The University of Iowa School of Music will present a free performance by the UI Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, in the Main Lounge of the Iowa Memorial Union.

William LaRue Jones, director of orchestral studies in the UI School of Music, will conduct the first half of the program, La Forza del Destino: Overture by Giuseppe Verdi and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto, No. 4, op. 58, G major. Alan Huckleberry, professor of piano in the UI School of Music, will be featured on piano. Guest conductor Zhou Jin will lead the orchestra through Mooring at Night by Maple Bridge by Xu Zhenmin and Sprach Zarathustra, TrV 176, op. 30 by Richard Strauss.

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).

Praised for his “impeccable musicianship, exhilarating technique, and panache” (American Record Guide), Huckleberry has performed both in recitals and as a soloist with orchestras in Germany, England, the Czech Republic, Italy, Austria, Spain, France, Costa Rica, Colombia, and across the United States. Huckleberry is also in demand as a chamber musician, with recitals across the United States, Australia, and Europe. He can be heard on four compact disc recordings on the Crystal Record and Albany Record labels.

Zhou, a Chinese orchestral conductor, graduated from Wuhan Conservatory of Music in 1996. He is currently principal conductor of Wuhan Conservatory Orchestra, and the principal conductor of Nanchang Philharmonic Orchestra, Jiangxi Province since 2009.

The School of Music is part of the Division of Performing Arts in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. For accommodations at the concert contact the School of Music at 319-335-1603. For a UI arts calendar and details about upcoming events visit the new Arts Iowa website.