New Music DePaul presents its second concert of the 2003-2004 season on March 5 with a program of five compositions, four of which have been written during the past year. Concert time is 8 p.m. in the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. Like the majority of events sponsored by the School of Music, the concert is free of charge and open to the public.

Under the directorship of DePaul Music School faculty member emeritus George Flynn, the New Music DePaul series celebrates its 15th season, providing a much-needed musical performance platform for works by contemporary composers, many of whom are from the Chicago area. Flynn is, himself, a highly respected composer, and has been recognized nationally for his own compositions. For more than a decade, he has received a prestigious American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers award annually for his work. Based on his own experience, Flynn established this contemporary series to provide the rare opportunity for a one-on-one exchange between composers and performers, many of whom are DePaul School of Music faculty.

The singular inventiveness of each of the scores presented on the March 5 program illustrates the variety of today’s musical styles. Works by Kathleen Ginther, Robert Falesch, Don Malone, Lawrence Fritts and British composer Paul Rhys will be offered. With the exception of Rhys electronic work “Ebb and Flow” (1989) and one song by Ginther, all of these compositions are being performed for the first time.

Penned for the popular Chicago-based Pinotage Ensemble, Ginther’s “Chansons d’Apollinaire” is a song cycle scored for mezzo-soprano, flute, viola and harp. Interestingly, it is the mezzo who doubles on small percussion in these pieces, playing finger cymbals and rainstick. New Music DePaul presented the first of these songs last season and now continues its performance with a set of three songs—“Il Pleut,” “Les Roses d’Electricite” and “L’Adieu.” Ginther teaches at Southern Illinois University.

Reflecting the composer’s vision of our country’s declining state, “. . . let fall the empire” by Falesch utilizes an electronic score with visualization. Active in many arenas of Chicago’s musical life, the composer writes criticism for several publications, including the Chicago Reader.

In Malone’s interactive composition, titled “o,” the live electronic music and accompanying video are generated by software created by the composer, a professor of music at Roosevelt University, and his associate Stephen Simms of Indiana University. A computer-generated work titled “Simple Matter” by Fritts is the final offering of the evening. Fritts heads the electronic and computer music department at the University of Iowa.

Performers for the March 5 concert include Julia Bentley, mezzo-soprano; Janice McDonald, flute; Claudia Lasareff-Mironoff, viola; and Alison Attar, harp.

The final concert of New Music DePaul’s 2003-2004 series is slated for May 21. For more information about these concerts and other events sponsored by DePaul’s School of Music, call 773/325-7260.