EUGENE–Faculty performances of varied pieces for viola, an instrumental and vocal salute to American composers and a sampling of new compositions by graduate student composers will be featured in the three concerts slated this week at the University of Oregon School of Music.

For more information, call the UO School of Music, 961 E. 18th Ave., weekdays at (541)
346-5678. To confirm concert times and ticket information, call GuardLine from a Touch-Tone phone at 485-2000, ext. 2533, for a 24-hours-a-day taped message of the week’s events.

Associate Professor Leslie Straka, violist, will give a Faculty Artist Series recital at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall, 961 E. 18th Ave. Tickets, available at the door, are $7 general admission and $4 for students and senior citizens.

Straka will be joined by faculty colleagues Fritz Gearhart, violin, and pianists Gregory Mason and Victor Steinhardt.

The program will feature Straka with Gearhart in two duets, "Suite for Violin and Viola" by Maurice Gardner and "Duo for Violin and Viola" by Quincy Porter. Straka will perform "Passacaglia for Viola and Piano" by Rebecca Clarke and "Sonata in F Minor for Viola and Piano" by Brahms. The finale will be "Trio for Piano, Violin, and Viola" by Ignaz Lachner.

Straka is chair of the string department at the University of Oregon, where she has been a member of the faculty since 1987. She has performed extensively as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe and has been a featured artist at the Luzerne Chamber Music Center in New York, the Miami Bach Society, the Mainly Mozart and Flagstaff festivals in Arizona, and the York Festival in England.

Straka holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Arizona State University. She has been principal violist with the Great River Festival Orchestra, L’Orchestre Symphonique International, and the Oregon Mozart Players. She was assistant principal violist with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra for several seasons.

The Oregon Wind Ensemble, the School of Music’s top concert band, will give its fall concert, titled "Voices in the Winds," at 7:30 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall. Tickets, available at the door, are $5 general admission and $3 for students and senior citizens.

The program, conducted by Instructor Timothy Reynolds, pays tribute to American composers. Performing with the Oregon Wind Ensemble is a youth choir from the Oregon Festival Choirs under the direction of Peter Robb.

The children will be featured performers on Aaron Copland’s "Old American Songs" and on a world premiere by UO alumnus Robert Hutchinson, titled "Liberatio in Morte." Also on the program is Peter Mennin’s "Canzona," Charles Ives’ "Fugue in C," Philip Sparke’s "Dance Movements" and a selection from Leonard Bernstein’s "Mass."

The Oregon Composers Forum will present new music by UO graduate composers in a concert at 8 p.m. in Beall Hall. Admission is free.

Selections on the program include Christopher Randall’s "Etude No.1" for cello and horn; "Transcendence," with computer animation based on the artwork of Mark Rothko; "Grace" by Sean Malone, performing on Chapman stick; and "Cycles II" by Mendel Lee for two marimbas.

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