Admission to the event is complimentary, but seats must be reserved in advance by calling the SUNY Oneonta Music Department at (607) 436-3415. Anyone leaving a message to reserve seats must specify the number of seats requested and leave a telephone number for verification. Doors to the event will open at 7 p.m., and any remaining seats will be released at 7:15 p.m.

Duo Parnas features 18-year-old violinist Madalyn Parnas and her 16-year-old cello-playing sister, Cicely. The Parnas sisters, granddaughters of renowned American cellist Leslie Parnas, opened the Pantaleoni Series in 2008 and performed as soloists with the Catskill Symphony Orchestra. The upcoming concert will also serve as a CD release party for the duo’s second CD, "Gare Du Nord" (Duos of Parisian Influence). Highlights from the album will be featured in the program, including works by Martinu, Milhaud, Honneger, and American composer Brian Fennelly.

Charles (Chuck) Schneider, the evening’s honoree, was hired as the music director of the Oneonta Symphony in 1973. He changed the orchestra’s name to the Catskill Symphony Orchestra and extended its mission as a professional, regional orchestra. For his local conducting debut, Schneider recruited his lifelong friend Dustin Hoffman to appear as soloist/narrator in the orchestra’s performance of Benjamin Britten’s "A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra." During his 37-year career, Schneider was the founding musical director of the Glimmerglass Opera Company and still serves as musical director of the Utica and Schenectady Symphony Orchestras. He has taught at several area colleges and universities, as well as in the New York State Summer Music Festival, and he was recognized with an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Hartwick College.