PITT MUSIC PROFESSOR RECEIVES STATE AND NATIONAL HONORS

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 4 -- Anne LeBaron, a University of Pittsburgh professor of music recognized around the world for her free-form experimental compositions on the harp, has received a Fellowship in Music from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. This prestigious award is granted every two years to artists, writers and composers throughout the state.

The fellowship will allow LeBaron to further develop a multi-disciplinary work entitled "Pope Joan," a 30-minute presentation of her musical interpretations of five poems by Enid Shomer, which document the life of the fictional Pope Joan, a controversial ninth century figure.

LeBaron is also one of 50 composers selected nationwide to create a work that celebrates the next century, a millennium project supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Composers Forum. LeBaron is writing her composition for the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra in Madison County, Mississippi. Currently in residence at the Madison County Cultural Center, LeBaron will conduct workshops at area schools helping students develop vocal and instrumental sounds of the past, present and future, as related to their environment. After tape recording the sessions, she will incorporate some of the students' musical ideas into her final work.

An accomplished harpist, LeBaron is widely recognized for her pioneering electronic enhancements of her instrument. Her imaginative compositions have included train whistles, frog calls, and bell-like tones achieved by placing alligator clips on her harp strings. Her piece "Is Money Money," premiering this weekend in New York, features musicians employing call bells and toy ratchets to evoke the sound of cash registers, while playing their regular instruments.

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