University News

New Music Festival Feb. 26-28

February 19, 2001


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MACOMB, IL – Western Illinois University's 14th annual New Music Festival, presented by the music department composition area, will be held Monday through Wednesday, Feb. 26-28.

The Festival brings together some of Western's performing faculty, guest artists and student composers and performers in a round of lectures, concerts and workshops that explore exciting facets of today's new music world, according to WIU music professors and Festival co-coordinators Paul Paccione and James Caldwell. Festival events are designed to provide the University and community with an opportunity to understand and experience the music of our time, they added.

This year's visiting featured artist is composer and pianist of avant-garde music "Blue" Gene Tyranny, whose compositions explore mysterious natural and social phenomena and include works for electronic, instrumental and vocal ensembles. He has composed music for film and video soundtracks as well as dance and theatre productions; and has toured throughout North and Central America and Europe in solo and group concerts.

Festival concerts scheduled for the Browne Hall Hainline Theatre include solo, chamber and electro-acoustic music and performances by the WIU Symphony Orchestra and WIU Wind Ensemble at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26; and on Tuesday, Feb. 27, a chamber music concert at 2 p.m and a solo piano recital by Tyranny at 8 p.m.

A composers' workshop with performances of works by student composers will be held in Hainline Theatre 9 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, Feb. 28.

All events are free and open to the public.

The New Music Festival is supported by funding from Meet the Composer, Inc. with support of the National Endowment for the Arts, ASCAP, the Virgil Thomson Foundation, the WIU College of Fine Arts and Communication, the WIU department of music and the Visiting Lecture Committee.

For more information contact Paccioni at 309-298-1124 or Caldwell at
309-298-1240.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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