This year's Homecoming & Family Weekend, also known as Cèilidh here at Carnegie Mellon, takes place October 4th-7th and will feature a wide variety of events on campus. Among them are concerts by the Wind Ensemble, Concert Choir and Symphony Orchestra.
Wind Ensemble
Saturday, October 6th at 4 pm
George Vosburgh and Thomas Thompson will lead the Wind Ensemble in a varied program of works by Schoenberg, Vaughan Williams, and Strauss. Arnold Schoenberg's Fanfare on Themes from Die Gurrelieder is a medley of material from his first major symphonic work, the massive orchestral tone poem of the same title. Die Gurrelieder takes its subject matter from a medieval Danish legend of unrequited passion and the machinations of power. By contrast, Richard Strauss's Op. 7 Serenade for Winds, while also a youthful work, is much lighter in tone and content. This piece attracted the attention of the great conductor Bruno Walter and was important in bringing the young Strauss to wide acclaim.
This free concert takes place on Saturday, at 4 pm in Kresge Theatre in the College of Fine Arts. Immediately following the concert (approximately 5 pm) the School of Music will host a Coffee & Dessert Reception in Alumni Concert hall. No registration is required for the reception and it is open to the public.
Concert Choir
Sunday, October 7th at 3 pm
Carnegie Mellon Concert Choir will perform an all-American potpourri of works by Hoagy Carmichael, Samuel Barber, and others. The Choir will be conducted by Robert Page, Michael Van Camp, and Alysoun Kegel and will feature a variety of soloists including: Sarah Kendis, oboe; Chloe Holgate, soprano; Erin Yanacek, trumpet; and faculty member Gretchen Van Hoesen, harp.
This concert will take place on Sunday, October 7th at 3 pm in Kresge Theatre in the College of Fine Arts and is free. The Concert Choir will repeat this concert at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Sunday, October 14, 4:00 p.m. More information on the October 14th concert here.
Symphony Orchestra
Sunday, October 7th at 7:30 pm
On Sunday, October 7th, the Carnegie Mellon Symphony Orchestra offers an all-Beethoven program featuring the effervescent Fourth Symphony, the rollicking Eighth Symphony, and the Overture to Beethoven's ballet, "The Creatures of Prometheus". Maestro Ronald Zollman will conduct.
Beethoven's Fourth Symphony is an unusually sunny interlude between the bold assertiveness of the Third and the brooding intensity of the Fifth. Working within a traditionally "classical" format, the Symphony nonetheless offers moments of humor, surprising wit, and of course, transcendent beauty. Composed in a later and more difficult period, the the Eighth Symphony was in many ways a respite from the struggles and trials of Beethoven's middle age.
This concert will take place on Sunday, October 7th at 7:30 pm in Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. Tickets are $5 general admission, students free with valid ID. For tickets call 1-888-71-TICKETS or online.