Robert X. Rodríguez, composer-conductor and professor of aesthetic studies at UTD, will direct the UTD Musica Nova ensemble in a free concert, An Evening of Brahms and Handel.

The concert will feature UTD students and pianist/assistant director Jeff Lankov performing vocal and instrumental music of Johannes Brahms and Georg Friedrich Handel. The ensemble will perform Brahms' Trio in A Minor Op. 114 for Violin, Cello and Piano, Sonata in E-Minor Op. 38 for Cello and Piano and a selection of songs, including the famous Wiegenlied (Lullaby). Selections by Handel will include the three-movement cantata La Primavera (Spring) and the recitative and aria "E pur così in un giorno...Piangero la sorte mia" from the opera Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar). Both Handel works will be performed in new arrangements for soprano, violin, cello and harpsichord.

UTD's Musica Nova ensemble, directed by Robert Xavier Rodríguez, performs music for small ensembles, plus multi-media and theater works of all periods. UTD students and faculty join professional musicians and members of the community. Musica Nova guest artists have included members of the Dallas Symphony and Dallas Opera Orchestra and singers from the New York City Opera and Metropolitan Opera. Music for past Musica Nova concerts has ranged from Medieval and Renaissance dances and motets to standard repertoire to experimental mixed-media works written for and/or developed by the ensemble. Concerts have included an evening of jigs, an evening of tangos, French cabaret and mariachi songs, chamber opera, ballet and a fully staged commedia dell'arte pantomime.