Join us for a live performance of chamber music in celebration of Public Domain Day 2024, featuring musical works entering the public domain in the U.S. The event will include remarks on the music, recent copyright developments, and Ohio State resources and events that promote musical works from 1927–1928 entering the public domain for the first time. This event is presented by The Ohio State University Libraries.
As part of the Public Domain Project, School of Music Professor Mark Rudoff’s Janus String Quartet will perform the recently public-domain Third String Quartet by Hungarian American composer, pianist and conductor Ernst von Dohnányi, and String Quartet No. 2 by African American composer Adolphus Hailstork; this work is a set of variations on the public domain spiritual Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. One of Dr. Hailstork’s most celebrated works is Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed (In Memoriam Martin Luther King, Jr.). This concert also honors Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy as we near his 2024 birthday observance.
Questions about public domain, the composers and performers, and the music itself will be welcomed following the performance.
The Janus String Quartet takes its name and inspiration from Janus, the Roman god of time and transitions, presenting faces that look to the past and the future. Janus brings together rising stars Devin Copfer and Kelsey Shaheen with veterans Nancy Nehring and Mark Rudoff. They share the artistic mission of tugging on threads that connect old and new musics, and weaving those threads into the broad tapestry of the humanities. Program and bios
This event is free and open to the public; registration is not required.
All events are public to change.