The regional premiere of “A Little Traveling Music,” by Los Angeles musician John Steinmetz, will be the centerpiece of the bassoonist’s residency Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15 and 16, at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building. The residency is sponsored by the UALR Department of Music.

The concert, at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, will feature UALR professor of music Linda Holzer on piano and guest artists from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra – Kelly Johnson on clarinet and David Renfro on horn. The event is free and open to the public.

Before the concert, Steinmetz will speak about the performance of his piece and will also engage with the performers and audience in a panel discussion immediately following.

Students, faculty, staff, and the public are also invited to the concert rehearsal with Steinmetz and the guest performers at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at the concert hall.

The performance, titled “Chopin, Liszt & Steinmetz,” is a celebration of the 2009 composition “A Little Traveling Music” as well as the 2010 bicentennial of the birth of Frédéric François Chopin and the 2011 bicentennial of the birth of Franz Liszt.

Holzer will be joined by pianist Naoki Hakutani for a duo piano arrangement of Liszt’s famous “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2” after performing solo selections by Liszt and Chopin.

The second half of the performance will be “A Little Traveling Music,” the second-ever performance of the 30-minute work by the Steinmetz trio. Its premier was in January 2011 in New York City by the commissioning artist, clarinetist Jeannine Burky.

Steinmetz is a freelance bassoonist, composer, speaker, and writer from Los Angeles. He has been commissioned by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Keene Chamber Orchestra, Santa Rosa Symphony, Apple Hill Chamber Players, South Bay Chamber Music Society, Sonad Peace Project, the ensemble Neoteric, and Pacific Serenades. Recent premieres include “On My Way,” for string orchestra and children’s choir, performed by the Keene Chamber Orchestra and Keene Elementary School Choirs of New Hampshire, and “A Little Traveling Music” for clarinet, piano, and horn in New York.

Steinmetz’s “Sonata” (1981) for bassoon and piano has become a staple at music schools and his “Quintet” (1984) for winds is in the repertoire of faculty groups and touring ensembles.

Steinmetz’s appearance at UALR is funded in part through Meet the Composer’s MetLife Creative Connections program. Additional residency activities are planned for Saturday at UALR. For further information, contact residency coordinator Linda Holzer at lrholzer@ualr.edu.