JOINT EXHIBIT AND CONCERT TO EXPLORE THE LEGACY OF HAMPTON UNIVERSITY COMPOSERS

An exhibit and chamber music concert held jointly at Old Dominion University and Hampton University will explore the diversities, influences and careers of 20th-century Hampton University student and faculty composers.

"From Exposition to Development: The Legacy of Composers at Hampton University" will open Sunday, Sept. 19, in the Diehn Composers Room at Old Dominion University. The exhibition will kick off with a reception at 2 p.m., followed by a concert at 3 p.m. in the university's Chandler Recital Hall. Both the concert and exhibit, which runs through Oct. 1 at Old Dominion, are free and open to the public. Reservations are requested by calling 683-4175.

The exhibit moves to Hampton University's Harvey Library Oct. 17, with a concert at 3 p.m. in Ogden Hall. The exhibit will be on display at Hampton through Nov. 5.

"From Exposition to Development" will feature original scores, sketchbooks, photographs and other items from seven composers, including R. Nathaniel Dett, Clarence Cameron White, William Stoney and Harvey J. Stokes.

The concert program will feature works by a selection of the Hampton composers. Directed by Stokes, who serves as director of the Computer Music Laboratory at Hampton, the concert will feature Mellasenah Edwards and Wendi Nunnally on violin, Amadi Hummings on viola, Troy Stuart on cello and Oksana Lutsyshyn on piano. Vocalists include Lisa Relaford Coston, mezzo-soprano, and Agnes Mobley-Wynne, soprano, accompanied by pianist Charles Woodward.

According to Stokes, two streams of compositional history can be traced to Hampton's diverse array of composers � those who are strongly influenced by African-American folk songs and spirituals and those whose works take a decidedly Eurocentric approach.

The exhibit and concert are a joint project of the Diehn Composers Room at Old Dominion University and the Harvey Library at Hampton University. They are part of a continuing series in which the Diehn Composers Room highlights the work and collections of 20th-century American composers. "From Exposition to Development" is funded by a generous grant from the Norfolk Foundation.

For more information, call the Perry Library at Old Dominion at 683-4175 or Hampton University at 727-5371.