The Aurelius Ensemble, comprised of MIT students and staff, will celebrate the 100th birthday of Francis Poulenc with a "Poulenc Potpourri" on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 29-30.
Aurelius Ensemble founder Elaine Chew, a graduate student at the Operations Research Center, recalled that Poulenc's clarinet sonata was one of the first pieces she was assigned in an MIT chamber music class in 1992-93. "I like Poulenc's music because it is unaffectedly playful and happy. It doesn't pretend to be deep or philosophical; it simply revels in being," she said.
The Aurelius Ensemble is named in honor of Professor Marcus Aurelius Thompson for his commitment to MIT's chamber music program. The concerts are at 8pm in Killian Hall. For more information, call x3-2906.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on January 27, 1999.
