BSR Classical Interludes, February 2025

Philadelphia Youth Orchestra Music Institute: Prysm Strings New Jersey
Sunday, February 8, 3pm
Katz Jewish Community Center, 1301 Springdale Road, Cherry Hill, NJ

This free concert inaugurates an expanded PYO program under the leadership of former Philadelphia Orchestra associate concertmaster Michael Ludwig and violinist Rachael Ludwig. The program’s young musicians participate in an intensive string program, studying and playing alongside professionals. Under Michael Ludwig’s direction, the young musicians will play classics by Vivaldi and Mozart, alongside contemporary favorites like Beauty and the Beast.

Orchestra 2001: Tango for Strings
Saturday, February 8, 7pm
MAAS Building, 1325 North Randolph Street, Philadelphia

Orchestra 2001 is a collective of musicians dedicated to contemporary music. For their upcoming concert, its players will be joined by violin tango master Guillermo Rubino and bandoneon virtuoso Shinjoo Cho to explore the development of the Argentine tango. The string ensemble (with bandoneon) will present tangos of the 1940s, works by Astor Piazzolla, Argentine folkloric pieces, and new works by Rubino and Diego Schissi, the orchestra’s 2021 commissioned composer.

Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia: The Best of Haydn
Friday, February 14, 7:30pm
Sunday, February 16, 2:30pm
Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater, 300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia

Continuing their 60th anniversary celebration, this ensemble conducted by music director David Hayes will present Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major, a masterpiece that vanished for over 200 years, with cellist Tommy Mesa, who also performs Jessie Montgomery’s “Divided”, a piece he premiered in 2022. There’s also Haydn’s Symphony No. 4 in A Major (Tempora mutantur) and a new commissioned work by their composer in residence Evan Williams.

OperaDelaware Presents: Pyxis Piano Trio
Saturday, February 15, 2pm
OperaDelaware Studios, 4 Poplar Street, Wilmington

This trio—Luigi Mazzocchi (violin), Jie Jin (cello) and Hiroko Yamazaki (piano)—also continues to present both familiar and less-known works. This concert features the Fantasy No.1 in g minor for Violin and Piano by Florence Price; Arthur Foote’s Piano Trio No.2; more by Jessie Montgomery—her Duo for Violin and Cello (written in 2015); and the charming and virtuosic Café Music by Paul Schoenfield. Commissioned by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in 1987, Schoenfeld got the idea for this work while sitting in one night as a pianist at Murray’s Restaurant in Minneapolis.

Wister & More Concerts: mélomanie2
Sunday, February 16, 3pm
German Society, 611 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia

Tracy Richardson (harpsichord) and Kimberly Reighley (baroque, modern, and alto flutes) are known for presenting works both old and new, and this concert in the Wister & More series spans the centuries. From the baroque, there’s Telemann’s Concert I in D Major and Boismortier’s Sonata 4 in E minor. Three works from the 21st century were written for them:

Larry Nelson’s A Mirror of Midnight (2021, inspired by Thelonius Monk), Trefoil (2019) by Mark Hagerty, and Chuck Holdeman’s 2020 Sonata in E minor. Tickets available at the door.

Featured image: Shinjoo Cho brings a bandoneon to the party with Orchestra 2001. (Photo courtesy of Shinjoo Cho.)

Image description: Cho, a Korean woman, looks down at her bandoneon, an accordion-like instrument. It’s extended out, falling over her lap.