The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra returns to Bloomington Sunday, Oct. 11, at 3 p.m. for the inaugural Indiana University President's Concert in the Musical Arts Center. The concert, offered free by the university to the campus and Bloomington community, will be conducted by renowned maestro Juanjo Mena and will feature Jacobs School of Music Professor Alexander Kerr in a performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. Kerr is also the principal guest concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Additional works on the program include Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 and IU composer and Jacobs Professor Claude Baker's "Aus Schwanengesang."   Full Story

Around the world, ballet companies from the Kirov to the Royal Ballet are planning performances that will honor the 100th anniversary of the first performance by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russes. Joining the celebration, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music's Ballet Theater will present its fall ballet program, Diaghilev Tribute. The evening features the work of two choreographers from the Diaghilev era, George Balanchine and Bronislava Nijinska, and new choreography from Michael Vernon, chair of the Jacobs School Department of Ballet.   Full Story

Indiana University faculty member and two-time Grammy Award winner Sylvia McNair is used to winning recognition for her singing. But her latest honor is something a little different. "Mickey's Corner," a television series hosted by her friend Michael S. "Mickey" Maurer, won a regional 2009 Emmy Award for a program that featured McNair talking about her life and performing music.   Full Story

The Music Theory Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music will host a one-day conference titled "The Musical Ear" on Sept. 26. The unique conference is open to all and will be devoted exclusively to issues of ear training and aural skills.   Full Story

Composer Clint Needham finds endless inspiration in the world around him. Needham's award-winning classical compositions have come to him as the result of everything from last year's Presidential election to his experiences with nature. A doctoral fellow in composition at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, Needham was recently the recipient of a 2009 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Concert Music Composer Award, his second honor from ASCAP (in addition, he was twice nominated for honorable mentions by the organization).   Full Story

IU Auditorium and the Bloomington chapter of the American Guild of Organists will present a series of noontime organ recitals performed by the IU Jacobs School of Music organ students beginning Sept. 17 at 12:15 p.m. "We're very excited to provide these talented students the opportunity to perform on the grand IU Auditorium organ, and at the same time restore an IU tradition dating back to the 1950s," said IU Auditorium Director Doug Booher. "We look forward to opening our doors to the campus and the community, inviting folks to enjoy their lunch break while enjoying inspiring performances by members of the AGO. "   Full Story

Gerald Henderson Doty, a violinist and former assistant professor of music and Marching Hundred band director at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, will turn 100 in his Missoula, Mont., home on Oct. 3. While a group of Suzuki students will perform in Doty's honor on that day, Doty's 100th birthday will be celebrated again during the University of Montana's Homecoming parade Oct. 10.   Full Story

Even before they were named members of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music's Kuttner Quartet, Yotam Baruch, Danbi Um, Bella Hristova and Rose Armbrust had experience playing beautiful music together. All four were part of a select group of Jacobs students who performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., last February.   Full Story

Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie has awarded world-renowned operatic soprano and former IU voice professor Camilla Williams and Clement J. McDonald, distinguished professor emeritus and a pioneer in electronic medical record systems, with the President's Medal for Excellence. The awards are among the highest honors an IU president can bestow.   Full Story

Continuing its tradition of nurturing and presenting the world's greatest musicians, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music offers four new IU Opera and Ballet Theater productions during its 2009-10 season, in addition to a host of performances by orchestral, choral and wind ensembles, jazz combos and bands, chamber music groups, percussion ensembles, soloists and many others.   Full Story