Music in Midtown, the popular free lunchtime chamber concert series at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, opens its Fall 2008 season on Thursday, September 18, with the Eroica Trio playing works by George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and contemporary composer Mark O’Connor.

Among the world’s most sought-after chamber music ensembles, the Eroica Trio -- Erika Nickrenz (piano), Susie Park (violin), and Sara Sant’Ambrogio (cello) -- has been showcased at Carnegie Hall and has appeared with the Chicago Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and with major European orchestras.  The hallmark of the trio’s performances, as described by The Wall Street Journal, is “technical flair, raw, driven energy and high spirits.” Its seven critically lauded recordings for Angel/EMI Classics Records have garnered multiple Grammy nominations.

Presented in the Graduate Center’s Elebash Recital Hall at 365 Fifth Avenue (between 34th and 35th Streets), the series will continue with the CUNY Piano Quartet on October 2; tenor Robert White accompanied by piano trio on October 16; the Ying Quartet on October 30; the Mendelssohn String Quartet on November 13; and the Philharmonic Quintet of New York on December 4. All programs are on Thursdays, from 1 to 2 pm.

Although admission is free, reservations are required. To reserve, visit www.gc.cuny.edu/events and click the “e-VENT online reservation” icon next to the program listing, or call 212-817-8215.