In Fall 2009, Elebash Presents at the Graduate Center will continue the popular “Music in Midtown” lunchtime concerts and launch a new series, “Concerts & Conversations,” featuring enlightening discussions and world-class performances to enrich both the mind and spirit. The series will gather luminaries of the music world—acclaimed musicians, internationally celebrated composers, distinguished music critics, and eminent musicologists—in the acoustically rich Elebash Recital Hall for six events over the course of the academic year. The recital hall is located on the first floor of the Graduate Center. All programs will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m.

The three fall events in the “Concerts & Conversations” series will focus on the lyrics of Bob Dylan, contemporary New York composers, and the songs of World War II. On Thursday, September 17, “Bob Dylan, American Poet: The Musical Settings Inspired by Dylan’s Lyrics” will feature John Corigliano, Academy Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and Graduate Center distinguished professor; Howard Fishman, acclaimed composer, guitarist, and band leader; and Greil Marcus, noted cultural historian and music critic in conversation about the diverse musical settings of Bob Dylan’s lyrics and the blurring of boundaries between classical, jazz, and popular music. The second half of the program will feature a performance of excerpts from Corigliano’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” song cycle, performed by soprano Amy Burton, and highlights from Fishman’s “Bob Dylan and the Band’s ‘Basement Tapes’ Project.”

For the program on Wednesday, November 11, “Ursula Oppens and Contemporary New York Composers: A Performance and Discussion,” Ursula Oppens, celebrated pianist and distinguished professor of music at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, will perform works by New York composers John Corigliano, Joan Tower, Tania León, and Elliott Carter, and a world premiere by Tobias Picker. Before the performance, several of these eminent composers will join Oppens for a conversation about composition and performance, and what it means to create and play music in New York today. Ms. Oppens will be joined by fellow CUNY faculty member, clarinetist Charles Neidich.

At the third fall program on Tuesday, December 15, “Someone Talked! The Songs of World War II,” acclaimed mezzo-soprano Joan Morris will be joined by her musical partner and husband, the Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning composer/pianist William Bolcom, as well as renowned tenor and Graduate Center faculty member Robert White, for their “Songs of World War II” concert, due for release on CD this fall. NPR host and jazz authority Hazen Schumacher will provide the narration. A conversation between the artists about World War II and its music will precede the performance.

Tickets to Concerts & Conversations ($25 or $10 for registered Graduate Center students) may be purchased online at www.gc.cuny.edu/concertsandconversations. For further information, please call 212-817-8215.

Music in Midtown

The other ongoing, music series of Elebash Presents, “Music in Midtown,” features free lunchtime chamber concerts, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Thursdays, September 24, October 8, October 15, October 29, and November 19. The lineup this fall includes “Chamber Music on Fifth—A Program of Duos,” which features works by Aaron Copland, Ludwig van Beethoven, Toru Takemitsu, and Alban Berg; the “Elebash String Quartet” playing string compositions by Maurice Ravel and Dmitri Shostakovich; “Viennese Expressions,” works by Alban Berg, Anton von Webern, and Arnold Schoenberg; “Songs Without Words,” Italian love songs and lullabies for flute and guitar; a concert devoted to songwriter Antoni Parera Fons, cosponsored by the Foundation for Iberian Music; and finally a concert of chamber music for clarinet with renowned clarinetist Charles Neidich. The Music in Midtown series is presented by the Graduate Center’s Doctoral Program in Musical Arts Performance (D.M.A.) under the direction of Deputy Executive Officer Norman Carey. For more information: http://www.gc.cuny.edu/MusicinMidtown.htm