Festival features works of Leslie Bassett

ANN ARBOR---Works by American composer Leslie Bassett, the University of Michigan's Albert A. Stanley Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Music, will be performed in a two-day festival by Brave New Works. The performances on Oct. 6 and 7 will each begin at 8 p.m. in Britton Recital Hall at U-M's School of Music. The concerts are free and open to the public.

Bassett will discuss his music before each concert.

The program for Oct. 6 includes "Illuminations for Flute & Piano," "Love Songs," "Music for Cello & Piano," "Sounds Remembered," and "Pierrot Songs."

The Oct. 7 program will include "Temperaments" and "Fourth String Quartet."

Bassett is a Pulitzer Prize winner and recipient of various other awards including a Fulbright and two Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships. While attending U-M he was a pupil of Ross Lee Finney, served in World War II as a trombonist, arranger, and composer for an army band. He has received commissions from a variety of institutions including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Philadelphia Orchestra and Detroit Symphony. Bassett joined U-M's School of Music faculty in 1952, later becoming chair of the composition department.

Brave New Works is a group dedicated to presenting, promoting, and performing contemporary classical music with performances geared to a broad audience without compromising artistic integrity.

Contact: Joanne Nesbit
Phone: (734) 647-4418
E-mail: mjnesbit@umich.edu