Mondavi Center Executive Director Don Roth is inviting the campus community to a Director's Choice event: a lecture by James Conlon, music director of the Los Angeles Opera, speaking about his advocacy for musical works silenced by the Holocaust.

Conlon also is music director of Chicago's Ravinia Festival and Cincinnati's May Festival.

His talk at the Mondavi Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 17 in the Studio Theatre. Admission is free, but people planning to attend are asked to make reservations by Oct. 15. RSVPs should be directed to Christine Vargas at (530) 754-5438.

"James Conlon is not only one of the great conductors of our time, but a persuasive, articulate and accessible spokesman about many aspects of music and its impact on society," Roth wrote in an invitation to students, colleagues and friends.

Conlon's topic is the LA Opera project "Recovered Voices," which is the culmination of his many years "as an active and devoted advocate of the works of composers whose voices were silenced by the Holocaust," Roth said.

"In Los Angeles and around the world, James Conlon has introduced audiences to great works by composers such as Alexander Zemlinsky and Viktor Ullman, works that often have been lost for a half century or more."

An article in the New York Times earlier this year described "Recovered Voices" as "an extraordinary project of reclamation."

Roth said Conlon will participate in a question-and-answer session will after his talk.

More about Conlon and the LA Opera.