Classical accordion, trombone duo to perform at Museum Sunday Accordionist Stefan Hussong and trombonist Mike Svoboda will perform in the Museum Concert Series Sunday, Jan. 25, at 2 p.m. in the Museum galleries. They will be playing repertoire from Baroque to the contemporary. The Museum of Art is located on Centennial Drive on the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. The Museum Concert Series, founded in 1990, is a celebration of classical music that brings performers of international repute to the Museum. It is the oldest chamber concert series in the region and draws a mixed audience of all ages. Mayville State University shares the series with the Museum, hosting their performance on Monday evenings. Stefan Hussong was born in Koellerbach an der Saar, Germany, and received scholarships from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, DAAD, Akademie Schloss Solitude and the Art Foundation of Baden-Wuerttemberg State. In 1987 he received the first prize at the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition for Contemporary Music. Hussong was awarded the Echo Classic Prize of the German Phonoacademy in the category Best Performer of the Year 1999. That same year his solo CD published by DENON with works by John Cage won the Best Record Award of the year. Hussong has premiered more than 80 works dedicated to him and he has recorded more than 25 CD`s, some of which have won several prizes. Hussong has performed as a soloist with, among others, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Musikfabrik Nordrhein-Westfalen, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Rundfunk Symphonieorchester Saarbruecken and Tokyo Shin Nippon Philharmonic Orchestra. The trombonist and composer Mike Svoboda was born in 1960 on the island of Guam, grew up in Chicago and came to Germany with the help of a BMI Award to Young Composers in 1982. His 11 years as trombonist and assistant with Karlheinz Stockhausen during the 1980s and 1990s proved to be of eminent importance for Svoboda's musical development. Including the collaboration with Stockhausen and other composers such as Peter Eötvös, Helmut Lachenmann, Wolfgang Rihm, Martin Smolka, David Lang, and Frank Zappa, Svoboda has premiered over 400 works for trombone at major festivals throughout the world. Mike Svoboda returned to composition only after ending his work with Stockhausen and has since received commissions, mostly for works spanning an entire concert, from festivals and opera houses such as the ECLAT festival Stuttgart, The State Opera Hannover, The National Theater Mannheim and the State Opera in Stuttgart. Major festivals have invited him to be artist or composer-in-residence. Often involved in his works as a soloist or with his own Mike Svoboda Ensemble, he composes across the borders between popular and classical music, high culture and entertainment, combining - through the use of text and various musical styles - both traditional and avant-garde. The Museum Concert Series is underwritten by a grant from the Myra Foundation, with support from the Performing Arts Fund, a program of Arts Midwest funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art, with additional contributions from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, General Mills Foundation, and Land O’Lakes Foundation. Committed classical music lovers also contribute an additional $50 on top of their season ticket to become sponsors who share in the cost of bringing great music to the community. The final concert in this year’s Series will be the vocal ensemble, Tapestry, on March 22. Tickets for the Concert Series are available by subscription to the series, or available for single concerts at the door or in advance at the North Dakota Museum of Art. Non-member tickets: $70 for the season, $15 per concert at the door. Member’s tickets: $60 for the season, $13 per concert at the door. Student and military tickets are $20 for the season, $5 per concert at the door. Children middle school and under are admitted free. Help assure the survival of the Concert Series by becoming a Concert Series sponsor for an additional $50. Order your tickets today by sending a check or calling 777-4195. The North Dakota Museum of Art is located on Centennial Drive on the University of North Dakota campus in Grand Forks. Museum hours are weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekends from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Museum shop is open during Museum hours. The Museum Café is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with lunch served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. -- Brian Lofthus, Assistant to the Director, North Dakota Museum of Art, blofthus@ndmoa.com, 701-777-4195