Bates College Orchestra to perform

The Bates College Orchestra, under the direction of William Matthews, the Alice Swanson Esty Professor of Music, will perform a program of range and contrast at 8 p.m., Nov. 12, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall. The public is invited to attend free of charge.

The concert includes two pieces by New York composer Beth Anderson. Composed during the mid-1960s, “Valid for Life” is a graphic score for four performers, making long, low rolling sounds with soft beaters on pianos and drums, accompanied by loudspeaker sounds.

Anderson’s second piece “Minnesota Swale” is “tuneful and beautiful,” Matthews said, composed in the 1980s after the composer’s style had changed completely, and includes a “klezmer-style clarinet solo as well as a number of memorable melodies.” According to Anderson, “a swale is a meadow or a marsh where a lot of wild things grow together. It is a good name for a musical collage of newly composed materials.”

The program also includes Franz Joseph Haydn’s 1788 Symphony #90 in D minor and Dimitri Kabalevski’s “Violin Concerto,” composed in 1940 and dedicated to Soviet Youth. “It’s remarkably perky and cheerful, given its historical context,” Matthews said. Bates senior Jennifer Winslow of Lee, N.H., will perform the solo.

For additional information, call the Olin Arts Center at 207-786-6135.