The University of Iowa School of Music will present a free performance by the UI Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of William LaRue Jones, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, in the Main Lounge of the Iowa Memorial Union.

The program will feature works by Richard Wagner, Maurice Ravel, and Hector Berlioz; the last piece will feature Christine Rutledge, professor of viola in the School of Music.

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).

Rutledge is a musician and educator of eclectic interests and talents, equally at home with performances of the most cutting-edge new music, works from the standard repertoire, and performances on baroque viola. She has commissioned, premiered, and recorded new music by such composers as Claude Baker, Zae Munn, Jeremy Dale Roberts, C.P. First, and David Gompper, with whom she frequently collaborates with the Center for New Music. Her performances and recordings (The Blissful Violist, String Trios of Paul Hindemith, and David Diamond: Chamber Works for Strings and Piano) have been praised in such publications as The Strad, Fanfare, the New York Times, and the New York Concert Review. Rutledge has studied baroque viola with Stanley Ritchie and Robin Stowell.

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.