Coming up in Philly music: Hear soprano Sarah Shafer before her Met debut

Astral Artists supports carefully selected young musicians with career advice and performance opportunities. The mere fact that a musician has been designated an Astral Artist is a career boost in itself, given the national reputation Astral has acquired. The headliner for Astral’s season opener is Sarah Shafer, a popular young soprano scheduled to make her Metropolitan Opera debut later this season. She’ll open with Debussy’s colorful, nuanced Ariettes Oubliées (Forgotten Songs). She’ll follow that by joining four other Astral Artists in the unique combination of voice and string quartet Arnold Schoenberg created during an emotional period when he was dealing with his wife’s infidelity. The finale will be a quintet for piano and strings by Eric Korngold, who became one of the top composers in Hollywood after he fled the Nazis. Korngold was a popular opera composer in Germany and his quintet draws on melodies taken from his operas.

Astral Artists will present Voice & Vision on September 16 at 7:30pm at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square. Tickets are $22 general, $20 for seniors 62 and over, and $5 for students and those 20 and under with ID. They’re available online and at the door.