Weekly Ear, Apr. 30 - May 6

Atlanta concert picks

THU/30 @ 8:00 p.m.
ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Violinist Itzhak Perlman makes his conducting debut with the ASO, leading "Symphony No. 3" by Franz Schubert and "Symphony No. 4" by Johannes Brahms, and soloing in the "Violin Concerto in A Major" by J.S. Bach. Repeats SAT/2 @ 8:00 p.m., SUN/3 @ 3:00 p.m. $21-$78, Symphony Hall, 404-733-5000, www.atlantasymphony.org

FRI/1 @ 8:00pm & SUN/3 @ 3:00pm
ATLANTA OPERA
Richard Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman." The story a ghost ship and its captain, doomed to sail the oceans forever unless he can be redeemed by a true love. Stage direction by Tomer Zvulun; conducted by Arthur Fagen. $25-$130. Cobb Energy Centre, 404-881-8885 www.atlantaopera.org

SAT/2 @ 8:00pm
NEW TRINITY BAROQUE
Swedish tenor Leif Aruhn-Solen is NTB's guest in a “historically informed” performance of trio sonatas, suites, and arias commemorating the 250th anniversary of the death of German-English Baroque composer George Frideric Handel. $29-$39; students $9. 8:00 p.m., St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, 404-547-5775, www.newtrinitybaroque.org

TUE/5 @ 7:30pm
ATLANTA SINGERS
Since 1976, this 18-voice choral ensemble has been a consistent mainstay of Atlanta's choral music scene, performing repertoire from Renaissance masters to notable living composers of our time. David Morrow conducts. FREE, Holy Innovents' Episcopal Church, 404-931-8230, www.atlantasingers.org

Weekly Ear, Apr. 23 - Apr. 29

Atlanta concert picks

THU/23 & FRI/24 @ 8:00pm
ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Donald Runnicles leads the ASO in Gustav Mahler's vast and tragic “Symphony No. 6,” featuring a very large post-Romantic orchestra that includes a sledgehammer. (“Strike any key when ready.”) $16-$73, Symphony Hall, 404-733-5000, www.atlantasymphony.org

FRI/24 @ 7:30pm
MOREHOUSE COLLEGE GLEE CLUB
The mighty, mighty men of Morehouse are one of Atlanta's most distinguished choral ensembles and musical ambassadors of goodwill. Program features classical compositions, African choral woks, and American spirituals, led by Dr. David Morrow. $10; $5 seniors/students, All Saints' Episcopal Church, 404-881-0835, www.allsaintsatlanta.org

SAT/25 @ 8:15pm
ATLANTA CHAMBER PLAYERS
Rescheduled after being snowed out on March 1, ACP plays the graceful, witty “Serenade in D major” by Ludwig van Beethoven, a flashy “Trio” by Francis Poulenc, and the heroic “Piano Quintet” by Erich Korngold. $25. Spivey Hall, 678-466-4200 www.spiveyhall.org

SAT/25 @ 8:00pm & TUE/28 @ 7:30pm
ATLANTA OPERA
Richard Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman." The story a ghost ship and its captain, doomed to sail the oceans forever unless he can be redeemed by a true love. Stage direction by Tomer Zvulun; conducted by Arthur Fagen. Additional performances on May 1 & 3. $25-$130. Cobb Energy Centre, 404-881-8885 www.atlantaopera.org

Weekly Ear, Apr. 16 - Apr. 22

Atlanta concert picks

FRI/17 & SAT/18 @ 8:15pm
CHANTICLEER
This prodigious 12-member men's vocal ensemble from San Francisco is a national treasure. They offer Atlanta two entirely different programs on consecutive nights: “Wondrous Free” on FRI/17 and “Divine Tapestry “ on SAT/18. $50 each concert, Spivey Hall, 678-466-4200 www.spiveyhall.org

SAT/18 @ 7:30pm
"TRANSFORMATIONS"
Conrad Susa's 1973 chamber opera Transformations is based on poetry of the same name by Anne Sexton, in which she transformed fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm into adult modes which plumb plausible if disturbing social and psychological elements hidden deep within the originals. Vincent Murphy, stage director; Daniel Solberg, music director; Robert J. Ambrose, conductor. $10. Students free w/ ID, Kopleff Recital Hall, 404-413-5901 www.music.gsu.edu

TUE/21 @ 8:00pm
BENT FREQUENCY
"Georgia In My Ear" features music by Georgia composers Nickitas Demos, Mark Gresham, Lewis Nielson and Joel Puckett, and composer Vivienne Olive from Atlanta's sister city, Nuremberg, Germany. FREE, Kopleff Recital Hall, 404-413-5901 www.music.gsu.edu

Weekly Ear, Apr. 9 - Apr. 15

Atlanta concert picks

FRI/10 @ noon
KAREN BENTLEY POLLICK w/ VEGA STRING QUARTET
Currently best known as the violinist in Paul Dresher's Electro-Acoustic Band, Birmingham violinist/violist Karen Bentley Pollick joins Vega Quartet for more standard classical fare: the “Viola Quintet in F major” by Felix Mendelssohn. FREE, Michael C. Carlos Museum, 404-727-5050 www.arts.emory.edu

TUE/14 @ 7:30pm
GSU PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE
This innovative program includes the Atlanta premiere of Paul Lansky's “Threads” for metal instruments, drums, and “found objects” (flower pots, glass bottles, etc), and Thierry de Mey's “Musique de Tables,” a trio for amplified table. FREE. 7:30 p.m., Rialto Center for the Arts, 404-413-5901, www.music.gsu.edu

Weekly Ear, Apr. 2 - Apr. 8

Atlanta concert picks

THU/2, FRI/3 @ SAT/4 @ 8:00pm
ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
World-premiere of “Symphony” by Christopher Theofanidis, “Second Essay for Orchestra” by Samuel Barber, and a divergent personal reinterpretation of George Gershwin's “Concerto in F” by jazz pianist Marcus Roberts. $16-$73, Symphony Hall, 404-733-5000. www.atlantasymphony.org

Weekly Ear, Mar. 26 - Apr. 1

Atlanta concert picks

THU/26 & SAT/27 @ 8:00pm
ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Guest conductor Gilbert Varga, son of famous Hungarian violinist Tibor Varga, makes his ASO debut. Greek violin virtuoso Leonidas Kavakos is soloist. Music of Kodaly, Sibelius, and Brahms. $16-$73, Symphony Hall, 404-733-5000. www.atlantasymphony.org

SUN/29 @ 3:00pm
ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC
This world-renowned 22-piece “period instrument” group performs all six of the Brandenburg Concertos by J.S. Bach, led from the harpsichordist by Richard Egarr, as the first of Spivey's 2009 Spring Bach Festival concerts. $60, Spivey Hall, 678-466-4200 www.spiveyhall.org

WED/1 @ 7:30pm
JENNY LIN
Atlanta composer Jason Freeman's “Piano Etudes” are among the adventurous modern repertoire performed by pianist Lin, a charismatic performer with spectacular keyboard technique. Music by Unsuk Chin, Dai Fujikura, György Ligeti, Gabriela Ortiz and more. FREE, Spivey Hall, 678-466-4200 www.spiveyhall.org

Weekly Ear, Mar. 19 - Mar. 25

Atlanta concert picks

FRI/20 @ 8:00pm
LESS IS MORE (MORE OR LESS)
Percussionist Stuart Gerber headlines this concert of front-edge music and performance art, featuring premieres of new percussion works by Mark Gresham and Jennifer Mitchell (also performing as DJ), electronic music by Darren Nelsen with video by Al Matthews, plus works by John Luther Adams, Alexandre Babel, Giorgio Battestelli, Frederic Rzewski, Stuart Saunders Smith and Christian Wolff. $10 at the door / $5 students with student ID. Eyedrum, 404-522-0655, www.eyedrum.org

FRI/20 @ 8:00pm
LIONHEART & VEGA STRING QUARTET
One of America's leading vocal chamber music ensembles, Lionheart joins forces with Atlanta's own Vega Quartet to perform "John the Revelator: Mass for the 21st Century" by downtown Manhattan composer Phil Kline. The program also features two premieres: Richard Prior's string quartet intimations of immortality and John Anthony Lennon's Still the Fire for saxophone, cello, and piano. $48. Emerson Hall, Schwartz Center, 404-727-5050, arts.emory.edu

SAT/21 @ 8:00pm
RADCLIFFE CHORAL SOCIETY & SPELMAN COLLEGE GLEE CLUB
Sisters in music, the 65-voice group from Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, one of the leading collegiate women's choirs in the nation, joins forces with their musical compatriots from Atlanta's own esteemed Spelman College. FREE. 8:00 p.m., Sisters Chapel, Spelman College, 404-681-3643. www.spelman.edu

SUN/22 @ 3:00pm
ATLANTA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
Established as the first “period instrument” orchestra in the southeast in 1997, ABO offers a program of Baroque-era music and dance, featuring baroque dancer Paige Whitely-Bauguess and guest violinist/director Julie Andrijeski. $25. Moore Chapel, Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, 770-537-3974 www.atlantabaroque.org

WED/25 @ 7:30pm
ANDRÉS DÍAZ
Born in Santiago, Chile and raised in Atlanta, violoncellist Diaz won the the Naumburg International Cello Competition in 1987, subsequently earning a reputation for his intense, charismatic performances. Elizabeth Pridgen is collaborative pianist. FREE. Kopleff Recital Hall, 404-413-5901, www.music.gsu.edu