Weekly Ear, June 18 - June 24, 2009

Atlanta concert picks

FRI/19 @ 7:30pm & SUN/21 @ 3:00pm
2009 HARROWER SUMMER OPERA WORKSHOP SCENES
Public performances of operatic scenes over two days. Of special note is inclusion of Daniel Shore's one-act opera, “The Beautiful Bridegroom,” and premiere of two scenes from Michael Ching's “A Midsummer Night's Dream” amid the panoply of more familiar fare. Each performance is $20 ($10 students with ID). 7:30 p.m., Kopleff Recital Hall, 404-413-5901, www.music.gsu.edu

SAT/20 @ 8:00pm
ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & CHORUS
The ASO's second summer at “VZW” opens with Carl Orff's raucously hedonistic “Carmina Burana” and excerpts from Rossini's popular “Barber of Seville.” Vocal soloists featured are soprano Georgia Jarman, tenor Nicholas Phan, baritone Matthew Worth are featured, plus Gwinnett Young Singers. Robert Spano conducts. $21-$59, Verizon Amphitheatre, 404-733-4800, www.atlantasymphony.org

Weekly Ear, June 11 - June 17, 2009

Atlanta concert picks

The Weekly Ear takes a week off, as essentially does Atlanta's classical music scene this week. Next week begins summer fare highlights and commentary.

Weekly Ear, June 4 - June 10, 2009

Atlanta concert picks

THU/4, FRI/5 & SAT/6 @ 8:00pm
ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts this third program in a festival of South American music with a multi-media theme centered around the ancient Inca Empire, featuring Brazilian mezzo-soprano Luciana Souza. $18-$73. Symphony Hall, 404-733-5000, www.atlantasymphony.org

SUN/7 @ 3:30pm
ATLANTA COMMUNITY SYMPHONY ORCHSTRA
Juan Ramirez conducts the premiere of his own composition, "Down-East," inspired by writings of American musicologist George Pullen Jackson, a pioneer in the study of Southern “white spirituals”of regional “fa-so-la” singing. FREE. Congregation Shearith Israel, 404-873-1743, www.acsorch.org

Weekly Ear, May 28 - June 3, 2009

Atlanta concert picks

THU/28 & SAT/30 @ 8:00pm
ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts this first program in a festival of South American music using the ancient Inca Empire as its centralizing multi-media theme, with guest solo flutist Jessica Warren-Acosta. Repeats SAT/30. $18-$73. 8:00 p.m., Symphony Hall, 404-733-5000, www.atlantasymphony.org

Weekly Ear, May 21 - May 27, 2009

Atlanta concert picks

SUN/24 @ 3:00pm
ROBERT HENRY
Artist-in-residence at Kennesaw State University, classical pianist Henry, noted for virtuosity and old-school tone, performs music of Mozart, Bach-Busoni, Faure, Vine, Sakamoto and Liszt. His new CD, “Nocturnes,” debuts this spring. $15 ($12 seniors/students). Callanwolde Arts Center, 404-872-5338 www.callanwolde.org

Weekly Ear, May 14 - May 20, 2009

Atlanta concert picks

THU/14 & SAT/16 @ 8:00pm and SUN/17 @ 3:00pm
ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & CHORUS
Stravinsky's “A Symphony of Psalms” and Mozart's “Requiem” featuring soprano Nathalie Paulin, mezzo-soprano Stacey Rishoi, tenor Chad Johnson and bass Gustav Andreassen. Robert Spano conducts. $16-$73. Symphony Hall, 404-733-5000, www.atlantasymphony.org

SUN/17 @ 3:00pm
ATLANTA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
Distinguished Australian Baroque violinist Elizabeth (Libby) Wallfisch is ABO's guest director/violinist for am authentic “period performance practice” concert of music by English composers : G.F. Handel, Henry Purcell, Matthew Locke, Charles Avison and Francesco Geminiani. $15-$25. Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, 770-537-3974 www.atlantabaroque.org

TUE/19 @ 7:30pm
ATLANTA CHAMBER PLAYERS
Program features the jazzy sextet "Atlanta Licks" by Johnathan Kramer (not the character from the “Saw” movies), a trio by Heinrich von Herzogenberg, and Ludwig van Beethoven's “String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130.” $20/$10 students with ID. New American Shakespeare Tavern, 404-874-5299 www.shakespearetavern.com

Weekly Ear, May 7 - May 13

Atlanta concert picks

THU/7, FRI/8 & SAT/9 @ 8:00pm
ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Canadian pianist Louis Lortie performs “Piano Concerto No. 4” of Ludwig van Beethoven. ASO frames the concerto performance with evocative music by Claude Debussy and Franz Liszt. Robert Spano conducts. $16-$73. Symphony Hall, 404-733-5000, www.atlantasymphony.org

FRI/8 @ 8:15pm
MAGDALENA KOZENA and KAREL KOSAREK
Luminous-voiced Czech mezzo-soprano Kozena and collaborative pianist Kosarek perform a bouquet of love songs by Henry Purcell in modern realizations by Benjamin Britten, and songs by Alban Berg, Robert Schumann and Henri Duparc. $60. Spivey Hall, 678-466-4200 www.spiveyhall.org

SAT/9 @ 8:15pm
JULIA FISCHER and MILANA CHERNYAVSKA
Classic FM Gramophone “2007 Artist of the Year,” 24-year-old German violinist Fischer and young Ukrainian-born pianist Chernyavska perform a tetrad of sonatas for violin and piano by Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev and Martinu. $45. Spivey Hall, 678-466-4200 www.spiveyhall.org