Music and Art Part of Quintet's "Imaginary" Tour Of Japan and France

PITTSBURGH—No need to pack your suitcase, find your passport, or make a hefty withdrawal from your savings account; you can enjoy the sights and sounds of late 19th-century Japan and France when the Floating World tour "docks" at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, at Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

Pitt's Asian Studies Center and University Center for International Studies have teamed up with the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society to present A Floating World: Japan and the Impressionists, a thematic program offered by the WINDSCAPE quintet. Created in 1994 by five woodwind soloists from New York City, the quintet has toured Asia, Canada, and the United States, delighting audiences with innovative programs. Through music, commentary, and visual art, WINDSCAPE evokes vivid cultural landscapes of distant times and places.

For this concert, WINDSCAPE has paired the music of Debussy, Ravel, and Takemitsu, among others, with Japanese prints by Harunobu, Hiroshige, and Utamaro and the art of French Impressionists Degas, Monet, Renoir, and others.

Admission to the concert is free and open to the public. Patrons are asked to reserve tickets by Sunday, Feb. 1, by calling 412-624-4129 or emailing pchamber@pitt.edu. Following the concert, patrons can join the musicians for a question-and-answer session.

On Monday, Feb. 9, WINDSCAPE will present a special matinee performance for local middle school students at Carnegie Music Hall. The Asian Studies Center will subsidize the cost of this fieldtrip for students of teachers belonging to the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia.

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