March 22, 2002

Contact: Karen Lane Christilles, Lied Center, (785) 864-2794.

Hutchins Consort to perform at Lied Center and in Minneapolis, Kan.

LAWRENCE -- The Lied Center of Kansas Swarthout Chamber Music Series presents The Hutchins Consort at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 14, at the Lied Center.

This unique chamber ensemble is the only group in the world performing on eight scaled violins designed by luthier Carleen Hutchins. The violins are the first successful attempt to create an acoustically balanced set of instruments that can truly sound like violins across the entire range of written music. With instruments ranging from the tiny treble violin, tuned one octave above the standard violin, to the gigantic contrabass violin, tuned one octave lower than a cello, the consort produces an astonishing palette of sounds.

The ensemble's education residency project will take place April 10 to 14 and will include a two-day state outreach visit to Minneapolis, Kan. Artistic director and Wichita native Joe McNalley's father grew up in Minneapolis.

Education Residency Information Wednesday, April 10
 • 9-10 a.m.: Central Junior High School Orchestra Clinic
 • 10:30-11:30 a.m.: KU Acoustics Class

Thursday, April 11
 • 10 a.m.: School performance at the Lied Center
 • 2:30-3:20 p.m. Music department convocation, Swarthout Recital Hall, Murphy Hall
 • 7 p.m.: Welcome reception for musicians with community at the Minneapolis Public Library

Friday, April 12
 • 8:15 a.m.: Two lecture/demonstrations, Delphos Middle School, grades 5-8
 • 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Lunch with concert after, Minneapolis Grade School with students, faculty and staff
 • 1-1:30 p.m.: Lecture/demonstration, grades K-4
 • 2:45-3 p.m.: Lecture/demonstration, grades 9-12
 • 7-9 p.m.: Public concert, Minneapolis High School Auditorium

Saturday, April 13
 • 10-10:30 a.m.: Performance and story time, Ottawa County Health Center, Minneapolis Hospital; guests will include preschool children and residents of Good Samaritan Center Retirement Home
 • Noon-1:30 p.m.: Luncheon and lecture/demonstration, The Blue Store Emporium
 • 6:30 p.m.: Mini-performance, student arrival at the prom, Minneapolis High School

Sunday, April 14
 • 1 p.m.: Pre-performance lecture, Lied Center; guest speaker Paul Laird

Tickets for reserved seats are still available at the Lied Center, (785) 864-ARTS or (785) 864-2777 (TTY); Murphy Hall, (785) 864-3982; SUA, (785) 864-SHOW; TicketMaster, (785) 234-4545, (816) 931-3330 or TicketMaster.com; and Tickets.com. Ticket prices are: public $27 and $22; KU and Haskell students and children (up to 18 years of age) $13.50 and $11; senior citizens (62 and over) $26 and $21.

Lied Center facilities, parking and front-of-house staff are fully prepared to accommodate patrons with special needs. The Lied Center has barrier-free entrances, and wheelchair locations are available on all levels of the performance hall. Free headsets are available for people requiring hearing-assistance or audio-description devices. Please show photo identification when reserving the headset. Braille and larger-print programs are also available. Please contact our ticket office at least two weeks before the event to make arrangements for these special programs. Audio description services and recorded program notes are provided through a partnership between the Lied Center and Audio-Reader Network.