Four concerts will keep the Music Building busy today through Monday.

The School of Music will present the NIU Philharmonic tonight, the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo with Gregory Barrett on Friday, the NIU Wind Symphony and University Band on Sunday and an Opera Workshop celebrating the words and music of Stephen Sondheim on Monday.

Philharmonic Orchestra

NIU’s Philharmonic Orchestra presents its first concert of the season at 8 p.m. today at the Music Building’s Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.

Under the direction of Brian Groner, the orchestra features Wagner’s “Overture to Rienzi” and Mendelssohn’s “Symphony No. 4 (Italian).”

The orchestra has been practicing four hours a week for a few weeks.

“We have a pretty talented group this year,” said Rebecca Edwards, a freshman music education and performance major. “Working with [Groner] is a great learning experience and I love how he expresses the music.”

Highlighting the evening is piano professor JeongSoo Kim, who will join the philharmonic on stage and perform “Concerto for Piano K.271.”

Graduate student Brian Van Kley, who’s pursuing a master’s in music education, said each piece contains a lot of energy.

“The first piece in the concert will blow the roof off the place,” he said. “I’ve never played in another orchestra that has made me this excited about the repertoire this early in the year.”

Bugallo-Williams and Gregory Barrett

Piano duo Helena Bugallo and Amy Williams will accompany Gregory Barrett, the assistant professor of clarinet, at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Music Building’s Recital Hall.

Contemporary works by Copland, Nancarrow, Orrego-Salas, Karlins, Stockhausen and Tiensuu will be performed. Bugallo and Williams have been featured performers at festivals, including the Buffalo Festival and the North American New Music Festival.

Wind Symphony and University Band

The first Wind Symphony and University Band concert of the semester will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.

According to members of the band, the afternoon may surprise the audience.

“The University Band concert is visually and musically choreographed,” said Fallon Coffelt, a freshman music education major. “You have to see us for yourself; it’s a surprise.”

Members encourage non-music majors to come watch the concert.

“Anyone can enjoy it because the pieces we do are fun and crazy,” said Dana Hildreth, a freshman jazz performance major.

Opera Workshop

Celebrating the words and music of Stephen Sondheim, the Opera Workshop presents two concerts on Monday. The concerts take place at 6:30 and 8 p.m. in the Recital Hall.

The concerts are a tribute to 14 different Sondheim musicals, including “Not While I’m Around,” “Sweeney Todd” and “Anyone Can Whistle.”

“Sondheim is noted for being extremely complicated and thought provoking,” said Jeff Nesseth, a graduate assistant in music education. “There can be an appreciation by anyone.”

The songs are from numerous shows and are put together in a medley style. There will be a narration before each performance to help explain the works.

All concerts are free and open to the public. For information, call Lynn Slater at 753-1546.