Lovers of the clarinet are invited to NIU’s third annual Clarinet Cornucopia, a day-long celebration of the woodwind instrument.

The event is from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the Music Building.

The concerts at 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. are free to the public. However, master classes, the clarinet choir and lecture require a $30 registration fee or a $20 registration fee for groups of five or more. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

This year’s event will focus on “Sounds of Japan” and will feature performances of Japanese music, a discussion of jazz clarinet in Japan and special guest Mituso Sakaba, consul general of the Japanese Consulate at Chicago, said Gregory Barrett, associate professor of clarinet.

“We call it a cornucopia because there are a variety of different things to see and a mix of different people every year,” Barrett said.

The day includes a 7:30 p.m. performance of Japanese works by the Clarinet Quartet of the U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America at the Music Building’s Recital Hall.

The concert also includes a performance by the clarinet choir from Ironwood High School in Michigan and will end with a clarinet ensemble performance by attendees of the Clarinet Cornucopia.

Barrett and world-renowned John Bruce Yeh, a solo E-flat clarinetist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, will give master classes in clarinet.

Yeh also will perform a concert of Japanese music at 11:30 a.m. at the Music Building’s Recital Hall.

Associate history professor E. Taylor Atkins will give a 4:15 p.m. lecture on Japanese jazz clarinet. Atkins is the author of the award-winning book “Blue Nippon: Authenticating Jazz in Japan.”

Participants also may bring their clarinets, perform in the Cornucopia Clarinet Choir and browse the display and sale of clarinet products, Barrett said.

For more information, call 753-1450.