The following article is reproduced here by Chamber Music Columbus as a public service with permission from the Columbus Dispatch. The material was provided to the Dispatch by Chamber Music Columbus.

COMPOSER HAD HIS HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

Published: Wednesday, October 20, 2004

FEATURES - NOW! 02G

Are you fascinated with clouds? Do you sometimes see dogs or snails or old men with long beards in the sky?

Jeffrey Mumford is a composer whose music sometimes is inspired by clouds.

He grew up in Washington, D.C., and in recent years he has thought about images he remembers seeing as a child from his third-floor bedroom, where he had a wide view of the horizon.

''I would imagine whole worlds beyond the trees and rooftops,'' he writes.

Mumford's recent composition, toward the deepening stillness beyond visible light, is written for a piano quintet. This is a string quartet (two violins, one viola and one cello) plus a piano.

In this work, the composer wants to convey his feelings about the changes in light as the clouds move and begin to disappear during late afternoon and evening. Musically this can be expressed with themes that come and go. It's helpful to know what the composer has in mind when writing because you can try to visualize what he was thinking.

Before Mumford became a composer, he studied art and painting. It shows in his music.

This work by Mumford was commissioned in part by Chamber Music Columbus, which has been presenting concerts for 56 years. Commissioning a piece of music means paying a composer to write for a specific occasion or group.

The first performance of a piece is called the premier. The Pacifica Quartet with pianist Amy Dissanayake will premier toward the deepening stillness beyond visible light at Chamber Music Columbus' first concert of the season, 8 p.m. Saturday in the Southern Theatre, 21 E. Main St., Downtown. Mumford will attend the premier.

The chance to hear and see a composer is rare. The program also will offer the works of two masters of classical music, Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Schubert, giving listeners the opportunity to compare old and new music.

Mumford has received numerous awards and commissions, and his music has been performed in the United States and countries such as Mexico, Italy and Finland. He is presently a composer in residence at Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Tickets to Saturday's concert, $23 and $33, are available through the CAPA ticket office, 614-469-0939, or Ticketmaster, 614-431-3600.

For more information, call 614-889-1182 or visit www.cmcolumbus.org.

Sources: Information for Culture Creature was provided by Chamber Music Columbus, in cooperation with the Columbus Arts Marketing Association.