The UA School of Music will present a concert tonight that features a unique blend of sounds. A mixture of electronic music and performances by the Alabama Contemporary Ensemble will be held in the Concert Hall of the Moody Music Building at 7:30.

“The Ensemble just returned from a concert in Chicago on April 9 at the Saint James Chapel of the Quigley Center, where we performed Anton Webern’s Five Serious Songs,” said Marvin Johnson, an associate professor of music and director of the ensemble. “And it is exciting to give this special concert here at UA.”

The Alabama Contemporary Ensemble is a group of specially selected music students who specialize in the performance of contemporary music. They perform two concerts each year, one in the fall and one in the spring. The fall concert, held in November, was a great success and introduced the students’ electronic works, Johnson said.

Tonight’s concert will feature the performance of Nature Ternua Natura, with sounds from the flute, clarinet, marimba and cello. The ensemble will also play music from Pierrot Lunaire, Part I. It features a mixture of the flute and piccolo, clarinet and bass clarinet, violin, cello and piano. Both pieces will also contain soprano soloists sung by doctoral student of musical arts Dawn Neely.

According to Johnson, the show is the first of its kind and one not to be missed.

“Although Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire is one of the defining works from the first part of the twentieth century, and although it has been performed hundreds of times in venues in Europe and America, it has never been performed here before by students,” he said.

Electronic compositions by students David Mahloch, Kristopher Martenn and Daniel Holmes will complete the night’s program.

All students are encouraged by the ensemble to attend the concert, which is free and open to the public.

If you go:

What: Alabama Contemporary Ensemble

Where: Moody Music Building

When: 7:30 tonight