The Chicago String Quartet, in residence at DePaul University, will perform Quartet No. 5 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and DePaul alumnus George Perle, who will travel from his New York home to attend the 8 p.m., March 3 concert at the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave.

"It's a great honor to perform a work of music by and for one of the DePaul School of Music's most distinguished graduates and supporters," said Stefan Hersh, the quartet's second violinist who also teaches string musicians at the school.

A composer, educator, music theorist and scholar, Perle, 81, composed the original version of Quartet No.5 in 1960. He revised and composed a new finale for the work in 1967, and premiered it that same year at the Tanglewood Music Center.

Perle graduated from DePaul's School of Music in 1938. Among his awards are a Pulitzer Prize for music composition and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, both received in 1986. In 1993, Perle established an endowed scholarship fund, The George Perle Scholarship in Composition, for graduate students at DePaul's School of Music.

In addition to Perle's Fifth Quartet, the Chicago String Quartet's program includes Beethoven's Quartet No. 10, Op.74 "Harp," and Dvorak's Quartet No. 11 in C Minor, Op.60.

The concert is the third in a four-concert debut series presented by the quartet, which consists of Hersh, first violinist Joseph Genualdi, violist Rami Solomonow and cellist Christopher Costanza.

The last concert in the series takes place on April 14 and will feature Hommage a Mihaly Andras (12 Microludes), Op.13 by Gyorgy Kurtag; Quartet in F major, Op.41, No. 2 by Robert Schumann; and Quartet No. 5 by Bela Bartok.

Individual tickets are $25 for one concert or $37.50 for both the March and April performances. Additional discounts are available for senior citizens and students. Proceeds benefit the DePaul School of Music Scholarship Fund.

The quartet's March concert also is part of the DePaul's "March Music Festival" highlighting faculty and student performers from the school.

Other festival events include the annual "Jazz is for Lovers" concert on March 1, featuring the DePaul Jazz Ensemble and legendary sax and flute player James Moody, and the DePaul Opera Theatre's performances of Mozart's masterpiece, "The Marriage of Figaro," on Feb. 28, March 2, March 7 and March 9. The jazz and opera performances will take place at DePaul's Merle Reskin Theatre, 60 E. Balbo Drive.

For tickets and information on DePaul's quartet, jazz or opera performances, call (312) 922-1999.