The Society for New Music will present Vision of Sound, a program of collaboratively-created dance and music, three times in Upstate New York and once in New York City over the next month. Featuring the work of renowned composers and choreographers, Vision of Sound showcases the unique sensory experience created by collaborations between dance and music.

The first of three Upstate performances will take place in Syracuse on Saturday, March 30 at 4:00 p.m. at the Carrier Theater in the Civic Center. Tickets for the Syracuse performance may be purchased at the door or by emailing tickets@societyfornewmusic.org. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for students. Dance students from local studios may purchase discounted tickets for $5 ($20 family package). Cheryl Wilkins-Mitchell, world-renowned dancer and choreographer who teaches at the Ballet & Dance Center in Dewitt, has choreographed for Zhou Tian's Red Trees, Wrinkled Cliffs, the second piece in the program. "I'm always honored to be paired with a composer," she said. Wilkins-Mitchell used imagery of the mountains of Sichuan, China, the same imagery that inspired Tian's composition, to guide her choreography. "I incorporated the mountains' strength and shape into the movement of the dancers," she said. "The angular shapes of the mountains and their peaks and valleys are represented in the floor patterns of the movement." Wilkins-Mitchell's movement will be performed by four gifted dancers from area high schools: Margaret Falcone, Hannah Palladino, Arthur Sicilia and Sarah Walter. All four are students at The Ballet and Dance Center in Dewitt, New York. This is the seventh year that the Society for New Music has presented Vision of Sound. This year's performance will also incorporate multimedia visual elements, such as video and image projections to enhance the visual effect of the dancers. The multi-faceted nature of this event makes it particularly appealing for families with young children whose attention will be held easily by the sights and sounds of the performance. Each of the pieces have been written in the last decade, and Nicholas Omiccioli's Processional will be a world premiere performance. The composers represented at this concert include composer, conductor and mandolinist, Jesse Benjamin Jones; Colgate University faculty member and world-renowned composer Zhou Tian; associate professor of composition at the Syracuse University Setnor School of Music, Nicolas Scherzinger; University of Missouri-Kansas City fellow, Rochester native and Brian Israel prize winner, Nicholas Omiccioli; assistant professor of music at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Mark Olivieri, and Leonard C. Ferguson professor of music at Hamilton College, Sam Pellman. Central New York musicians, Elinor Frey (cello), Ann McIntyre and Blagomira Lipari (violin), Arvilla Rovit (viola) and Ken Meyer (guitar) will play each of the pieces, which vary in style from guitar solos, to viola and electronic effects, to string quartets. Choreographers Cheryl Wilkins-Mitchell, Stephanie Dattellas, Missy Pfohl Smith, Heather Roffe and Falon Baltzell represent the best of Central New York dance, hailing from SUNY Oswego, SUNY Brockport, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Nazareth College, The Red House in Syracuse, and BioDance and the Hochstein School in Rochester. Vision of Sound will also be performed in Rochester (April 6, 7:30 p.m. at the Hochstein School Auditorium), Clinton, New York (April 7, 2:00 p.m. in Wellin Hall at Hamilton College) and New York City (April 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, 351 E. 74th Street). Tickets for the Clinton and New York City performances are free, and tickets for the Rochester performance at the Hochstein School may be obtained by calling 585-395-2561 for $15 adult tickets and $12 student/senior tickets.

Where: Carrier Theatre at the John H. Mulroy Civic Center
Phone: (315) 807-7555
Address: 421 Montgomery St., Syracuse
Website: www.empirestatedancectr.org