The normally quiet, studious atmosphere of the Rosalind Denny Music Library (Room 14E-109) will be transformed twice this month as the library becomes the site of live concerts featuring works from its rich collection.
On Friday, April 15, at noon, the library will host an improvisational performance by Assistant Professor Brian Robison of a work he's calling "Music in Stacks." Audience members will be invited to select scores from the shelves of the library; Robison will then incorporate elements of the chosen music into a polyphonic mosaic of musical styles that could range from medieval chant to Mozart to Miles Davis, which he'll perform on electric guitar and phrase sampler.
The following Friday, April 22, at noon, MIT undergraduates will perform violin music chosen from the extensive collection of Stephen Prokopoff. Donated to the Music Library in 2001 by Lois Craig, Prokopoff's widow and former associate dean of MIT's School of Architecture, this collection contains approximately 2,680 scores from the 18th century onward with special emphasis on 20th century music.
The concert will feature Serge Prokofieff's "Sonata opus 115 for violin solo" by sophomore Sophie Rapoport on violin; Ernst Krenek's "Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano" by freshman Brian Kardon on violin, junior Daniel Steele on clarinet and senior Kai Fung on piano; Oedoen Partos' "Yiskor" by graduate student Andrew McPherson, on viola; and Zoltan Kodaly's "Duo for Violin and Cello" by junior Jacqueline O'Connor on violin and sophomore Sunny Wicks on cello.
For more information on these concerts, call (617) 253-5636.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on April 13, 2005 (download PDF).
