It will not be much like a lecture, and note-taking will probably be minimal, but expect to get educated when the Penn State Philharmonic Orchestra takes the stage at Esber Recital Hall 8 p.m. tomorrow.

The program for the performance will include Stephen Hartke's "Pacific Rim," Maurice Ravel's "Piano Concerto in G" and Felix Mendelssohn's "Symphony No. 5."

"The audience will learn about new music that was written during this century and well before it," said Gerardo Edelstein, maestro of the Philharmonic Orchestra.

"You will enjoy listening to three pieces from three different music periods."

Edelstein said the performance would begin with a fairly new piece by an American composer, followed by a "jazzy" piano concerto by a French composer and finished with a Mendelssohn symphony.

The orchestral program at Penn State has evolved over many years -- the first reference to a college orchestra at Penn State is from the year 1890, Edelstein said.

Today, the program has three orchestras, which include the Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra and Sinfonietta.

Marylene Dosse, professor of piano, said she has been with the School of Music for 21 years and has witnessed its progress.

She will be joining the orchestra, playing the solo part of the Ravel concerto.

"When I was first here there were hardly any string players and now to have big ensembles and a full size orchestra," Dosse said.

"I think everyone is really happy with the tremendous strides towards quality and quantity."

Dosse will retire at the semester's end, and this will be one of her last performances here.

"I will be performing other places, so this is not a goodbye farewell concert. That's why I'm retiring -- to have more time to practice and perform," Dosse said.

Joshua Horsch (graduate-orchestral conducting) will conduct his first performance with the orchestra tomorrow evening.

He will perform the Hartke piece.

"I've been rehearsing with the orchestra since last semester, and this semester, I've run all the rehearsals for the piece I will be conducting," Horsch said.

Edelstein said that he enjoys sharing his knowledge of the repertoire with his students in an attempt to help them learn and grow as musicians.

"My biggest challenge has been making the students aware of the difficulties of our profession as musicians and the realities of the professional world," Edelstein said.

Horsch said Hartke's contemporary piece has been a challenge because the musical language is very different from that of traditional classical music.

"This piece is more adventurous in its tonal language and harmonic transitions," he sad.

"It has exciting rhythmic passages, but it's been challenging to get the players used to this type of music," he added.