The University of Iowa School of Music will present a free performance by the UI Symphony Orchestra, conducted by William LaRue Jones, director of orchestral studies, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, in the Main Lounge of the Iowa Memorial Union on the UI campus.

The program will feature:

• Barber of Seville Overture by Gioacchino Rossini
• Symphony No. 7, Op. 105, C Major by Jean Sibelius
• Barber of Seville by Gioacchino Rossini (featuring Elisabeth Bieber, mezzo-soprano, and Stephen Swanson, baritone)
• American Gothic by Michael Daugherty

Since 1997, Jones has been professor of music and director of orchestral studies and conductor of orchestras and opera at the UI. In 2011 he received the distinct honor of becoming a Collegiate Fellow in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

His conducting schedule includes a wide array of professional, festival, collegiate, and student ensembles throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, ranging from the Minnesota Orchestra and the Minneapolis Pops to the Penang (Malaysia) Symphony, the Orquestra Sinfonica do Theatro da Paz (Belem, Brazil), the Antofagasta (Chile) Symphony, and the Symphony Orchestra of Lucerne (Switzerland).

Swanson, professor of voice in the UI School of Music, received degrees from North Park College and Northwestern University and served a two-year American Guild of Musical Artists apprenticeship with the Wolf Trap Company. After an internship at the International Opera Studio of the Zurich Opera, Swanson sang in opera houses in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands for 19 years. Swanson has performed with many renowned conductors, including concerts under Sir Georg Solti, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, Margaret Hillis, and Vance George; and operas under Giuseppe Patanè, Nello Santi and Ferdinand Leitner.

UI alumna Bieber made her concert stage debut with the St. Louis Masterworks Chorale as the alto soloist in Mozart’s Requiem. She has performed with the symphonies of Omaha, Waterloo-Cedar Falls, and Orchestra Iowa. Bieber was a first place winner at the 2007 Minnesota District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 2006, she was a National Semi-Finalist for the NATS American Artists competition and an Encouragement Award winner at the Upper Midwest Regional Met Auditions.

The School of Music is part of the Division of Performing Arts in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to attend this concert, contact the School of Music in advance at 319-335-1603.

For a UI arts calendar and details about upcoming events visit the Arts Iowa website.