Tonight the Ohio State School of Music and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra kick off the Contemporary Music Festival 2005 with its “OSU Faculty, Alumni, and Student Composers” night in Weigel Auditorium at 8 p.m.

This year’s Contemporary Music Festival, which is back after a year off, honors the music of African-American composers and their attributions to and influences on modern classical music.

This year’s guest composer, Olly Wilson, is widely known for his orchestral works.

This event will serve as knowledge to the musical world on how vital and important the contributions of African-American composers are on today’s contemporary music, said Donald Harris, a professor in the School of Music and former dean of the College of Arts.

Harris, who is organizing the entire festival, sees these series of shows as a retrospective of work by Wilson and other featured composers.

“It’s like going into a gallery and seeing all the great paintings from artists over the years,” Harris said.

Wilson, who is currently working on a piece for the Chicago Symphony, sees this as an opportunity to interact with the communities of Columbus and OSU as well as a chance to exchange ideas among colleagues and fans.

Musicians are communicators who love to be heard and love to discuss their work, said Wilson, who is a California-based composer.

A highlight of tonight’s show is a work by OSU alumnus Robert Tanner, an African-American composer who received his doctorate of music and arts from OSU in 1999, according to a Contemporary Music Festival press release.

The show is free to OSU students with ID, and faculty and staff can purchase tickets for $10.

Thursday night’s show, in Weigel Auditorium, entitled “Chamber Music of Olly Wilson,” will showcase three of Wilson’s most famous works: “Trio,” “Echoes,” and “Sometimes” and will feature Jeffrey Mumford’s “Linear Cycles VII.”

Friday and Saturday nights’ shows will take place at 8 p.m. at the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St., and will feature the Columbus Symphony Orchestra with guest conductor Daniel Hege.

This is a rare and exciting opportunity for our musicians to work with a living composer, said Susan Rosenstock, the interim executive director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

“To have Mr. Wilson at the rehearsals is a very big thing for all involved,” Rosenstock said.

Rosenstock also had admiration for the show’s conductor.

“I am personally looking forward to working with Mr. Hege,” Rosenstock said. “I have not seen him conduct in ten years, but when he did it was great.”

Hege, who is considered one of America’s best young conductors, is currently the music director of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.

Daniel Hege was asked to conduct because of his experience with new music, Harris said.

Wilson was also happy with Hege’s selection as guest conductor because he had worked with him when he wrote a work for the Chicago Youth Symphony.

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra will perform Wilson’s “Episodes.” Students can purchase tickets for $8 at the Columbus Symphony Orchestra ticket office.

The festival’s finale will be held on Sunday at 3 p.m., in the Weigel Auditorium, and will feature The Ritz Chamber Players. The Ritz Chamber Players are an ensemble composed of accomplished musicians who strive to promote new music by African-Americans.

Works by Alvin Singleton, Adolphus Hailstork, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Tania Leon, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson and Olly Wilson will be performed.

“I encourage people to come,” Wilson said. “The shows will be engaging and enlightening.”