sept. 17: "Organ Music of Johann Sebastian Bach," 4:30 p.m., Bales Organ Recital Hall, free admission. The KU Division of Organ and Church Music recognizes the 250th anniversary of Bach's death with this first in a series of organ recitals that will run throughout the performance season.
Sept. 26: Student vocal recital, 7:30 p.m., Swarthout Recital Hall, Murphy Hall, free admission. Lyric soprano and master of music candidate Susan Andrade performs.
Sept. 27: KU Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., Lied Center. General admission tickets are on sale in the KU box offices: Murphy Hall, (785) 864-3982; Lied Center, 864-ARTS; and SUA, 864-3477; tickets are $7 for the public and $5 for students. The 2000-01 KU Music and Dance Concert Series begins with Brian Priestman conducting the orchestra in an evening of Russo-Hungarian music. The program includes "Dances of Galanta" by Kodaly, "Jeux of Cartes" by Stravinsky, "Hungarian Dances Nos. 17-21" by Brahms (arranged by Dvorak), "Nocturne" by Borodin and "Overture: 1812" by Tchaikovsky.