For the third time in five years, the music departments of the universities of Carnegie Mellon, Duquesne and Pittsburgh have joined forces for a series of concerts celebrating their wealth of composers.

The U3 Festival brings university ensembles together to perform works by departmental composers.

Last night, the festival kicked off on the Duquesne campus, at the PNC Recital Hall. It was another display of the amazing talent and camaraderie in the local composer scene. The hope was that I would review the concert here in my online column today, Friday (April 13), so it would run before the next concert tonight, but the Thursday concert simply ended too late. I will try to pen something in the coming days. For the record, the program was:

Jeremy Sment's "Beauty, Her Gallant Ex-Boyfriend, and the New Beast."

Efrain Amaya's "Sidewalk Divertimenti"

Reza Vali's "Folk Songs, Set No. 15"

Lynn Purse's "Two Songs" from "House of Sound"

David Cutler's "Off the Record"

David Stock's "The Philosopher's Stone"

The U3 Fesival continues, with all concerts free:

8 p.m. tonight, April 13, at Kresge Theater, CMU: Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Ensemble, Walter Morales, conductor, and Duquesne University Wind Symphony, Robert Cameron, conductor. Music of Cutler, Judy Bruce, Nancy Galbraith, Marilyn Taft Thomas and Mathew Rosenblum.

10 a.m. tomorrow, April 14, at Heinz Hall, Downtown: Student reading by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

8 p.m. Sunday, April 15, at Bellefield Hall, Oakland: Duquesne University Symphony Orchestra, Sidney Harth, music director. Music of Suzanne Polak and Timothy Adams, Roger Dannenberg, Burkhardt Reiter, Eliyahu Tamar, Roger Zahab, Amy Williams and Eric Moe.