Stetson University and the Artists and Lecturers Committee will present one of America’s most distinguished artistic figures, composer and pianist John Harbison (pictured), in a series of presentations and a public performance on Stetson’s DeLand campus, Wednesday and Thursday, March 26 and 27.

On Wednesday, March 26, 6 p.m., Harbison will be part of a panel discussion, Today’s New Classical Music, with Stetson composer, Sydney Hodkinson, along with guest composer David Maslanka. Stetson School of Music Dean Thomas Masse will moderate. The public is invited to attend, free of charge. Location: Presser Hall, room 204, 419 N. Woodland Blvd.

The Music of John Harbison Concert will be held at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 27, in Lee Chapel, inside Elizabeth Hall, located at 421 N. Woodland Blvd. Also performing will be his wife Rose Mary Harbison, violin; and Stetson music professor Kristie Born, piano. The concert is open to the public.

Composer John Harbison is among America’s most distinguished artistic figures. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious MacArthur Foundation’s “genius” award and the Pulitzer Prize, Harbison has composed music for most of America’s premiere musical institutions, including the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His works include three operas, six symphonies, and numerous orchestral, chamber, vocal, and choral works. He is widely recorded on leading labels.

Current projects include several vocal and chamber works, including: Crossroads, for voice, oboe, and string quartet; The Right to Pleasure, for mezzo-soprano and string quintet; Supper at Emmaus, for vocal soloists, choir and chamber orchestra; and works for string trio, clarinet trio, unaccompanied violin, violin and piano, and cello with chamber ensemble.

Harbison has been composer-in-residence with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the American Academy in Rome, and numerous festivals. He received degrees from Harvard and Princeton before joining the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is currently Institute Professor, the highest academic distinction offered resident faculty. He is head of composition at Tanglewood Music Center, co-artistic director of the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, principal guest conductor and composer in residence at Emmanuel Music, and until recently was president of the Copland Fund. Active as a jazz pianist, Harbison appears regularly with VocalJazz MIT, for whom he serves as coach, arranger and keyboardist.

Violinist Rose Mary Harbison is co-artistic director of the Token Creek Festival. She has recorded for DDG, CRI, Koch, Northeastern, and New World. Her releases include John Harbison’s Concerto for Violin and Fantasy Duo (with Robert Levin). Among her concert partners have been Leonard Stein, Judith Gordon, Ursula Oppens, Robert Levin, and Eli Kalman.

Tickets for the March 27 concert are: $10-general admission; $8-seniors; $5-area students; free to Stetson faculty, staff, students with ID. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance online at https://www.ticketreturn.com/prod2/team.asp?sponsorid=6142.

For further information, contact Stetson’s School of Music at 386-822-8950, or online at www2.stetson.edu/music.