The fall season is in full swing, and there’s more to highlight than we have hours in this packed weekend in particular. Here are just a few of the musical treats calling to me — and I know I won’t be able to fit them all in.
Spotlight: Jennifer Koh and Vijay Iyer — Friday, Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Two artists known for their boundless musical curiosity and enterprising spirit open the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s season. Violinist Jennifer Koh has gained renown not only for multiple awards, but for her insightful Bach interpretations and her many commissions from living composers. Vijay Iyer’s genre-crossing creativity can’t easily be summarized — to call him a leading composer and jazz pianist just doesn’t capture the breadth of his artistic influence. Koh and Iyer present their collaboration called Scenes of Living and Dying, described as an exploration of “the human relationship to the thresholds of life: births, deaths, transformations, and awakenings.” The new work, in two parts, is interspersed with solo violin works by Bach and Iyer’s own solo piano pieces.
Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m., Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, $32; tickets and information.
Bowerbird: Two "Variations" — Friday, at University Lutheran; Saturday, at Trinity at 22nd
Did Bowerbird plan this confluence of variations, or did it just happen? The exploration-minded presenting organization offers us a Baroque monument in J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations on the harpsichord one night. The following evening, in a head-spinning contrast, they present Frederic Rzewski’s landmark 1975 piano variations on a Chilean protest song, The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
I’d like to think the juxtaposition was not an accident, and that some curious concertgoers will try to fit both of these in and enjoy the compare-and-contrast opportunity. John Walthausen, active in Philadelphia’s early music scene, is the harpsichordist for Bach’s Goldbergs, and Heather O’Donnell, a pianist specializing in contemporary literature, offers the Rzewski — a work originally commissioned for America’s bicentennial in an age that seems almost as removed from our own as Bach’s 18th century.
Oct. 16 at 8 p.m., University Lutheran, 3637 Chestnut Street, $15-$25; tickets and information.
Oct. 17 at 7 p.m., Trinity at 22nd, 2212 Spruce Street, $15-$25; tickets and information.
The Philadelphia Orchestra: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — Friday through Oct. 18, Marian Anderson Hall
You know you want to, Harry Potter fans. Just give in.
Oct. 16–18, various times, Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, $56-$151; tickets and information.
Music at Bunker Hill: Sasha Cooke and Jason Vieaux — Sunday, Bunker Hill Presbyterian Church, Sewell, NJ
New Jerseyans, here’s a promising recital pairing in your backyard. Pennsylvanians, be assured it’s a good reason to cross the bridge. Locals will know mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke from concert appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra (most recently in Messiah a couple of seasons back) and from her many searching interpretations of diverse roles in Metropolitan Opera broadcasts. Guitarist Jason Vieaux teaches at the Curtis Institute of Music and is a busy recording artist, recitalist, and concerto soloist. Their fascinating program features a Spanish set with songs by Granados, Albeniz, and Rodrigo; American music from Bernstein, Sondheim, and Copland; and Hawaiian folk tunes. Vieaux also offers an excerpt from his recently released and highly regarded album of original compositions.
Oct. 18 at 3 p.m., Bunker Hill Presbyterian Church, 330 Greentree Road, Sewell, NJ, $30; tickets and information.
Choral Arts Philadelphia: I Hear America Singing — Saturday, St. Mark’s Church
America’s 250th birthday year remains alive and well as the fall season opens. Choral Arts conductor Donald Meineke has assembled a worthy sampling of all-American choral music in one compact program, ranging from William Billings to Leonard Bernstein. Of course a single program can’t begin to capture the breadth of American choral music, but this one hits some very appealing highlights, with spirituals and Southern Harmony hymns represented alongside Bernstein’s always-welcome Chichester Psalms.
Oct. 18, St. Mark’s Church at 4 p.m., 1625 Locust Street, $43 ($17 for students); tickets and information.
