EVANSTON, Ill. --- Five live Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music-related webcasts can soon be viewed online free of charge. They will include two performances by the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, two master classes on the art of improvisation, and “Mando Magnificat,” a concert featuring world-renowned mandolin players Sam Bush, Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg.

Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music will stream the winter 2009 webcasts from Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Evanston campus. The starting times of all the listed events are in Central Standard Time (CST).

Links to the webcasts will be made available online approximately 10 minutes prior to the starting time of each event. Viewers will need the latest version of the RealPlayer media player. For links to the webcasts or more information on the webcasts, as well as the technical requirements for viewing them, visit http://www.pickstaiger.org/index.php/webcasts.

The Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra will present a concert of “German Musical Art” at 7:30 p.m. (CST) Saturday, Jan. 31. Victor Yampolsky and Bienen School of Music graduate student David Cubek will conduct a program that includes the “Coriolan” Overture by Ludwig Van Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in F Major by Johannes Brahms and “Ein Heldenleben” by Richard Strauss.

Performer, composer, author and University of Michigan Professor Edward Sarath will present “Improvisation, Creativity and Consciousness: New Pedagogical Horizons in Music and Beyond” at 6 p.m. (CST) Wednesday, Feb. 11. The hourlong presentation is the first in the Bienen School of Music’s four-part series, “Music Education for the 21st Century: Exploring Improvisation,” a program of master classes designed to spark discussion and thought on new and innovative ways to move music education forward. The 2009 series will be held from February through May. The Feb. 11 hands-on master class will explore improvisation as both a means for creativity and a lens into the creative process, or consciousness. The session will be based in a trans-stylistic approach to improvisation that serves as an introduction for musicians with little or no background in improvisation, as well as a method for expanding the horizons of experienced improvisers. Sarath will guide participants through rhythmic exercises, movement and meditation practices. Viewers are encouraged to follow along with their instruments and put the concepts of the class into practice.

Musician, author, computer artist and educator Stephen Nachmanovitch will present the second hourlong master class in the “Music Education for the 21st Century” series at 6 p.m. (CST) Thursday, March 5. In “Free Play: The Art of Improvisation,” Nachmanovitch will help participants to strengthen performance techniques through improvisation, overcome fears, take advantage of mistakes and accidents, create well-formed music without a plan and renew the pleasure of playing. The class will devote special attention to ideas for bringing these techniques into school music settings.

The Symphony Orchestra’s Student Showcase will be webcast at 7:30 p.m. (CST) Friday, March 6. Victor Yampolsky, Yahui Cheng and Bienen School of Music graduate students David Cubek and Robert McConnell will conduct. Featured soloists will include cellist Charlene Prescott and violinist Ari Vilhjalmsson, winners of the Northwestern Concerto Competition, and bass clarinetist David Halperin. The program will feature Symphony No. 38 in D Major (“Prague”) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major by Dmitri Shostakovich; Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor by Sergei Prokofiev, and the winning Student Composition Competition work written by David Carter.

Several renowned mandolinists will perform during the “Mando Magnificat” concert at 7:30 p.m. (CST) Saturday, March 7. This celebration of the enduring versatility of the mandolin will feature guest artists Mike Marshall & The Big Trio, Sam Bush, Caterina Lichtenberg, Don Stiernberg, and the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra with guitarist Mirko Schrader, pianist Larry Harris and bassist Jim Cox. Their eclectic program will include classical, jazz, new acoustic, Americana, blues and orchestral music. This is the first of nine concerts that are part of Pick-Staiger’s 2009 Spring Festival, “Collaboration Exultation: A Festival of Musical Connections” that begins March 7 and runs through April 11.

For more information or to purchase tickets to these events, visit the Pick-Staiger Web site at www.pickstaiger.org or phone (847) 467-4000.