Avalon String Quartet: The ensemble welcomes clarinetist Anthony McGill for its season finale, which holds Brahms’ autumnal Clarinet Quintet along with quartets by Schubert and Beethoven. 4 p.m. Sunday at Gottlieb Hall, Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria St. $25, $10 for seniors; 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets.com
Chicago Chamber Choir: Timm Adams directs the season finale, a globally diverse collection of songs about Earth from several eras. 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, 600 W. Fullerton Parkway; and 3 p.m. Sunday at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1509 Ridge Ave., Evanston. $18-$20; 312-409-6890, chicagochamberchoir.org
Chicago Early Music Festival: A host of local groups and musicians, plus artists from outside the city, take part in a six-day celebration of pre-classical works, the first such festival to be presented in Chicago. The fest gets under way with British recorder virtuoso Piers Adams in a free recital and master class, 12:15 p.m. Tuesday at Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, 100 N. Michigan Ave. Other events include “Being Dufay,” with tenor John Potter and sound artist Ambrose Field (7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.); the Baroque Band playing Vivaldi’s “L’Estro Armonico” (7:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. James Cathedral, 65 E. Huron St.); Ensemble Lipzodes (12:15 p.m. Thursday at Jay Pritzker Pavilion); and a lecture and recital by harpsichordist Mitzi Meyerson (6:30 p.m. Thursday at Chicago Cultural Center). The festival continues through April 25. Most events are free, some require reservations; chicagoearlymusicfest.org
Chicago Opera Theater: The company launches its spring festival season with a genuine rarity, Rossini’s “Moses in Egypt,” last heard in Chicago in — would you believe? — 1863. Leonardo Vordoni conducts and Andrew Eggert directs. Opens at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and continues through April 25 at Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St. $30-$120; 312-704-8414, chicagooperatheater.org
Chicago Symphony Orchestra: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago makes its annual appearance with the CSO, performing a new work choreographed by Alejandro Cerrudo to CSO resident composer Mason Bates’ “Music From Underground Spaces.” The rest of the program holds works by Falla and Ravel, conducted by Carlos Kalmar, in his subscription series debut; 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Jaap van Zweden, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, returns to the series for a program of Brahms (Violin Concerto, with Christian Tetzlaff as soloist) and Rachmaninov (Symphony No. 2); 8 p.m. Thursday (repeated April 23-27). Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave. $18-$199; 312-294-3000, cso.org
Oscar Ghiglia and Elena Papandreou: The classical guitarists share the stage with the Waller and Maxwell Guitar Duo. 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Lutkin Hall, Northwestern University, 700 University Place, Evanston. $20; $17 for seniors; 847-467-4000, pickstaiger.org
Rising Stars at Ravinia: Pianist Evgeni Bozhanov plays Schubert’s grand Sonata in B-flat Major along with pieces by Schumann, Bach-Busoni and Gounod-Liszt. 8 p.m. Friday at Bennett-Gordon Hall, Ravinia, 200-231 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park. $20; 847-266-5100, ravinia.org
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra: Violinist and conductor Thomas Zehetmair leads the final program of the ensemble’s 2009-10 residency at the University of Chicago. The selections include Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony, along with works by Krenek and Webern. 7:30 p.m. Friday in Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St. $35; 773-702-8068; chicagopresents.uchicago.edu
jvonrhein@tribune.com
