Calendar Highlights

Dec. 9 concert to celebrate music of Shulamit Ran The Lark Quartet, winner of the 1991 Gold Medal in Russia's Shostakovich International String Quartet Competition, will be joined by clarinetist Charles Neidich, flutist Mary Stolper and pianist Brian Connelly in a concert celebrating the music of Pulitzer Prize winner Shulamit Ran. Ran is the William H. Colvin Professor in Music and composer-in-residence at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The concert, part of the Chamber Music Series, will begin at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, in Mandel Hall.

The concert will include performances of Ran's "Mirage" for five players, "For an Actor: Monologue" for solo clarinet, String Quartet No. 2 ("Vistas"), "East Wind" for solo flute and "Concerto Da Camera II" for clarinet, string quartet and piano. The concert will also include Debussy's "Syrinx" and Beethoven's Quartet in F Major, Op. 135.

Tickets are $22, $19 and $17 ($8 for students).

For tickets or information, call 702-8068.

(photo-Lark Quartet)

X-tet Jazz Ensemble to debut Chicago trumpeter Orbert Davis will be the featured guest soloist in the debut performance of the University's newest musical ensemble, the U of C X-tet Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Mwata Bowden. The concert, which is free and open to the public, will be presented at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, in Goodspeed Recital Hall.

The 10-member U of C X-tet, sponsored by the Department of Music, concentrates on small group improvisation and traditional jazz repertory. Director Bowden, a recipient of Arts Midwest's 1994 Jazz Master award, has been recognized four times as "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" in Down Beat's annual poll of critics. In addition to touring with such bands as 8 Bold Souls and Sound Spectrum, he is chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. The concert program will include one of Bowden's compositions, "Mentalmetamorphis vs. the Mystic Center."

Guest soloist Davis has played for more than 500 television and radio commercials and has recorded with Ramsey Lewis, Dennis DeYoung, Ten City and Charles Earland. His live credits include performances with Gladys Knight, the Temptations, Nancy Wilson, Michael Bolton, Dionne Warwick, Andy Williams and Ann Jillian. He is a member of the Chicago Pops Orchestra and a frequent soloist with the Classic Jazz Ensemble, and he also leads his own quartet. He is on the music faculties of Columbia College and Roosevelt University. Recent projects include on-camera performances for the films The Babe and A League of Their Own and the television series "The Untouchables." Davis is currently recording his debut jazz album, soon to be released on Copia Records.

For more information, call 702-8069.

Caption: "Pulqueria," by Mexican photographer Manuel Carrillo, is among the 20 photographs in "Visions of a Nation: Images of Mexico by Mexican and American Photographers," opening Tuesday, Dec. 13, at the Smart Museum of Art. The exhibition, drawn from the Smart Museum's photography collection, includes images by such well-known American photographers as Danny Lyon, Aaron Siskind and Paul Strand. See Continuing.