Eldred Spell, professor of flute at Western Carolina University, will present a recital at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21, as part of the School of Music’s Catamount Concert Series for 2010-11.

The free performance will be held in the recital hall of WCU’s Coulter Building.

Accompanied by pianist Andrew Adams, Spell will perform “Sonata Arpeggione” by Franz Schubert, “Hungarian Peasant Dance Suite” by Bela Bartok and “Sonata” by Paul Basler.

The seldom-heard Schubert piece was written for the arpeggione, an unusual cross between guitar and cello that was briefly popular in the early 19th century.  

Bartok, a musicologist as well as composer, collected folk music from his native Hungary and elsewhere, and those melodies are reflected in the arrangement to be performed by Spell.

Basler composed his “Sonata” specifically for Spell, who has performed it worldwide. “Though thoroughly modern, the piece is audience friendly,” Spell said. “With an extraordinarily wide emotional range, the work presents moments of extraordinary beauty, technical fireworks and everything in between.”

A frequent performer at musical venues across Western North Carolina, Spell recently was featured as soloist and master teacher at the Central American Flute Festival, held in the Costa Rican National Theatre in the capital, San Jose.

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