ODU'S HAILSTORK INVITED TO SPEAK AT THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL

Adolphus Hailstork, renowned composer, eminent scholar and professor of music at Old Dominion University, will participate in a forum titled "Perspectives on African American Composers: Adolphus Hailstork" at The Juilliard School in New York City at 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11.

Hailstork, along with Juilliard President Joseph Polisi and Professor James DePriest, will discuss his music in the context of its contribution to classical music. Juilliard student instrumentalists will perform selections from his chamber works.

Hailstork began writing music at an early age. His musical comedy, "The Race for Space," was performed at Howard University during his senior year in college (1963), and the Baltimore Symphony performed his master's thesis, "Statement, Variations and Fugue," in 1966.

He has written numerous works for chorus, solo voice, piano, organ, various chamber ensembles, band and orchestra. Two of his early compositions, "Out of the Depths" (1977) and "American Guernica" (1983), won national competitions. "Consort Piece" (1995), commissioned by the Norfolk Chamber Ensemble, was awarded first prize by the University of Delaware Festival of Contemporary Music. In 1992, Hailstork was proclaimed a Virginia Cultural Laureate.

"Rise for Freedom," an opera about the Underground Railroad, was premiered in October 2007 by the Cincinnati Opera Company. Premieres slated for spring 2008 are "Serenade" for chorus and orchestra, commissioned by Michigan State University, and "Set Me on a Rock," also for chorus and orchestra, commissioned by the Houston Choral Society.

For additional information about the forum at The Juilliard School, visit www.juilliard.edu.