"Musical Fusions: Chinese, Japanese, and American Intersections" concerts and symposia at Pitt, October 16 - 18.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Music will host two "Musical Fusions: Chinese, Japanese, and American Intersections" concerts and two symposia from October 16 through 18 as part of this year's "Music on the Edge" series.

The first concert, on October 16 at 8:00 pm in the Bellefield Hall auditorium (map),

features Ensemble N_JP performing works by Amy Williams and Toshi Hosokawa, traditional pieces for sho and koto, and the premiere of Systole, a music and video collaboration by Gene Coleman and Adam Vidiksis.

Composer Gene Coleman formed Ensemble N_JP in 2001 as a vehicle for his ongoing work with musicians from Japan. Through concert programs, multimedia works and educational projects, the group explores connections between contemporary and traditional forms of art.

The second concert, on October 17 at 8:00 pm in the Bellefield Hall auditorium,

features Music from China performing recently commissioned works by Chen Yi, Eric Moe, Huang Ruo and Wang Guowei. The program features new music for Chinese instruments alone—erhu, pipa, zheng, dizi—or together with cello and percussion.

Well-versed in the classical and folk repertoire, the Music from China ensemble is equally accomplished at interpreting the music of today using traditional instruments. Throughout its history MFC has featured both ancient and contemporary music in its concert seasons.

There are two symposia as well in 132 Music Building (map). The first, on the 17th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm,

will include Naomi Sato (sho) and Naoko Kikuchi (koto) demonstrating their instruments’ uses in traditional and contemporary music, and composer Gene Coleman and video artist Adam Vidiksis discussing the Systole project.

And the second, on the 18th at the same time and place,

includes presentations by Music from China, and Huang Ruo and Eric Moe discussing their compositions.

Advance tickets for the concerts are available online and are $15 each for general admission and $10 for students. At the door, general admission tickets are $20. Pitt students with valid University of Pittsburgh student ID cards are free.