Coming up in Philly Music: French music and a rising star

Paris is frequently associated with the spring. This year we’re getting the color and emotional expression of French music in the winter. The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society filled most of January with an art song series that emphasized French vocal music. Dolce Suono followed with a program devoted to French chamber music. The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia is continuing the festival with French music suitable for a small orchestra.

Getting a head start

The other attraction on the Chamber Orchestra program is a rising young violinist noted for her verve and color. Danbi Um is an Astral Artist who entered the Curtis Institute of Music when she was still in grade school--like some of her most illustrious predecessors—and won a place on the Astral roster at Astral’s 2015 national auditions. She’s currently the first violin of the Escher Quartet and an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She’ll solo in two of the zestier pieces in the French repertoire: Saint Saëns’s Havanaise, with its Cuban rhythms, and Ravel’s Tzigane.

The other items on the program include Gounod’s Petite Symphonie for nine wind instruments and works by Fauré and Debussy that have been charming audiences since the first years of the twentieth century.

What, When, Where:

The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia will present “À la Française” on Sunday, February 23 at 2:30pm and Monday, February 24 at 7:30pm at the Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia.