A concert commemorating both the suffering in the Holocaust and the earlier triumph over genocide represented by the Jewish holiday of Purim will take place on March 19 at 7 p.m. in Grousbeck Auditorium at Ferrum College. Clarinetist Eugene Jones will perform an excerpt from Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time.” Purim is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the deliverance of the Jews from a massacre by Haman, minister to a Persian king. The concert is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the concert.

     Eugene Jones, a renowned clarinetist, has performed concerts at Carnegie Recital Hall, the Lincoln Center Library, Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and many other prestigious places. Jones has also performed with the Boston Pro Musica Quartet, the American Symphony Chamber Players, the New England Piano Quartette, and the Portland String Quartet.

     Jones began his career with graduate and undergraduate degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music. He is presently a member of the woodwind faculty of East Tennessee State University and Emory & Henry College. Jones offers not only clarinet instruction but also expertise in music history, the history of jazz, and instrumental ensembles.

     The program will begin with a slide show produced by Gary Evans, Professor of Music at Ferrum College, on Oliver Messiaen (1908-92), composer of the first excerpt, the “Quartet for the End of Time.”

     The “Quartet for the End of Time was composed in 1940 while Messiaen was being held in a Nazi prison camp. The work’s first performance was in 1941 to a group of prisoners and guards. It is scored for clarinet, piano, cello and violin. The instruments were chosen not because of Messiaen’s radical rethinking of a quartet, but rather because they were the only instruments available at the time.

     The second performance will be a reading by Dr. Evans and musical accompaniment by Ernest Jones from “Esther,” based on the biblical book of Esther. Her story is commemorated in the Jewish holiday of Purim, which celebrates the triumph of the ancient Israelites over another enemy who wishes to commit genocide. The villain of the piece is Haman.

     The reception will feature a special Purim treat known as Hamantashen or “Haman's Hats,” because they are supposedly shaped like the hat that Haman wore. These pastries are eaten in continued celebration of triumph over Haman. They are triangular in shape, with the sides meeting over the filling.

     For more information on the upcoming concert, please contact Marcia Horn at 365-4328 or 483-8880 or by e-mail at mhorn@ferrum.edu

     Ferrum College is a four-year, private, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Ferrum offers a choice of nationally recognized bachelor’s degree programs at a cost well below the national average for private colleges. For more information on Ferrum, visit www.ferrum.edu.