Lycoming College to present “Animal Crackers” concert

WILLIAMSPORT — Violinist Riana Muller, a strings instructor at Lycoming College, will perform a piece titled, “Animal Crackers,” in the College’s Mary Lindsay Welch Honors Hall at noon today . Her show is part of Lycoming’s Noon Concert Series.

In addition to Muller on the violin, other performers include violinist Marcus Smolensky, violist William Muller, cellist Andrew Rammon, and pianist Gary Boerckel, a professor of music at Lycoming.

“Animal Crackers” is comprised of music related to animals and their antics and features works by Turina, Hadyn, Morley, Schubert and others.

A featured piece is “In the Barn” from the Second Violin Sonata of Charles Ives. The performance is a tribute to Ives, who was born 125 years ago on Oct. 20.

“In the Barn” will be performed using a uniquely-shaped violin by Lewisburg violinmaker William Paul Muller. The violin is shaped like a cowboy boot. The sound holes are in the shape of revolvers and the scroll is a carved horse’s head.

Martha Graham Dance Company performs full-length “Clytemnestra” today

UNIVERSITY PARK — Choreographer, dancer and Pittsburgh-area native Martha Graham, who founded her iconic modern dance company in 1926, created 181 works. But only one, “Clytemnestra,” fills an evening’s program. Martha Graham Dance Company, called “one of the seven wonders of the artistic universe” by a Washington Post critic, performs the masterwork at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Penn State’s Eisenhower Auditorium.

In Aeschylus’ “Oresteia,” the Greek classic from which the dance takes its inspiration, Clytemnestra is a femme fatale who kills her husband Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and the Trojan Princess Cassandra. Graham’s adaptation tells the story from Clytemnestra’s point of view, which gives the dance an unorthodox perspective. Although it relives a tragic past, “Clytemnestra” is ultimately about rebirth and redemption.

Originally performed in 1958 and performed to a score by Egyptian composer Halim el-Dabh, “Clytemnestra” features sets by longtime Graham collaborator Isamu Noguchi.

Tickets are $39 for an adult, $26 ages 18 and younger and available online at www.cpa.psu.edu or by phone at 814-863-0255, or 800-ARTS-TIX.