The death of classical music has been greatly exaggerated. To help prove the point, the Center for the Performing Arts begins the second year of its Classical Music Project Wednesday, Oct. 3, with the first of eight concerts this year by classical ensembles.

The 7:30 p.m. performance at Penn State's Schwab Auditorium features the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, easily one of the world's finest piano trios, performing works by Beethoven, Brahms, André Previn and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.

The new Previn work, Piano Trio No. 2, was written for the ensemble and co-commissioned by the Center for the Performing Arts. Zwilich, renowned for the accessibility of her music, was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for composition.

Tickets are still available for the Oct. 3 concert.

Hear a Center for the Performing Arts interview with cellist Sharon Robinson.

Read a Center for the Performing Arts feature article about the K-L-R Trio and the program.

The Classical Music Project, supported by a major grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, provides opportunities to engage students, faculty and the community with classical music artists and programs.

In addition to the eight main performances through April 2013, the project includes dozens of related opportunities for people to experience classical music and interact with artists and other experts.

Four components serve as project cornerstones: a major residency program (this season with Toronto's Opera Atelier), student engagement activities in traditional and innovative settings, curriculum partnerships across Penn State and a collaboration with Penn State Altoona in which ensembles visit and interact with students at that location.