Music lovers who dream of a new performing arts center at Miami University in Oxford may find it inching closer to reality. Last month, William Rawn, principal architect of William Rawn Associates of Boston, presented a plan to trustees.

The proposed arts center would include a dramatic, glass-filled lobby and a 1,400-seat, state-of-the-art performance hall. If built, it would provide a venue for Miami's prestigious Performing Arts Series, which has presented stars such as Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in Millett Hall, a basketball arena.

With more than 130 arts events offered annually at the school, the center would be, says Provost Ronald Crutcher, "a vibrant centerpiece for the exceptional arts and culture offerings on our campus."

The new center, estimated to cost $75 million, would be located on a field used by the marching band. A decision on whether to proceed with the design phase hinges on approval by the trustees, and - not least - finding a major donor.

Construction would not start until 2007.

The trustees "were impressed with the concept," says Holly Wissing, university spokeswoman. But, she adds, "It's not a done deal."

William Rawn Associates is known for its work at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Others on the team are the acoustical firm R. Lawrence Kirkegaard & Associates, Theatre Projects Consultants and Lorenz and Williams, a Dayton architectural firm.

Strauss at Sorg: Between ice and snowstorms last month, I drove to Middletown to see Sorg Opera mount its first-ever Richard Strauss opera, Ariadne auf Naxos.

Sorg Opera House, designed by Samuel Hannaford of Music Hall fame in 1891, is a charming, intimate theater that has seen better days. One enters past movie-theater candy counters and odd layers of carpentry (it was used for vaudeville, too). But inside the 700-seat theater, one feels this is the way opera should be seen. There's little room for onstage antics; Dancing Master Mark James Meier came dangerously close to clarinetist Linda Phipps' head at times.

Ariadne is a witty piece of Viennese satire, in which Greek tragedy collides with a commedia dell'arte troupe. The pit orchestra's musicianship was a bit uneven, but conductor Curtis Tucker whipped up his players in an admirable reading of Strauss' wonderful score. Most impressive, though, were the singers, many of them graduates of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Mary Poetschke was an engaging Composer with a rich, flexible voice. As Ariadne, Alison Acord projected a voice of stunning color, filling every corner of the hall. Risa Renae Harman was a playful Zerbinetta with a big coloratura.

And what a treat it was to see Mark Duffin sing Bacchus with such warmth and charisma. (Watch for him to make a stir when he sings the world premiere of Bright Sheng's Madame Mao this summer in Santa Fe.) Despite the tight quarters, the staging (Nelson Sheeley) was imaginative.

Sorg's existence was threatened last March when its partner company, Whitewater Opera, folded. But angel Dorothy Brayton came to the rescue when she left the company $262,000 in her will.

"That gave us a window of time to replan how we operate," says Tucker, who is also general director. The company will continue its three productions per year, but is stepping up educational programs.

Meanwhile, with a budget of just $300,000, there's little left over for capital improvements. Any more angels out there?

Sorg Opera presents Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience, April 11-12. Tickets: (513) 425-0180.

Traveling Starlings: The Starling Chamber Orchestra returned March 6 from its tour to Europe and Russia. Everywhere, the musicians, aged 8 to 18, were met with enthusiastic crowds that called them back again and again.

In the Glinka Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia, "the crowd kept applauding until the orchestra and its soloists had performed three encores," director Kurt Sassmannshaus said via e-mail.

For a slideshow of the tour, including concert pictures from Vienna's Schonbrunn Palace, go to: homepage .mac.com/starviolin/SCO /Photo Album6.html; password starling.

Chamber Music season: The Cincinnati Chamber Music Society has an impressive lineup next year, including an evening with an opera star. Concerts are in Corbett Auditorium at CCM. Here's the season:

Sept. 30 - Hot young pianist Jonathan Biss joins the Mendelssohn String Quartet.

Oct. 28 - Superstar violinist Cho-Liang Lin collaborates with pianist Andre-Michel Schub.

Dec. 9 - Baritone Nathan Gunn performs with pianist Julie Jordan-Gunn.

Feb. 17 - The Artemis String Quartet tries again, after its tour this year was derailed.

March 16 - Vogler String Quartet.

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E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com