Music Launches "Friends of Music" with Bernstein Celebration

The Department of Music in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences will give a collage concert celebrating legendary composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990). The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, and is held at the Faulkner Performing Arts Center. University of Arkansas student ensembles led by faculty conductors will join numerous solo and chamber performances by some of the Departments most promising student musicians. The event is part of the world-wide, year-long celebration of Bernstein in what would have been his 100th year. 

In addition to celebrating Bernstein, the event corresponds with the launch of the new "Friends of Music." The aim of the new group is to champion University of Arkansas Music, its students, and faculty.

Ronda Mains, chair of the Department of Music, said, "The Department has always had supporters and repeat concert attendees, but with Friends of Music, these loyal patrons can now be advocates and support the music mission of the Department in new exciting ways."

With the growth of the arts scene in Northwest Arkansas, the University of Arkansas Friends of Music organization will be in a unique position to help the Department reach new heights in our thriving region.

"Music is on the rise in the region, and we are excited to have an official organization cheering us on!" said Mains.

Tuesday's program will have something for everyone, from Bernstein's famous Overture to Cadide performed by the Percussion Ensemble to Schola Cantorum's performance of the Chichester Psalms (first movement). Students have been hard at work preparing some of Bernstein's most influential pieces including music from West Side Story and selections of his lesser-known, but none-the-less important works including Rondo for Lifey, Fanfare for Bima, and Fanfare for the Inauguration of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. This concert is one not to miss!

For tickets, visit faulkner.uark.edu.

About Leonard Bernstein at 100: On May 9, 2017, the Leonard Bernstein Office announced "Leonard Bernstein at 100," a two-year global celebration of the life and career of the 20th-century cultural giant, featuring more than 2,500 events on six continents. A kickoff at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, Sept. 22, 2017, officially launched the celebrations which continue worldwide through the end of August 2019.

The announcement at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York was hosted by film and television actor Alec Baldwin, who is also the radio broadcast host of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein's orchestra for many years. Jamie Bernstein, Alexander Bernstein and Nina Bernstein Simmons spoke about their father's legacy. Joining them to celebrate Bernstein's contributions were Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Principal Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Designate of The Metropolitan Opera; celebrated actress Whoopi Goldberg, who spoke of Bernstein's humanitarian work and social activism; and rising soprano Julia Bullock, who paid tribute to Bernstein the composer with a performance of Bernstein songs, accompanied on the piano by Michael Barrett.