Symphony of Words

Two leaders will exchange views on music, education and innovation at two distinguished institutions

Daniel Barenboim, music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and University President Don Randel, a noted musicologist, will engage in a wide-ranging discussion of music, education and the challenges of leading world-renowned cultural and educational institutions at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 20, at Symphony Center.

Barenboim and Randel will speak to important issues that affect them both–from the need to nurture talented, creative people to the challenge of encouraging innovation in organizations known for their venerable traditions.

Daniel Barenboim

In addition to their common experiences as leaders of major cultural institutions, the two share personal connections that will provide a richly textured human context for their conversation. Both men are devoted to music and are fluent speakers of Spanish with family ties to Latin America. Randel was raised in Panama, where his father operated a small business, and Barenboim was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he lived until he was 10 years old.

Rashid Khalidi, Professor in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Director of the Center for International Studies & Council for Advanced Studies in Peace & International Cooperation, will moderate the discussion. The University, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Humanities Festival are jointly sponsoring the event.

Barenboim is the ninth music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His appointment as director in 1991 marked the beginning of a new chapter in the long-standing musical relationship with the orchestra he first conducted in 1970. Over the course of his more-than-25-year collaboration with the CSO, he has returned as conductor, orchestra soloist and recitalist. Throughout 2000, Barenboim will commemorate 50 years of professional performance on the stage with worldwide celebrations and performances in Chicago, New York, Berlin and Buenos Aires.

President Randel

Randel became President-elect of the University on Dec. 13, 1999, and officially began his term of office July 1, 2000. Coming to Chicago from Cornell University where he served as provost, Randel is admired in the academic world for his institutional leadership as well as his scholarly work as a musicologist. His specialties are the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance in Spain and France, and his interests incorporate music as diverse as Latin pop and jazz. Under his editorship, the New Harvard Dictionary of Music was published in 1986, and he completed a companion Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music in 1996.

Symphony Center is at 220 S. Michigan Ave. Reservations for this special event are required, and tickets are $5 in advance. For more information, or to make reservations, call (312) 294-3000.