Present Music contributes an evening of Italian Food and Music to Milwaukee’s 4^th International Arts Festival. Present Music’s PESCE! MUSICA! concert event will take place in Festa Hall of the Italian Community Center (631 E. Chicago St, Milwaukee). The evening will begin with the ICC’s Famous Italian Fish Buffet and will continue with a concert by the Present Music Ensemble that will feature music of both old and new Italian composers. The concert will also include an Italian sound collage that is being developed by Kevin Stalheim with assistance from students at the Golda Meir Elementary School. Tickets for the concert can be purchased by calling 414-271-0711.

One of the featured works on the program is a setting of Folk Songs by the esteemed living Italian composer Luciano Berio that will feature the mezzo-soprano Cheryl Bensman-Rowe in contemporary settings of folk songs from Italy and around the world. Eric Segnitz, Present Music’s principal violinist and resident composer, will also arrange works by two of Italy’s most well-known film composers Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone. This music will include music from the famous films Cinema Paradiso and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Two additional works on the program include Nino Rota’s Improvviso for violin and piano (from the 1947 film "D’amanti senza amore"), and Arc en Ciel (1973) by Giacinto Scelsi.

In one of the evening’s highlights, Present Music’s artistic director, Kevin Stalheim, will be assembling a wild and circus-like sound collage in the tradition of Fellini. Joining Stalheim in the development of this work will be students from the Golda Meir Elementary School who will be collecting taped interviews of numerous Italian residents of the Brady Street neighborhood. These taped interviews will be combined with operatic excerpts, Scarlatti sonatas, well-known Italian songs, and other traditional Italian music into a sound collage that is sure to be a "one-of-kind experience" in the "surprise" tradition of Present Music.

Also joining Present Music throughout this evening of Italian culture will be Tradizione Vivente, The Italian Dance Group of Milwaukee and the Sicilian Serenaders; both highly praised and popular groups, that have a long history of performing in Milwaukee.

Tickets for Present Music’s PESCE! MUSICA! Concert are $19 — Premium Seating; and $12 — General Admission. Tickets to the Pre-concert Italian Fish Buffet are $16 and must be reserved and purchased in advance.

To reserve or purchase tickets please call Present Music at 414-271-0711.