An all-American arrangement

Circa 1991, the Violent Femmes once asked an important question: Do you like American music? The answer is that, yes, of course you do. Next question: What, exactly, is American music? The answer, of course, is that it is no one thing. But the 38th annual Festival of New American Music, hosted by Sacramento State University, will address the question through Sunday, November 15,with a wide-ranging schedule of performances, workshops, forums and lectures from prominent figures in contemporary music composition.

The festival kicked kicked off last weekend, but it's not too late to enjoy the free event and take part in classes and more intimate performances. See student performances by the Sacramento State Percussion Group and catch the Student Artists Performance Competition. Additional concerts by the Lydian String Quartet, the Festival Ensemble and Keith Bohm and John Cozza are also on offer.

On Friday, November 13, at noon, composer and violist Kurt Rohde will be giving the keynote address titled “Running in Place—Reconciling the ‘Solitary Composer' Myth,” and on Sunday, November 15, the festival rounds out with a performance from the Sacramento Jazz Orchestra at noon, followed by the Eco Ensemble for the closing concert at 8 p.m. A full schedule and more information can be found at www.csus.edu/music/fenam.