'Outside the Box' music festival opens March 24

March 16, 2007

'Outside the Box' music festival opens March 24

by Sun Min

CARBONDALE, Ill. — If you have a taste for the contemporary, get your fill during "Outside the Box," the annual new music festival sponsored by Southern Illinois University Carbondale's School of Music. The event runs March 24 through April 7.

Performers will include renowned composer Augusta Read Thomas, Emmy-nominated composer Bernard Hoffer, Chicago flautist Janice Misurell-Mitchell as well as Southern Illinois' own New Arts Jazztet and Neoteric.

Thomas was composer-in-residence of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra until 2006 and is presently chair of the Board of the American Music Center. Thomas' works have been commissioned and performed by The New York Philharmonic, The London Symphony, The Boston Symphony and The Philadelphia Orchestra, to name a few.

Hoffer writes extensively for film, television and commercials, for which heearned several Emmy nominations, including one for the theme music of "MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour" on PBS. His commercials garnered six Clio Awards. Hoffer scored the hit children's cartoon series "Thundercats" and "Silverhawks" and orchestrated the Emmy Award-winning theme to PBS' "The American Experience."

Misurell-Mitchell has written a vast catalogue of pieces for solo flute, including "Uncommon Time" and "Sometimes the City is Silent," commissioned by the National Flute Association for its High School Soloist Competition. She teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and at University of Chicago. In 2002, music critic John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune chose Misurell-Mitchell as "Chicagoan of the Year" in classical music.

The New Arts Jazztet has been a mainstay on the Southern Illinois jazz scene for nearly a quarter century. The musicians are members of the SIUC School of Music faculty. The group has performed at Cincinnati's Blue Wisp and Chicago's Pops for Champagne, among others.

Considered to be the first ensemble to consist of cello, horn and bassoon, Neoteric is a unique ensemble with a diverse repertoire that juxtaposes ancient and brand new music. Formed by members of the SIUC music faculty in 2004, Neoteric has performed in the Midwest and Canada. The group is recording its first album with Albany Records.

"Outside the Box" will also feature Romanian composer Liviu Danceanu, Chicago quartet Pinotage, University of Nebraska School of Music's Moran Woodwind Quintet and percussionist Craig Hill.

Sponsors of "Outside the Box" also include the Illinois Arts Council and SIUC College of Liberal Arts. For more information, contact the School of Music at 618/53-MUSIC (536-8742).

The schedule of events follows. All events are free unless otherwise indicated. Reduced prices are for children 15 and younger and seniors 60 or older. SIUC students with ID get in free to all events: