Renowned Marimbist to Perform at ODU Tonight

Kevin Bobo, a prominent marimba virtuoso and composer, will be the guest performer at Old Dominion University's first Diehn Concert Series of the spring semester 8 p.m. tonight in Chandler Recital Hall of the Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Center.

The Norfolk Chamber Consort, in its 41st year and under the new artistic leadership of ODU's Andrey Kasparov, will make its debut in the Diehn Concert Series. The concert will feature works by Bobo, Kasparov, Luciano Berio, Astor Piazzolla and Minoru Miki. Other performers on the program include Kasparov and Oksana Lutsyshyn on piano, Lisa Relaford Coston as mezzo soprano, David Walker on percussion and the ODU New Music Ensemble.

Bobo is currently a professor of marimba at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and in addition to performing solo recitals, concertos and clinics at major universities and percussion festivals nationwide, has performed in Mexico, Lithuania, Puerto Rico and France. He is also an active composer and has been recorded on several albums including two solo marimba recordings, "Marimba Jambalaya" (1998) and "Chronicles" (2006).

Tickets for the Diehn Concert performance, $15 for general admission and $10 for ODU students, are available in advance at the Arts and Letters Box Office in the lobby of University Theatre, located on Hampton Boulevard between 46th and 47th streets, or by calling 683-5305. Tickets will also be sold at the door.

Bobo also will offer a master class at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3 in Chandler Recital Hall. The class is free and open to the public.

The F. Ludwig Diehn Concert Series is supported by a grant from the Diehn Fund of The Norfolk Foundation.