Weekly Classical Music Agenda

Yes, it's back! Classical music concerts have returned to Philadelphia after a much-deserved break. Get excited for the upcoming year.

Monday
The Momenta String Quartet presents a free lunchtime concert, mixing some of its new season with some old favorites.
Swarthmore College; 12:30 PM; FREE

Tuesday
Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra Sextet combines jazz sensibilities with unexpected sound clips and visuals. Catch them on tour as they stop at Philadelphia's International House.
International House Philadelphia (3701 Chestnut Street); 8 PM; $12

Friday
Lambert Orkis, piano and David Hardy, cello open Temple University's concert season with the first part of Beethoven's complete Sonatas and Variations for Piano and Cello.
Rock Hall (Temple University); 7:30 PM; FREE

Nora Suggs, Flute, and John Arnold, Guitar, team up as the Two Part Invention for a concert featuring a wide variety of flute and guitar music.
Central Moravian Church (73 W. Church Street, Bethlehem, PA); 7:30 PM; $10 suggested donation

Saturday
Acclaimed violinist and Curtis grad Xiao-Fu Zhou returns to Philly for an evening of Brahms, Prokofiev, Debussy, Sibelius and Kreisler, accompanied by pianist Samuel Hsu. To top it all off, all attendees will receive a complimentary CD featuring many of this concert's works.
Perelman Theater (Kimmel Center); 7:30 PM; $10-$40

Sunday
LyricFest will perform "Biography in Music - Shakespeare," featuring music inspired by, you guessed it, Shakespeare. Readings by actor Jim Bergwall coupled with song settings of Shakespeare's poetry will truly bring Shakespeare's words to life.
Roberts Hall (Haverford College); 3 PM; $20

Orchestra2001's opening night features the world premiere of George Crumb's Voices from a Forgotten World, and the Philadelphia premieres of Crumb's Otherworldly Resonances and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's recently discovered and edited Concert Piece for Flute and String Orchestra.
Perelman Theater (Kimmel Center); 3 PM; $36

Image via flickr.com user Vic G