1st Classics concert to salute American composers

Merwin Siu will perform at this Sunday's Blade Chamber Concert.

The Toledo Symphony will launch its 2010-2011 Classics Series with a program devoted to music by American composers — Simple Gifts — at 8 p.m. Sept. 24 and 25 in the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle. Under the baton of principal conductor Stefan Sanderling the orchestra will perform music by Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, and Igor Stravinsky (who lived in the U.S. for 32 years.)

“Simple Gifts,” is the title of the iconic Shaker-inspired melody that winds through Copland's elegant tone poem, “Appalachian Spring.” This work will be the fulcrum of the evening, balancing the opening number, Bernstein's brilliant Overture to Candide (a full staged version of that entire opus was presented by the Toledo Opera in 2009) and Stravinsky's explosive “The Firebird.” The TSO will perform the entire 1910 version.

Single tickets for this concert are $20-$50 at 419-246-8000 or toledosymphony.com.

Performing Paul Schoenfield's popular “Caf Music” with Merwin Siu and Michael Boyd at this Sunday's Blade Chamber Concert will be Amy Chang, assistant principal cellist of the TSO. Her name was omitted from last Thursday's News of Music.

• Sunshine, the Maumee center for helping those with special needs, will present its Summer Jazz Concert Series Finale at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Maumee Indoor Theater, 601 Conant St. at the Anthony Wayne Trail. The Toledo Jazz Orchestra Quintet will be in the house with singer Nate Gurley, all directed by Ron Kischuk.

Tickets are $20 and are available at the door or, in advance, at Sunshine, 7223 Maumee-Western Rd., or Georgette's Grounds & Gifts, 311 Conant St., Maumee.

• The University of Toledo Department of Music will open its 2010-2011 Dorothy MacKenzie Price Piano Series with a performance by Pamela Howland at 3 p.m. Sept. 26 in the Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall.

This will be a return engagement for Howland, a North Carolina pianist, professor, and dramatic performer who will present her original program, “Remembering Frederic: A Musical Conversation between Chopin and George Sand.” The event celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Polish composer's birth and is free.

• Bowling Green State University's department of theater and film will present two one-act operas: Mozart's The Impresario and Handel's Acis and Galatea at 8 p.m. Sept. 24 and 3 p.m. Sept. 26 in Kobacker Hall of Moore Musical Arts Center. Directors for these student performances are Ronald Shields, Michael Ellison, and Darin Kerr. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors at the door; $12 for adults and $9 for students and seniors in advance.

• BGSU oboist Jackie Leclair and Ann Arbor dancer Jill Berkana will collaborate on an improvisatory piece titled “Play with the Machine” at 3 p.m. Sept. 26 in the Toledo Museum of Art Great Gallery. The duo will interact with effects created by the dome of Ritter Observatory at the University of Toledo. The performance is part of the Great Gallery series sponsored by the museum and is free.

• UT Jazz Night is set for 7:30 p.m. Monday in Crystals Lounge of the Ramada Inn, 3526 Secor Rd. UT students and faculty will entertain in a relaxed setting. Cover is $3-$5 at the door.

• The ALMA Dance Experience has begun its fall season of classes in West African drumming and dance at the Integration Yoga Studio, 4633 West Bancroft St., with additional learning experiences planned for other sites. Performances will begin with the Bittersweet Farms Harvest Festival on Oct. 9, 12660 Archbold-Whitehouse Rd., Whitehouse. For a complete listing of classes and registration information, contact director Alison Kodeih at 419-810-2800 or almadance03@hotmail.com.

Items for News of Music should be sent to svallongo@theblade.com at least two weeks ahead of performance date.