IU Distinguished Professor Menahem Pressler will receive an honorary citizenship Nov. 22 from his hometown of Magdeburg, Germany, which he fled to escape the Nazis in 1939.

The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is pleased to announce that tonight's performance by the Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by David Effron, will be video-streamed over the internet, starting at 8:00 p.m. ET, November 18, 2009.THE LINK: http://music.indiana.edu/iumusiclive/streaming/

While most college students balance their academia with recreational activities -- watching TV, hanging out with friends or going to concerts -- the members of Bloomington-based band South Jordan are in rehearsal perfecting their pop-rock sound and playing packed-house shows. Drawing influences from Coldplay and U2, South Jordan has created a unique sound that has been compared to the popular pop band The Fray.

Indiana University Auditorium will present its annual, family-friendly holiday tradition Chimes of Christmas, Dec. 9 (Wednesday) at 7:30 p.m.

The Bloomington Area Arts Council (BAAC) and the Jacobs School of Music announce "Opera Tease," a collaborative, two-day educational program for middle school and high school students, with a focus on musical and production aspects of opera. Opera Tease is the brainchild of BAAC employee Bernie Oakley. A former opera singer who debuted at the Detroit Opera Theatre and performed a European tour of Porgy and Bess, her motivation behind the program was to involve young high school students and others in opera.

Opening Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. in the Musical Arts Center is IU Ballet Theater's annual production of The Nutcracker. The production will feature choreography created specifically for the Jacobs School's dancers by Michael Vernon, chair of the Jacobs School of Music Ballet Department.

The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music student ensemble the Glavan Quintet performed at the VII International Festival of Colombian Chamber Music, held in Medellín, Colombia, Nov. 5-6.

Indiana University Jacobs School of Music faculty member Joshua Bell -- today's most celebrated American violinist -- has been honored as the 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America.

J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor, BWV 232 -- widely considered one of the composer's most intriguing and monumental compositions -- is scheduled to be performed in Bloomington Nov. 11 and 14 and in Indianapolis Nov. 13 by the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Pro Arte Singers and Chamber Orchestra.

An expansive new production of W. A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, a co-production of Indiana University Opera Theater and The Atlanta Opera, will be premiered Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. at the Musical Arts Center in Bloomington. Additional performances in Bloomington are Nov. 14, 20 and 21. This completely new production, guest stage directed by Tomer Zvulun and guest conducted by Mark Gibson, with sets and costumes designed by Jacobs School of Music Professor C. David Higgins, is "not your average Magic Flute," said Higgins.

World-renowned pianist and pedagogue Gyorgy Sebok will be remembered in Auer Concert Hall Nov. 14, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his death. The free event, beginning at 3:15 p.m., will feature a newly remastered edition of the 1997 documentary Gyorgy Sebok: A Music Lesson, which was filmed at his world-famous master classes in Ernen, Switzerland.

Carl Lenthe, professor of trombone at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, is the featured soloist on two newly released CDs contained in H. Voxman's Concert and Contest Collection, featuring the Rubank Method--one for trombone and one for baritone horn, both with piano accompaniment. In addition, Kimberly Carballo, interim head opera coach at the Jacobs School, is one of the featured pianists on the trombone CD.

Indiana University Opera Theater will video-stream its second production of the season, Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod, live from the Musical Arts Center on Oct. 23, 24, 30 and 31 at 8 p.m. The stream may be accessed from IU Music Live! at http://www.music.indiana.edu/iumusiclive.

The Jacobs School of Music and the Kelley School of Business' Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Indiana University are working in partnership to develop an entrepreneurial perspective for the next generation of musical leaders.

Indiana University alumnus Dennis James returns to IU Auditorium for his annual Halloween organ performance, this year accompanying Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Blackmail, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m. Audience members who arrive by 7:30 p.m. will be eligible to compete in the B97-sponsored costume contest in the categories of "Scariest Costume," "Most Creative Costume" and "Best Overall."

Jingxuan Zhang, a 16-year-old piano student in the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, has been awarded a $10,000 Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award by From the Top, the non-profit organization best known for its NPR and PBS programs featuring America's best young classical musicians. James Kim, a 16-year-old cellist who studied in the Jacobs School's String Academy for six years with Susan Bloom, won the same $10,000 award. Both will be featured on the broadcast, which will air nationally the week of Oct. 19 as part of From the Top's 10th Anniversary Season and on Indianapolis' WFYI 90.1 FM on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.

Indiana University Opera Theater continues its 2009-10 season with the passionate, timeless Roméo et Juliette, opening Oct. 23 at the Musical Arts Center. The company has produced this work only twice before, in 1966 and in 2005.

A celebration befitting the centennial birthday of one of the greatest violinists and violin pedagogues of all time, Josef Gingold, will be presented, Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. at the Indiana University Auditorium. Joshua Bell and Jaime Laredo to be among featured artists. The concert is free and open to the public.

Annunciation + Visitation, a unique musical performance exploring two vastly different expressions of female sexuality, stretches the boundaries of what defines opera.

Indiana University Bloomington holds more than 560,000 audio and video recordings and film reels, many of which are historically significant, all of which are actively deteriorating. And the window of time to save these materials is closing fast.

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra returns to Bloomington Sunday, Oct. 11, at 3 p.m. for the inaugural Indiana University President's Concert in the Musical Arts Center. The concert, offered free by the university to the campus and Bloomington community, will be conducted by renowned maestro Juanjo Mena and will feature Jacobs School of Music Professor Alexander Kerr in a performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. Kerr is also the principal guest concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Additional works on the program include Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 and IU composer and Jacobs Professor Claude Baker's "Aus Schwanengesang."

Around the world, ballet companies from the Kirov to the Royal Ballet are planning performances that will honor the 100th anniversary of the first performance by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russes. Joining the celebration, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music's Ballet Theater will present its fall ballet program, Diaghilev Tribute. The evening features the work of two choreographers from the Diaghilev era, George Balanchine and Bronislava Nijinska, and new choreography from Michael Vernon, chair of the Jacobs School Department of Ballet.

Indiana University faculty member and two-time Grammy Award winner Sylvia McNair is used to winning recognition for her singing. But her latest honor is something a little different. "Mickey's Corner," a television series hosted by her friend Michael S. "Mickey" Maurer, won a regional 2009 Emmy Award for a program that featured McNair talking about her life and performing music.

The Music Theory Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music will host a one-day conference titled "The Musical Ear" on Sept. 26. The unique conference is open to all and will be devoted exclusively to issues of ear training and aural skills.

Composer Clint Needham finds endless inspiration in the world around him. Needham's award-winning classical compositions have come to him as the result of everything from last year's Presidential election to his experiences with nature. A doctoral fellow in composition at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, Needham was recently the recipient of a 2009 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Concert Music Composer Award, his second honor from ASCAP (in addition, he was twice nominated for honorable mentions by the organization).