New Music DePaul, the professional contemporary music series sponsored by DePaul University's School of Music, will open its season Oct. 20 with a concert featuring the works of composers George Flynn, Marc-André Hamelin, Robert Cronin and John Downey.

      Flynn, a pianist and coordinator of the New Music DePaul series, will join Chris Costanza, Chicago String Quartet cellist and fellow DePaul School of Music faculty member, for a performance of Flynn's composition, "Winter Landscape." The concert also will feature two performances by flutist Mary Stolper: the world premiere of Cronin's "Portraits" for piccolo and marimba, and "Romantic Interlude," for solo piccolo, by Hamelin. Two works by Downey, including "A Dolphin," will be presented. The concert will be dedicated to the memory of Downey's wife, Irusha, who died last June.

      The next New Music DePaul concerts are scheduled for March 2 and April 27. While the program for the March concert still is being developed, the May event will feature guest artists Alcides Lanza, a Montreal pianist and electronic music composer, and his wife, Meg Sheppard, vocalist.

      On June 4, New Music DePaul will hold a special concert focusing on America's involvement in the Vietnam War and featuring Flynn's longest work, "American Rest." The 65-minute composition, which Flynn began in 1975 and recently revised, will be performed by

      Larry Combs, Chicago Symphony Orchestra principal clarinet; Keith Conant, Lyric Opera of Chicago principal viola; Costanza, cello; and Paul Failla, piano. Flynn will conduct the work. Another piece with a Vietnam theme, "Quiet Shadows" by composer and Vietnam veteran Kimo Williams, also will be performed.

      All concerts in the series are free and begin at 8 p.m. at the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. For more information about School of Music events call (773) 325-7664.