Composer to talk about wilderness music

Public invited to “brown-bag” talk

———

The Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center at Glacier National Park will host a free brown-bag luncheon presentation by artist-in-residence and music composer Stephen Lias at the Headquarter Community Building in West Glacier on Wednesday, June 18, from noon to 1 p.m.

Lias will share a multimedia presentation exploring the many ways adventure, scenery, history, wildlife, and geology can be translated into a musical composition inspired by wilderness.

The Park’s artist-in-residence program offers professional artists four weeks of focused time to creatively explore the natural and cultural resources of Glacier Park’s landscape while pursuing their artistic goals. The program also allows artists opportunity to share their work with an international audience through educational programs and exhibits.

Lias, who is serving as Glacier Park’s artist-in-residence for June, has served as an artist-in-residence for other national parks, including Rocky Mountain, Glacier Bay, Denali and Gates of the Arctic.

His compositions have been performed around the world by soloists and ensembles, including the Louisiana Sinfonietta, XPlorium Ensemble, the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin.

National Parks Magazine featured his composition, “Timberline Sonata” in their Fall 2011 issue. Lias also leads music composition field seminars for Alaska Geographic, the official non-profit partner of many national parks, wildlife refuges, and national forests in Alaska.

He currently resides in Texas where he is a Professor of Composition at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Glacier National Park Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center hosts brown-bag lectures throughout the year. For more information, visit online at www.crownscience.org/getinvolved/outreach/brownbag.