The University of South Florida Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles, under the batons of Maestros William W. Wiedrich and James K. Bass, combine in two gala concert performances featuring varied and memorable works to commemorate the opening of USF's new concert hall.

Featured on this spectacular program will be the world premiere of FLASH, for large chorus and orchestra, by internationally renowned composer Augusta Read Thomas. Commissioned by the University of South Florida School of Music especially for the event, the work features dynamic musical splashes of color and movement, mixing extraordinary clarity with bold resonant vitality. The American Academy of Arts and Letters recently honored Augusta Read Thomas, which is considered to be the highest formal recognition of artistic merit in the United States. At her induction, the citation read as follows:

"Augusta Read Thomas' impressive body of works embodies unbridled passion and fierce poetry. Championed by such luminaries as Barenboim,. Rostropovich, Boulez, and Knussen, she rose to the top of her profession. Later, as an influential teacher at Eastman, Northwestern and Tanglewood, chairperson of the American Music Center, and the Chicago Symphony's longest-serving resident composer, she has become one of the most recognizable and widely loved figures in American music."

A sneak preview is also in store. "Bound Away," the first movement of Chuck Owen's new "Concerto for Jazz Guitar, Saxophone, and Orcheatra" will be included on the program. Owen is completing the work while on sabbatical, the result of a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, awarded in 2009. This work blends the almost infinite dynamic and coloristic resources of a larger symphony orchestra with the rhythmic vitality, stylistic traditions, and improvisational virtuosity of the jazz musician. This coming together is stretched even further, however, by the significant influence of American folk/ethnic musics - an influence that permeates much of Owen's music.