New music festival provides free concerts

TIFFIN — Ready to hear some new sounds? Heidelberg University is providing a three-day New Music Festival from March 26-28 with plenty of free concerts during all three days and other presentations for people who want to dig deeper. We can't promise you'll discover the new Beethoven. But the artistic director for the festival, Matthew Kennedy, a Heidelberg music professor and himself a composer, said you'll hear a wide variety of new classical music, giving yourself a chance to find something to like. There will be more than 50 guest composers and presenters with a number of contemporary music artists being brought in to perform. Stacy Garrop, a composer based in Chicago, will be the keynote composer for the festival. "We are creating something truly extraordinary, an event that will inspire our students and spotlight Heidelberg on an international stage," Kennedy said. Heidelberg University launched an international search for music scores and proposed presentations, and 610 submissions poured in, representing 40 countries and 42 U.S. states and territories. The quality of the submissions, not just the huge number, impressed the judges and created some tough choices for what to include, Kennedy said. Heidelberg University has been hosting new music festivals for many years. This year's festival relaunches that effort with a global focus. Here are the listings for all of the free concerts, all in Tiffin. Guest artists from all over the world will be joined by local musicians. To check out the presentations and to learn more about the various guest artists, visit heidelberg.edu/events. Thursday, March 26 2:30 p.m. — Prism concert featuring a variety of music, Ohl Concert Hall in Brenneman Music Hall. 7:30 p.m. — Neonautica performs at Ohl Concert Hall in Brenneman Music Hall. Neonautica, a New Orleans-based voice and sax duo, said it "fuses dubstep, psychedelic funk, drum and bass, art rock, and emotional orchestral sounds into tracks that melt minds and shake behinds." Friday, March 27 12:30 p.m. — Prism concert featuring a variety of music, Trinity United Church of Christ. 7 p.m. — andPlay performs in Gillmore Atrium in Gillmore Science Hall. andPlay is a violin and viola duo based in New York City, although the two met at Oberlin in Ohio. 9 p.m. — Rave Night featuring Neonautica at Wickham Great Hall, Campus Center. Saturday, March 28 9:30 a.m. — Tower Duo, Gillmor Atrium in Gillmore Science Hall. The group is a flute and saxophone duo from Columbus. 12:30 p.m. — A "sonic meditations performance," Hedges-Boyer Park. 3:30 p.m. — Prism concert featuring a variety of music, Ohl Concert Hall in Brennemann Music Hall.