Several Cornell Department of Music ensembles present fall concerts as part of Homecoming weekend.
The annual Cornell Glee Club and Chorus Homecoming Concert takes place Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. in Bailey Hall. Conducted by Sean Linfors, “There and back again” features music that tells of journeys and returns, finishing with a few Cornell songs and choir favorites. Attendees of the concert can head over to the laser light show at Schoellkopf afterwards. Parents and families are welcome. Tickets are $3 and available at cornelltickets.com.

Then on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 3 p.m. in Bailey Hall, the Cornell Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra perform “Music in Motion,” a program of music inspired by dance and dramatic motion. The Cornell Chamber Orchestra opens with Norman Dello Joio’s vibrant Choreography, brought to life through a special collaboration with dancers from the Department of Performing and Media Arts, choreographed by Danielle Russo. Mozart’s elegant and spirited Symphony No. 29 in A Major follows.
After intermission, the Cornell Symphony Orchestra performs Beethoven’s triumphant Fidelio Overture and Stravinsky’s dazzling 1919 suite from The Firebird, concluding on a note of Big Red pride with a medley of Cornell songs to send you out singing. Free and open to the public with no tickets required.
Additionally, there are two opportunities to hear instruments from the collection of the Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards. On Thursday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Barnes Hall, fortepianist Matthew Bengtson and cellist John Haines-Eitzen perform an evening of music by Beethoven. The program includes two sets of variations on themes from Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute and the Sonata in D Major, Op. 102, No. 2. The concert will be performed on gut strings and historical keyboards. Free and open to the public with no tickets required.

The second iteration in the new series at the Johnson Museum of Art takes place in the Robinson Lecture Hall on Friday, Oct. 3 at 5:15 p.m. In conjunction with the exhibition Margarethe Geibel: The Goethe House Series, the audience will travel back in time to 1830s Weimar and the eclectic home of German literary giant Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832). Andrew Weislogel, Seymour R. Askin, Jr. ’47 Curator, Earlier European and American Art, will introduce the program, which combines a visual exploration of Goethe’s residence and collections, as seen through Geibel’s unique print series.
Patricia Garcia Gil, Roger Moseley, and Jean Bernard Cerin will perform selections of German Romantic music from the era. These will include songs set to Goethe’s poetry and piano works by Clara Wieck, who, as a young prodigy, performed for Goethe on the very type of piano depicted in Geibel’s prints. An instrument of this same kind, provided by the , will be featured in the performance—evoking the soundscape that once filled Goethe’s Weimar home. All are encouraged to visit the exhibition (in the Schaenen Gallery, also on Floor 2L) prior to the program. The exhibition will also be open after the performance, during a public reception. Free and open to the public with no tickets required.