Select Classical Concerts, March 25-April 1
A big, whopping highlight is the visit to Columbus, Georgia by the renowned, remarkable Cleveland Orchestra this Sunday, March 30 at 4 p.m., presented by RiverCenter and GPB. Leading the world-famous orchestra will be guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, music director of the Eugene Symphony and future music director of the Nashville Symphony. Guerrero conducts Roberto Sierra's Fandangos, Maurice Ravel's second Daphnis and Chloe suite and Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky (orchestrated by Ravel). The concert will be recorded for future broadcast on GPB Radio, and I'll be in the audience at the RiverCenter; hope to see you there!
The Savannah Music Festival continues through April 5, with a feast of performances of all stripes. Within the classical realm, the focus is on chamber music, as the list below shows. Violinist Daniel Hope heads that series.
And there are performances a-brewing in Augusta, Auburn, Atlanta, Morrow, Athens, Valdosta, Columbia County, Columbus, Macon, Rome and Tifton. List follows. Grab yourself a concert!
Tuesday, March 25
- "An Evening of Gilbert and Sullivan." Solos, duets and choruses from G & S operettas, with soloists from the Augusta Collegium Musicum, at Augusta's Museum of History.
Wednesday, March 26- Emerson String Quartet with Wu Han. Schumann Piano Quintet, Schubert Rosamunde Quartet, Shostakovich String Quartet No. 7. Lucas Theatre, Savannah, 6 p.m.
- Auburn Chamber Music Society presents the Arron/Kawasaki/Park Trio in piano trios by Haydn, Schubert, Piazzolla and Dvorak. Goodwin Recital Hall, Auburn University, 7:30. Article here.
Emerson String Quartet, Daniel Hope and others. Mendelssohn Octet, Brahms Quartet in A minor, Saariaho Terra Memoria. Savannah Music Festival, 6 p.m., Telfair Academy.- Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Robert Spano and soloists Hila Plitman, Richard Clement and Nathan Gunn. Sibelius Tapiola, Theofanidis The Here and Now, Ravel Daphnis and Chloe (complete ballet score). Continues through Saturday. Atlanta's Symphony Hall, 8 p.m.
England's Andrew Manze and the Helsingborg Symphony from Sweden. Beethoven's Eroica Symphony and Brahms' First Symphony. University of Georgia Performing Arts Ceter, Athens. Andrew Manze himself gives the pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m. - that should be worth checking out. The concert starts at 8:00.- Debut of "magnetic" British soprano Kate Royal at Spivey Hall, Morrow, 8:15 p.m.
- Savannah Music Festival appearance of Juilliard-trained soprano and actress Audra McDonald. Lucas Theater, 6 p.m.
Violinist Rachel Barton Pine and the Columbus Symphony, led by George Del Gobbo. Dvorak's Violin Concerto. Also Brahms' Haydn Variations and Brahms' Third Symphony. RiverCenter, Columbus, 7:30 p.m.- Valdosta Symphony, led by executive director James Shrader, teaming up with finalists from the 2007 Metropolitan Opera auditions in Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville (sung in Italian with English supertitles and narration). Saturday, 8 p.m.; repeated Sunday at 3 p.m. as a family concert. Whitehead Auditorium, Valdosta State University. Tickets from ArtSouth, 229-333-2150.
- ARCO Chamber Orchestra (from Russia, now based in Georgia). Chausson Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra (with UGA faculty members Levon Ambartsumian and Evgeny Rivkin as soloists); Dvorak String Serenade. Free admission (part of the Franklin College Chamber Music Series)! University of Georgia Performing Arts Center, Athens, 8 p.m.
- The Augusta Symphony's Columbia County Music Series presents duo pianists Marina Lomazov and Joseph Rackers. 7:30 p.m. at Hardin Performing Arts Theatre.
Sensations V chamber music concert at the Savannah Music Festival. Pianist Wu Han and others in music for 5-7 players by Hummel, Strauss and Shostakovich. Telfair Academy, 6 p.m.- Guitarist Ana Vidovic (previously featured on Performance Today) in her Spivey Hall debut, Morrow, 8:15 p.m.
Cleveland Orchestra with guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero. Roberto Sierra's Fandangos, Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Presented by GPB and RiverCenter. 4 p.m., RiverCenter, Columbus. Article here.- Concord Chamber Players and Friends. Music for flute, harp, violins and classical banjo. 4 p.m. Vineville United Methodist Church, Macon.
- Atlanta Baroque Orchestra led by John Hsu. An all-Bach program: two Brandenburg concertos, the double violin concerto and Cantata No. 83, "Ich habe genug," with baritone Richard Lali. Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, Atlanta, 3 p.m.
- Atlanta Symphony and Garrick Ohlsson in Savannah. Conductor Robert Spano. Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto, Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. Lucas Theatre.
- Audra McDonald, classically trained Broadway star. 5 p.m., Atlanta's Ferst Center for the Arts.
- "A young Roman's guide to the orchestra." Rome Symphony's first Family Concert. Berry College's John Davis conductsor. Rome City Auditorium, 3 p.m.
The Czech Trio, presented by the Macon Concert Association. Porter Building, Wesleyan College, Macon. (478) 743-6940.- South Georgia Arts presents "A Night of Solo Piano and Ensembles." Gina Lawhon, Sheri Wyles Grabowski and The Mannheim Musicians. ABAC Chapel, Tifton, 7 p.m. Free admission.
