Seattle hosts classical-music summit

What is the future of classical music? Will symphony orchestras, opera companies, chamber festivals and conservatories thrive in the coming years — or will the concert world as we know it become a relic of history? Is there any place for great works of the past in a world dominated by pop culture, where the winner of the latest "American Idol" TV show is the popular standard of musical excellence?

Issues such as these will be explored in what is being billed as a "classical music summit," called "Sounds of the Future," Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Seattle University's Pigott Auditorium. The university and Apollo Music Ventures (Jennifer McCausland, director) are co-presenters of this conference, which will draw experts, writers and spokespeople from coast to coast.

Exploring subjects from education, technology and new media to "new uniforms," the conference will feature a lineup of artistic and administrative speakers: Gerard Schwarz (Seattle Symphony), L.E. Howell (Juilliard School), Ron Gallman (San Francisco Symphony), Perry Lorenzo (Seattle Opera), Leni Boorstin (Los Angeles Philharmonic), Quinton Morris (Seattle University) and Gregory Sandow (The Wall Street Journal), among several others.

Critics from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Seattle Times and Seattle Weekly will share views and take questions. The conference, and a preceding "Meet the Participants" reception at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday, will offer music performances by Seattle Symphony principal cellist Joshua Roman, young violinists Simone Porter (age 10) and Marié Rossano (14), and Seattle Opera Young Artists. Porter and the Young Artists will perform at the reception; Roman and Rossano at the Music Summit.

Details: The "Sounds of the Future" Music Summit will be held in Pigott Auditorium, and the reception will be held at the Lee Center for the Arts — both at Seattle University. Admission to the Music Summit is $45 (students get in for free); for both the reception and the summit, it's $150. All proceeds benefit the Puget Sound Steinway Society. For program details, visit www.seattleu.edu; for info and queries, contact 206-972-8555 or jamccausland@cs.com.

Symphony premiere

Last time Samuel Jones premiered a concerto at the Seattle Symphony (in 2005), it was the Tuba Concerto, which proved to be highly popular in two rounds of performances with the orchestra's Chris Olka as the soloist. Now Jones has produced a new Horn Concerto, which will be introduced with the Symphony's principal horn, John Cerminaro, as soloist in a pair of world-premiere performances Thursday and Feb. 16.

What's different about this concerto is the fact that it was underwritten by the Seattle Commissioning Club, a new group of 10 music lovers who band together to commission new works (as is done with similar clubs in several different cities). The Commissioning Club met with Jones several times during the composition period, with the composer discussing the concerto's progress and playing portions of the new work on the piano.

In addition to the Horn Concerto, the Symphony program will include excerpts from Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg," as well as Dvorák's "New World" Symphony. Jones himself will give the preconcert lecture, an hour before each concert.

Details: Start times are 7:30 Thursday and 8 p.m. Feb. 16. Tickets ($17-$95) are available at 206-215-4747 or toll-free at 866-833-4747; online at www.seattlesymphony.org.

Musical valentine

With Valentine's Day coming up, it's an appropriate time for the Seattle Baroque Orchestra's next pair of concerts: "If Music Be the Food of Love." The chamber program features soprano Yulia Van Doren (a big hit here in last season's "The Coronation of Poppea") in a concert of 17th-century love songs at Benaroya Hall's Nordstrom Recital Hall. Included will be favorites by Lully and Purcell, including the latter's "Sweeter than Roses," "Fairest Isle" and "She loves, and she confesses, too." Guests Stephen Stubbs (lute) and Maxine Eilander (harp) will join violinist Ingrid Matthews and Margriet Tindemans, viola da gamba, in a program including works by Marin Marais and others.

Details: Concert start times are 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, in Benaroya Hall's Nordstrom Recital Hall. For tickets, visit www.seattlebaroque.org or call 206-322-3118 (Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Tickets are $10-$35 for adults. Sunday afternoon concerts are free for kids ages 7-17 when accompanied by an adult (one free child per adult ticket).

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com