The USC Symphony Orchestra will perform works by composer Tayloe Harding, dean of the School of Music, beginning at 7:30 p.m. April 17 at the Koger Center. Harding's Sacraments From Faith Concerto for Woodwind Quintet and Orchestra (2002) will be performed by faculty players Robert Pruzin, Rebecca Nagel, Joseph Eller, Peter Kolkay, and Donna Shin. This season finale concert will also include Rossini's La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4.

Harding became dean of the USC School of Music in July 2005. Before coming to USC, he was head of the Department of Music, professor of music, and chief advancement officer for the arts at Valdosta State University, as well as serving as executive director of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra. He also previously served in faculty and administrative capacities at North Dakota State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Georgia State University.

Harding's works have received performances throughout the United States and Canada, and on six continents. He has received grants for new works and premiers from Meet the Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts, Lila Wallace-Readers' Digest Foundation, and a variety of state and local agencies in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, and North Dakota. He has received commissions from Thamyris, the Atlanta Winds, the African-American Philharmonic Orchestra, the Atlanta Community Orchestra, the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, the Chicago Saxophone Quartet, and numerous individuals and universities. He has been a fellow of the Ragdale and UCROSS Foundations, as well as of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. He is a member of ASCAP, and his works are published by Mareba Music and Collected Editions, Ltd.

Active in many national and international organizations, Harding is the immediate past-president of the College Music Society, the nation's only comprehensive professional and scholarly membership organization in music in higher education.

Tickets are $20 general public; $18 USC faculty and staff, and senior citizens; and $8 students.

Tickets are available for advanced purchase at the Carolina Coliseum box office or by calling the charge line at 251-2222. Online purchases can be made at www.capitoltickets.com. Tickets also will be available for purchase in the Koger Center lobby an hour prior to the performance.

A pre-concert chat with Assistant Conductor Neil Casey will take place in the Large Rehearsal Room at 6:45 p.m. The chat will touch on information related to the pieces, artists, or composers being performed that evening. Valet parking operated by Southern Valet will be available for $5.

For more information, contact Rowena Paranal at paranal@gwm.sc.edu or Charlene Hazin at charl@gwm.sc.edu, or 7-7500.

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