BSR Classical Interludes, more in March 2025

Music at Westminster: Goldberg Variations, Nathan Carterette, piano
Friday, March 21, 7:30pm
Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1502 West 13th Street, Wilmington

The fourth and final offering of this relatively new concert series will feature pianist Nathan Carterette. Carterette (who performs with organist Edward Alan Moore as the Arsenal Duo) will here appear as a piano soloist. Noted as an interpreter of contemporary music as well as for his engaging performances of Bach, he has performed the Goldberg Variations in America, Asia, and Europe. Tickets to the concert are limited; advance reservations are required, and a reception follows the performance.

Piffaro: All Excellent & Esteemed: The Bassano Family
Friday, March 21, 7:30pm
PHL Episcopal Cathedral, 23 South 38th Street, Philadelphia

Saturday, March 22, 7:30pm
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia

Sunday, March 23, 3pm
Christ Church Christiana Hundred, 500 Buck Road, Wilmington

"They are … all excellent and esteemed above all others in this city." So reported King Henry VIII's agent upon hearing Venice’s Bassano family. Some of these Italian (and likely Jewish) wind players and instrument builders moved to Henry’s English court, while others remained in Italy, anchoring the Venetian musical scene. Over the next few decades, this family extended instrumental music’s frontiers. Philadelphia’s renowned wind band plays works that the Bassano family would have played, including one by Henry VIII, who was (among many other things!) a composer. The concert also streams online from April 4-17.

Franklin Quartet: Linnea Borealis
Sunday, March 23, 3pm
Gloria Dei/Old Swedes Church, 916 South Swanson Street, Philadelphia

On Sunday, this period instrument ensemble celebrates several musical and historical connections in a concert of rarely heard 18th and 19th century Swedish compositions. The concert is offered in a historic site known for its importance in the musical life of colonial Philadelphia. The quartet—Marika Holmqvist and Karen Dekker (violins), Daniel Elyar (viola), and cellist Rebecca Humphrey Diederich—will offer works by composers Joseph Martin Kraus, Franz Berwald, and Amanda Maier-Röntgen.

Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia: Fullana & Four Seasons
Friday, March 28, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 30, 2:30pm
Kimmel Center/Perelman Theater, 300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia

Spanish-born violinist Francisco Fullana will lead the Chamber Orchestra, as well as solo, in a program that celebrates spring with four musical works, based on the four seasons, that span the centuries. In its home at the Perelman, ensemble will play Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons (Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas); Violin Concerto No. 2 (The American Four Seasons) by Philip Glass; Richter Recomposed by Max Richter; and of course the great classic, The Four Seasons (Le Quattro Stagioni) of Antonio Vivaldi.

Delaware Symphony: Di Russo Conducts Brahms
Friday, March 28, 7:30pm
Grand Opera House/Copeland Hall, 818 North Market Street, Wilmington

Argentinian native Michelle Di Russo, the fourth and final candidate for the DSO’s music director position, previously conducted this Delaware ensemble in November 2023. For the current concert, she’ll lead the orchestra in the 2021 work Kauyumari by Gabriela Ortiz; Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98; and Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26, with pianist and Curtis grad Janice Carissa at the keyboard. The orchestra will also present this program on March 30 in Lewes, Delaware.