World renowned composer Marvin Hamlisch will lecture and perform at West Virginia University’s College of Creative Arts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, as part of the Dan and Betsy Brown Lecture Series.
My Life in Musicwill include music fromThe Sting,The Way We WereandA Chorus Line,and is co-sponsored by the College and the Office of the Provost. The event is free and open to the public.
We are thrilled to announce that Maestro Marvin Hamlisch will give the prestigious Brown Distinguished Lecture this year,said Dean Bernie Schultz.Maestro Hamlisch is among the foremost composers of our time. His works share with us expressive realities of the human experience, as well as the promise that the arts are a tremendous communicative force. Maestro Hamlisch’s presentation will be a wonderful and meaningful event for our Morgantown community.
Hamlisch’s life in music is notable for its great versatility, as well as substance. As a composer, he has won every major award: three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, one Tony and three Golden Globe Awards. His groundbreaking show,A Chorus Line,received the Pulitzer Prize.
Among the Broadway shows Hamlisch has composed areThey’re Playing Our Song,The Goodbye Girl,Sweet Smell of SuccessandImaginary Friends.He is the composer of more than 40 motion picture scores, including his Oscar-winning score and song forThe Way We Wereand his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s music forThe Sting,for which he received a third Oscar. His prolific output of scores for films includes original compositions and/or musical adaptations forSophie’s Choice,Ordinary People,The Swimmer,Three Men and a Baby,Ice Castles,Take the Money and Run,BananasandSave the Tiger.
Hamlisch holds the position of Principal Pops Conductor with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, as well as with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. This is the first time that anyone has held such a position with either orchestra. His visit to the College of Creative Arts is an extension to the partnership the College established with the Pittsburgh Symphony two years ago.
Hamlisch was musical director and arranger of Barbra Streisand’s 1994 concert tour of the United States and England, as well as of the television specialBarbra Streisand: The Concert,for which he received two of his Emmy awards. He served in the same capacities for her millennium concerts.
Hamlisch is a graduate of both Juilliard and Queens College. Believing in the power of music to bring people together, he saysMusic can make a difference. There is a global nature to music, which has the potential to bring all people together. Music is truly an international language, and I hope to contribute by expanding this communication as much as I can.
Dan and Betsy Brown, natives of West Virginia and 1959 graduates of WVU , endowed the Dan and Betsy Brown Lecture Series in 2002. Dan Brown is retired from The Capital Group Companies, Inc., in Los Angeles. The Browns’generous support of WVU has included establishing The Brown Family Faculty Development Fund for the College of Business and Economics and for the Davis School of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences. Additional support has included a Guest Room at Blaney House, as well as gifts to the Mountaineer Athletic Club and the College of Creative Arts. The Browns reside in Hilton Head Island, S.C. They have two sons and five grandchildren.
For more information about the lecture, contact (304) 293-4841 ext. 3108.