Novelist, essayist and Carnegie Mellon University professor Hilary Masters reads from his works today at the University of Pittsburgh Book Center, 4000 Fifth Ave., Oakland, at 2 p.m. Sponsored by the Brown University Alumni Club, it's free.

-- Bob Hoover, book editor

Conductor Daniel Meyer will leave the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at the end of this season to focus on his growing career.

The PSO resident conductor and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra music director currently is music director of the orchestras of Asheville and Erie, and he is a finalist in maestro searches in Richmond, Fort Wayne, Fairfax and Lexington.

"Pittsburgh's been a wonderful launch pad for me," said Meyer, who was hired as PSO assistant conductor in 2002. "We have been doing really good work, but it is time to take flight."

-- Andrew Druckenbrod, classical music critic