They began 60 years ago, in October 1954, as the Five O’Clock Concerts, presented by music faculty, and transformed into Thursday Noon Concerts in 1967. Today, the series’ spirit of wide-ranging, high-quality music for free — and the day and time — lives on in the Shinkoskey Noon Concerts.

The 2014-15 season begins this Thursday, (Oct. 2) with the UC Davis Summer Symphony, comprising students and community players, and featuring two student conductors. The program: Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 (“London”), conducted by Jonathan Spatola-Knoll; and Robert Schumann’s Overture, Scherzo, Finale, conducted by Garrett Rigsby.

Other highlights this academic year include the Daedalus String Quartet and So Percussion; several world music ensembles; new music by faculty and student composers; and, over the course of three concerts, all of Beethoven’s works for cello (played by long-time music department artist affiliate Susan Lamb Cook) and piano (Gayle Blankenburg).

All of this season’s concerts except one will be at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts (Jackson Hall, Vanderhoef Studio Theatre or the Yocha Dehe Grand Lobby), and there are a few extras thrown in (one on a Tuesday, one on a Saturday, for Picnic Day) — for a total of 31. The series breaks for holiday periods.

The concerts are named for Joy S. Shinkoskey, whose daughter Deborah Pinkerton and son-in-law Bret Hewitt created an endowment in 2008 to support the series.

SHINKOSKEY NOON CONCERTS 2014-15

• Oct.  2 — UC Davis Summer Symphony.
• Oct.  9 — Hohlax Trio, traditional Greek music.
• Oct. 16 — Benjamin Kreith, violin, music by Stefano Scodanibbio, James Tenney and Laurie San Martin.
• Oct. 21 (Tuesday) — Susan Lamb Cook, cello, and Gayle Blankenburg, piano, Beethoven’s Sonata in F Major, op. 4, no. 1; Seven Variations on a theme from Mozart’s The Magic Flute; and Sonata in C Major. First of three concerts comprising Beethoven’s entire oeuvre for cello and piano. The others take place Feb. 12 and May 14.
• Oct. 23 — Daedalus String Quartet, quartet in residence at Columbia University, graduate student compositions.  
• Oct.  30 — Stacey Mastrian, soprano, performing Post-Puccini: Modern Italian Vocal Music.
• Nov.  6 — Michael Seth Orland, piano, and Susan Rode Morris, soprano.
• Nov. 13 — Trio Brio, comprising Elizabeth Coronata, flute, Jim Een, viola, and Beverly Wesner-Hoehn, harp.
• Nov. 20 — Blythe Gaissert, mezzo-soprano, with Eric Zivian, piano.
• Dec.  4 — UC Davis Baroque Ensemble.
• Dec. 11 — Igor Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale, performed by UC Davis students.
• Jan. 8 — Dan Kennedy and Loren Mach, percussion duo.
• Jan.  15 — Sam Griffith Jazz Trio.
• Jan. 22 — Igor Veligan, violin, and Natsuki Fukasawa, piano, Brahms Sonata No. 1 in G Major for Violin and Piano, op. 78
• Jan. 29 —So Percussion.
• Feb. 5 — Telegraph Quartet, Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 1 in D Minor, op. 7.
• Feb. 12 — Susan Lamb Cook, cello, and Gayle Blankenburg, piano, works for cello and piano by Beethoven.
• Feb. 19 — Jesse Barrett, oboe, and Meredith Clark, harp.
• Feb. 26— Gadhon, traditional Javanese ensemble.
• March 5 — Splinter Reeds, works by graduate student composers.
• March 12 — Tanya Tagaq, Inuit throat singer.
• April 2 — Carrie Hennessey, soprano, and Malcolm Mackenzie, baritone.
• April 9 — Farallon Quintet.
• April 16 — Geoffrey Burleson, piano.
• April 18 (Saturday) — UC Davis Symphony Orchestra Picnic Day Concert.
• April 23 — Trois Bois.
• April 30 — Golden West Winds, part of the Air Force Band of the Golden West from Travis Air Force Base.
• May 7 — Trio 180, Robert Greenberg’s 180 Shift and Brahms’ Trio No. 1 in B Major.
• May 14 — Susan Lamb Cook, cello, and Gayle Blankenburg, piano, works by Beethoven.
• May 21 — Sarah Plum, violin works by undergraduate music majors (115 Music Building).
• June 4 — UC Davis Hindustani Vocal Ensemble.

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