Visiting director leads orchestra

Michael Palmer, former Wichita Symphony music director and conductor from 1977-90, makes his WSU directorial debut at a 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 concert in Miller Concert Hall.

Palmer, visiting assistant professor, has begun a one-year appointment to lead WSU's orchestra program. Palmer will continue his schedule of professional engagements in Europe and the United States, including appearances as guest conductor and as music director and conductor of The American Sinfonietta, a 40-piece orchestra of virtuoso musicians, which he founded in 1991.

The University Orchestra's program will be Wagner's Meistersinger Overture from his libretto, a comic opera that premiered in Munich in 1868. The second half will be Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, a shortening of the composer's own title for the Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, written in 1804. The work was originally dedicated to Napoleon, but Beethoven changed the dedication in a rage when Napoleon named himself emperor.

Tickets are $4 general public and $3 for senior citizens, non-WSU students and military members, and free to WSU faculty, staff and students. Call ext. 3233 for reservations.