Concert pays tribute to composer Irving Fine

Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra to perform; former students and colleagues to speak

Irving Fine working with students

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Irving Fine, and in tribute to the composer Brandeis will celebrate his life and music with a curated concert on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 3 p.m. in the Slosberg Music Center

Fine was a Boston-born composer and conductor, and was the founding director of the School of Creative Arts. He taught at Brandeis, where he was the Walter S. Naumburg Professor of Music, from 1950 until his death from a heart attack in 1962. He was the recipient of many honors throughout his career, including Guggenheim and Fulbright Research fellowships, a National Institute of Arts and Letters award and a New York Music Critics' Circle award.

The program will include two of Fine’s orchestral pieces, “The Serious Song: A Lament for String Orchestra (1955)” and “Notturno for String Orchestra and Harp (1950-51).” Neal Hampton will conduct the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra, joined by members of the Lydian String Quartet, in the performances.

Eric Chasalow, the current Irving G. Fine Professor of Music, will be the master of ceremonies at the concert, which also will feature brief talks from three of Fine’s former students and colleagues: Martin Boykan, the Irving G. Fine Professor Emeritus; Richard Wernick, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and former student of Fine’s; and Yehudi Wyner, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and emeritus music professor.

The concert is made possible by the Irving Fine Fund at Brandeis University and the Poses Fund. It is free and open to the public.