About the Series

HISTORY
A COMMITMENT TO LIVE MUSIC
WHAT IS A CONCERT SERIES?
FACULTY COMMITTEE ON MUSIC
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

HISTORY

The Cornell Concert Series has been hosting musicians and ensembles of international stature since 1903. Originally featuring Western classical artists, the series presented Ravi Shankar in 1987 and has grown, especially within the last decade, to encompass a broader spectrum of the world's great art musics.

A COMMITMENT to LIVE MUSIC

Since 1996, the Mark Morris Dance Group has been committed to performing exclusively with live music: from Handel to Michelle Schocked, Yo-Yo Ma and Zakir Hussain, Schubert to The Bad Plus.

The Cornell Concert Series has been bringing great performances to you live for over a century. Fritz Kreisler and Sergei Rachmaninov once braved getting to Ithaca (in 1919 and 1921) and recently, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Alfred Brendel.

The roads may be smoother today, but the challenge remains. As Mark Morris observes, "It's a lot of work to put on a show... and it's a lot of work to go to a show; plans, babysitters, driving, parking... it's easier and easier to stay at home. Why see a performer?

BECAUSE WE NEED TO.

Because we are human animals who need that specific danger inherent in the fact and the mystery of live performance."

WHAT IS A CONCERT SERIES?

How do you choose concerts? As a concert-goer or a presenter, every season we ask, “What’s good? What’s interesting? Will I like it?” No matter how we answer these questions, we would all agree on one thing: there is much to navigate through in the 21st century.

What is a concert series? The extraordinary possibilities of today’s world are thrilling, but can be overwhelming, and the challenge a performance series faces is much like that of a museum curator’s mission. Striking a balance of old and new, familiar and unfamiliar, and creating opportunities for cross-pollination thereof, serve as a constant directive for the Cornell Concert Series.

What is classic? What is new? Traverse historical and cultural boundaries,and be surprised by the answers -- the shock of the old, the remembrance of things to come. Explore and experience our concert collections -- inspiration, joy, verve, adventure, discovery, and all the wonderment of music awaits!

FACULTY COMMITTEE ON MUSIC

While the Concert Series offices are housed in the Department of Music, it is governed by the Faculty Committee on Music, a group of six professors, two students, and a staff member, representing the University at large. The Concert Series' manager serves ex officio.

Graeme Bailey
John Forester
Rebecca Harris-Warrick
Tsitsi Jaji, grad. (loa)

Jerrold Meinwald
Joyce Morgenroth
Kiko Nobusawa
Anthony Reed
Christopher Sarra
Charles Walcott
Elaine Westbrooks

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Tokiko Nobusawa
Concert Manager
A graduate of Oberlin College and the University of Chicago, Kiko joined the Cornell Concert Series staff in May 2004. Earlier concert office experience includes work for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Music of the Baroque. Ithacans might recall her - and her range of musical interests - as the former CD-buyer at Bookery II.

Yvette Lucente
Audience & Public Relations Coordinator
Yvette has been with the Cornell Concert Series since August 2005. A native of Ithaca, NY, she was born in Lima, Peru. A graduate of the New School in New York City, Yvette has worked in a variety of non-profit and academic organizations, including the Society for Organizational Learning, Parsons School of Design, and the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.