Dan Nonte, University Relations
Libby Larsen
Composers from across the country will meet for the 2005 Society of Composers National Conference at UNCG Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 13-15.
Grammy winner Libby Larsen, one of the country’s most prolific composers, will deliver the keynote address during the conference banquet at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Elliott University Center. The UNCG School of Music has commissioned Larsen to compose the first major opera in the institution’s history.
Her speech is open only to registered participants. So far, nearly 100 composers have registered. Advance registration was $65; the fee is now $75.
The Thelema Trio of Belgium will perform a free, pre-conference concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Thereafter, concerts will be held throughout each day, and the UNCG large ensembles will perform each evening.
The daytime concerts are free and open to the public, while evening performances cost $10 for adults, $6 for senior citizens and $3 for students.
“The music and performances are going to be terrific, electrifying,” said Dr. Mark A. Engebretson, assistant professor of composition and electronic music, who has spent the past year organizing the event.
Among visiting performers are the Valdosta State Faculty Chamber Ensemble; Haiqiong Deng, who specializes in the guz-heng, a Chinese plucked instrument; and Timothy Lees, concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony.
UNCG-based performers include the University Chorale, Chamber Singers, Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. The faculty groups EastWind Ensemble, String Quartet and the Red Clay Saxophone Quartet also will perform.
Born in Wilmington, Del., Larsen has amassed a catalogue of more than 200 works spanning virtually every genre from intimate vocal and chamber music to massive orchestral and choral scores. Her opera, “Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus,” was chosen as one of the eight best classical music events of 1990 by USA Today.
She was the first woman to serve as resident composer with a major orchestra and has held residences with the California Institute of the Arts, the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, the Philadelphia School of the Arts, the Cincinnati Conservatory, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony and the Colorado Symphony.
A complete schedule of events is available online.
