Flutist Rachel Beetz is one of the students performing in the Gluck Series concert Nov. 30.

A new concert series at the University of California, San Diego is bringing the joy of music to senior adults in San Diego.

Undergraduate and graduate students in the university’s department of music will present the Gluck Series, a concert series bringing monthly performances to senior citizens throughout the county. To date, three senior living locations will be participating in the series: Vi at La Jolla Village, a senior living community; assisted living residences at the White Sands of La Jolla Retirement Community; and the Bayside Community Center in Linda Vista — the site of the series’ next performance on Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 11:30 a.m. The Bayside concert will feature two graduate music students performing a selection of pieces by Bach for flute and violin.

"This is an opportunity for music students to play in a non-academic setting, with the freedom to play personal favorites and be more adventurous in their style,” said Ariana Lamon-Anderson, a graduate student in the department of music and the coordinator of the Gluck Series. “It’s wonderful to have the support and structure from the Gluck endowment to facilitate this concert series as a way of giving back to the community.”

The Gluck Series was established with a $750,000 bequest from Muriel Gluck, a longtime San Diego resident and patron of the arts and education. With her gift to UC San Diego’s department of music, Gluck sought to support student performances that would entertain, uplift and engage senior adults in the spirit of music — adults who may not be able to travel to a concert hall. During her lifetime, Gluck also established an endowment to fund the Maxwell and Muriel Gluck Endowed Fellowship in Music Composition for graduate students at UC San Diego.

A visionary philanthropist, Gluck was introduced to the arts early in life by her mother. She grew up attending the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and when she moved to San Diego in the 1970s with her husband, Maxwell, she became a frequent patron of the San Diego Opera. Gluck became a familiar presence at San Diego events and a generous supporter of the arts and arts education in San Diego and Los Angeles.

“Thanks to donors like Muriel Gluck, students of the UC San Diego music department are able to continue their research, and to share their research and performances with the community, as well as with generations to come,” said Rachel Beetz, a current graduate student in the department of music and one of the musicians of the Gluck Series. “There is no other place in the country where the students are free to explore so many different aspects of contemporary music with such support from the faculty, institution and community.”

UC San Diego’s department of music is renowned for its innovative, collaborative and experimental music performances and compositions. Private support is critical to ensuring that the department maintains its level of excellence in music education, composition and performances — like the Gluck Series. Planned gifts, like the Gluck bequest, are one option for giving to UC San Diego. Planned gifts are charitable contributions made during or after one’s lifetime, the most common type of planned gift being a bequest in a will or living trust. To learn more about gift planning and other ways to give, visit www.giving.ucsd.edu. For more information about the UC San Diego department of music, visit www.music.ucsd.edu.