FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Press Release #08-198

100th Birthday Celebration for Composers Olivier Messiaen and Elliot Carter

(St. Mary’s City, MD) Oct. 28, 2008 – The Guest Artist Recital Series at St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) will honor the life and works of American composer Elliot Carter, who celebrates his 100th birthday this year.  Carter is known for his orchestral and chamber compositions, having performed them worldwide.  Born one day later, French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) also would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year.  The concert will be held in St. Mary’s Hall (Auerbach Auditorium) on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m.  Guest pianists Joanne King and Paul Hanson will perform selected works by the renowned composers.  This concert is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact Michael Adams at 240-895-2113 or mdadams@smcm.edu. 

St. Mary’s College of Maryland, designated the Maryland state honors college in 1992, is ranked one of the best liberal arts schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review, and Kiplinger’s.  Founded in 1840 as Maryland’s “monument school” commemorating the state’s first capital, SMCM is the state’s only public honors college, offering “an Ivy-level College with a public-school price tag” (Newsweek).

Some 2,000 students attend the college, which has the highest graduation rate for all Maryland public colleges and universities, and an SAT average for student admissions of 1252. The school’s waterfront campus along the St. Mary’s River in Southern Maryland is home to the 2007 National Intercollegiate Sailing Association Women’s, Sloop and Team champions.