Silfies, who is retiring after 34 years with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, came to St. Louis after teaching at the Peabody Conservatory and serving as principal clarinetist with the Baltimore Symphony.

From 1972-76, he served as conductor of the Washington University Symphony Orchestra, a position held by Leonard Slatkin from 1969-1972. While on campus, Silfies also taught clarinet as a visiting assistant professor of music and conducted the Washington University Chamber Orchestra.

Silfies will be the featured soloist in a performance of Carl Maria von Weber's Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, a showpiece for the clarinet, for which he will be joined by cellist Elizabeth Macdonald, director of strings at the University; and Hugh Macdonald, Ph.D., the Avis Blewett Professor of Music.

The program will also feature three of Silfies' colleagues from the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra — violist Mike Chen and violinists Asako Kuboki and Mark Thayer — in a performance of Mozart's Quintet for Strings in B-flat Major, K. 174.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call 935-4841.