Two-day residency of composer Lee Hoiby includes concert Sept. 24

Composer Lee Hoiby

The two largest student music organizations at SUNY Fredonia, Ethos New Music Society and the Student Opera Theatre Association (SOTA), are joining forces to bring renowned composer Lee Hoiby to campus for a two-day residency in late September.

In addition to workshops for both voice and composition students, the visit will feature a concert of Hoiby's music performed by Fredonia students Sarah Fisk, Jason Weisinger and Amanda Hall as well as faculty members Angela Haas, Joe Dan Harper, Dan Ihasz and Lynne McMurtry.

The concert will take place Friday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. in Rosch Recital Hall. Tickets are $2 for students and $5 for the general public.

Hoiby, a recipient of Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowships, and the National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, is considered by many to be one of the most notable American composers of the 20th century. His numerous operas have garnered rave reviews for decades, and his works for solo voice have found their place as standards in the modern repertoire. Numerous concerts devoted exclusively to his music have taken place, most notably on the American Composer's Series at the Kennedy Center in 1990. Hoiby has also made notable contributions to the choral repertory as well, as his works are regularly performed in churches throughout the USA and in Great Britain.

SOTA’s mission is to provide a source of education in the production and performance aspects of opera to the campus community; to represent opera through live performance, guest artists, lectures, master classes and other forms. They also strive to represent the students of the college to the outside world through performance, workshops and all other possible means. Since 1977, Ethos New Music Society has been one of the most important advocators of contemporary concert music in Western New York. Through concerts and workshops by nationally known visiting composers, performance artists, and new music ensembles, as well as concerts featuring student composers and performers, Ethos is able to provide an important cultural service to the university and the surrounding region. Both organizations are sponsored by the SUNY Fredonia Student Association.

For more information on Lee Hoiby, visit www.leehoiby.com.