Concert launches Irving Fine centennial celebrations

Events will be held on and off campus throughout the year

From left: Claudia Fine, Emily Fine, Professor Eric Chasalow and Joanna Fine at the kick-off celebration.

As 2013 came to a close, the Irving Fine Society was busy commemorating its namesake’s 99th birthday and kicking off a celebration of his centennial year. A concert at Carnegie Hall, which included the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra’s performance of Fine’s “Serious Song” was the first of a yearlong series of events to mark the 100 years since Fine’s birth.

Fine, a Boston-born composer and conductor, 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 is considered one of the greatest neoclassical composers, and 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. A professorship held by Eric Chasalow is endowed in Fine’s name.

Events celebrating Fine’s legacy will be held throughout the United States this year, including several at Brandeis and in the Boston area. On Jan. 12 at 3 p.m., the Boston Symphony Chamber Players will perform Fine’s “Fantasia for String Trio” at Jordan Hall, and a tribute will be held in Slosberg Recital Hall on March 9.

The Library of Congress Irving Fine Centennial Festival will be held Dec. 2-6 in Washington, D.C. Additional events and details will be announced later in the year.