Prominent composer featured at free concert

One of America's most prominent modern classical music composers will be featured in a free concert in Cleveland. The New Music Ensemble of the Cleveland Institute of Music will be performing both instrumental and vocal works by Libby Larsen at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 29, at Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, 11021 East Blvd., Cleveland. The concert is free, but people planning to attend are asked to obtain a free ticket via the concert listing at the CIM website, which also has information on parking. A video livestream is offered from the same webpage for people who don't want to make the drive to Cleveland. Larsen, based in Minneapolis, told the Register she is looking forward to coming to Cleveland. "Cleveland is one of the centers of classical music creativity in the country," she said. The New Music Ensemble is led by Keith Fitch, a CIM professor and a composer himself, and the concert will feature one of Fitch's pieces, "Burnt Counterpoint." Fitch said that the concert featuring Larsen's music, which Larsen is expected to attend, is a great opportunity for serious music lovers. "Libby Larsen has been a tireless advocate for American music for over five decades. From her co-founding of the Minnesota Composers Forum (now the American Composers Forum) in 1973, through her works in virtually every genre, to her distinctly American voice, her music continues to be a vital part of the fabric of our nation's music," Fitch said. "I'm thrilled to be able to bring her to CIM and present her music to our community." Matthew Kennedy, a Heidelberg University and composer who is running a new music festival offered this weekend in Tiffin, said Larsen has a "brilliant mind." "I cannot speak highly enough about Libby, both as a composer and a human," said Kennedy, who worked with Larsen several years ago in Florida. Larsen, 75, also scheduled to speak at the Cleveland Institute of Music, is a much-recorded composer. Her website lists dozens of albums that feature her music, including many albums in which she's the sole composer featured. Her music is also among the most performed by a living American composer. The Hoopla Digital smartphone app, available to nearly every Ohioan with a library card, includes three albums consisting entirely of Larsen's music: "Circle of Friends," "Larsen: Deep Summer Music; Solo Symphony; Marimba Concerto After Hampton," and "Lift Me Into Heaven Slowly." Those albums are a good sampling of her music, Larsen said.