Fun around town, for $10 or less: Really, It’s Comedy: Die Actor Die hosted by Don Montrey and Juliette Pryor at the Khyber (56 S. 2nd), 8PM. $5 Double Feature: Two Hands and Beethoven’s Hair, part of the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival, at the Gershman Y (401 S. Broad), 7PM. $10 Fitting Tribute: The Philadelphia Orchestra, with the Philadelphia All City Choir, perform at Martin Luther King Jr. High School (6100 Stenton Ave), 7PM. Free......

Leonard Bernstein has long held a place in our hearts as one of America's great composers and conductors. In honor of the 90th anniversary of his birth, the Philadelphia Orchestra, along with world- renowned soloists such as Joshua Bell and Jennifer Koh, has put together some truly timeless and innovative programs together for its Bernstein Festival, taking place from now until early February. In addition to celebrating Bernstein's music, the Philadelphia Orchestra also recognizes his......

Wednesday The Dolce Suono Trio devotes an entire concert to Philadelphia composers, including Ned Rorem, George Crumb, Charles Abramovic, and Curt Cacioppo. First Unitarian Church (21st and Chestnut); FREE; 7:30 PM The Opera Company of Philadelphia presents Verdi's timeless Rigoletto. You'll be humming "La Donna è mobile" all the way home. Academy of Music (Broad and Locust); 7:30 PM; $8-$113 Thursday The Philadelphia Orchestra shows its love for Beethoven with an all-Beethoven concert featuring his......

Monday As part of Swarthmore's Midday Monday Concert Series, Dolce Suono's Metal and Wood Band will play a free concert of Handel, Dowland, Johnson, Schulhoff, Kreutzer and Piazzolla. Lang Concert Hall (Swarthmore College); 12:30pm; FREE Tuesday Hear the opera singers of tomorrow duke it out today at the Academy of Vocal Arts' Giargiari Bel Canto Competition. Perelman Theater (Kimmel Center); 7:30 PM; $34 The Philadelphia Orchestra continues its run of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (Phillyist's......

Every time I hear The Rite of Spring, I wonder what made the audience riot at its premiere in Paris. Was is the new-fangled dissonances? The crazy rhythms? The tribal choreography? Whatever it was, I hope audiences have gotten over it, because I believe that everyone should hear and/or see it live at least once in his or her life. I had the opportunity to hear it on Thursday at the Philadelphia Orchestra’s first......

Vacations stretching your budget too much? Fear not. Everything this week is free!Monday The Philadelphia Orchestra presents its second Free Neighborhood Concert of the summer, with works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Ives. Pastorius Park (Chestnut Hill); 7 PM; FREE Tuesday Venture across the Ben Franklin Bridge to hear pianist Andrew Willis as part of Rutgers-Camden's summer lunchtime series. Mallery Room (2nd floor Rutgers-Camden University's Fine Arts Complex); Noon; FREE Thursday The Brandywine Valley Association......

Four defendants were sentenced yesterday for their part in a scheme to funnel illegal contributions to the campaign of Mayor Street. Only one - Joseph Moderski of Bryn Mawr, who orchestrated the plan - received prison time (14 months). He was also ordered to pay over $25,000 in fines and restitution. The Daily News has the info on CBS3's new HD broadcast, and the fancy shmancy new studio they're using to record it. The Roman......

Monday As part of the Philadelphia Art Alliance's New Music Mondays, award-winning composer Michael Hersch comes to town to discuss his compositions and for the Philadelphia premieres of his Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2 for Unaccompanied Cello, performed by cellist Daniel Gaisford. Philadelphia Art Alliance (251 S. 18th St.); 7:30; $20 Wednesday The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presents Milan Turkovic, bassoon, David Shifrin, clarinet, and Shai Wosner, piano in an evening of chamber music......

Spring break strikes the city of Philadelphia this week. Not to worry, the failsafe Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the Kimmel Center have a few tricks up their sleeves. Monday The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia under Ignat Solzhenitsyn continues with its Mozart Beethoven Haydn program. All the greats in one evening. Perelman Theater (Kimmel Center); 7:30 PM; $36-$81 The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presents Mark Kosower, cello, and Jee-Won Oh, piano in an evening......

Friday The Philadelphia Orchestra and Philadelphia Singers present The Glorious Sound of Christmas. Christmas favorites in the hands of such skilled players will put everyone in the Christmas spirit. Kimmel Center, Verizon Hall; Friday, Saturday 7 pm; $33-$103 In case you haven’t gotten your yearly Messiah dose, the Ama Deus Ensemble presents the complete 1759 Covent Garden version of Handel’s Messiah with Baroque orchestra. The Church of the Holy Trinity (Rittenhouse Square); 7 PM;......

Don’t say I didn’t warn you - holiday concerts begin this week. But if you’re already sick of Christmas carols blaring at your nearby mall, there are other options for you as well. Tuesday The Philadelphia Orchestra continues with the Mahler 4 and Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23, with conductor Christoph Eschenbach at the piano. Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center; 8 PM; $28-$113 Wednesday The UPenn American Avant Garde Series presents “Dr. Guy's MusiQologY.” What is......

It’s the calm before the Christmas concert storm. This week is understandably slow, with only the Philadelphia Orchestra and Philadelphia Chamber Music Society forgoing leftovers for a concert here and there. Monday The Díaz Trio plays chamber pieces by Schubert, Hindemith, and Schumann. Christoph Eschenbach, Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, on piano. Catch Eschenbach while you can. It seems he'll be leaving us soon. Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center; 8 PM; $22 Friday Looking for......

That gas discount we told you about in South Philly Friday night was a bit popular, you might say. In fact, there were huge lines and traffic jams. The Philadelphia Orchestra became the first major US orchestra to open its own online music store on Thursday. Other orchestras have their music available for download, but ours is the first to do it without an outside distributor. Way to enter to the 21st century, Philly Orchestra!......

The Philadelphia Orchestra's newest and youngest member (according to WoodTV, anyway), 20-year-old Carol Jantsch, may also be the first female tuba player in a major full-time American orchestra. Apparently women don't normally have the large lung capacity needed to play the tuba, but Jantsch manages it somehow. Go her! Go Philly! (Via) Okay, time for a weird crime story. Kevin Eckenrode (25-year-old new employee of the state Gaming Control Board) and Rachel Kozlusky (his......

The Philadelphia Orchestra has brought back its Access concert series - concerts designed for those interested in orchestra who want to know more about the music. The four session series began last November, but now is your chance to get two free tickets for the next concert! Just RSVP online to get your tickets to the January 5, 2005 concert. The show is in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center on South Broad Street, and......

Does going to the orchestra give you the creeps? It will on Monday. The Philadelphia Orchestra presents its annual Halloween concert, replete with scarily dressed orchestra members and “creepy classics.” Drag queen Carlota Ttendant, a regular at Gay BINGO, hosts. Carlota joins her fellow members of Philly’s good-time, badly-behaved Big Mess Vaudevillians, making the show anything but stuffy. Rossen Milanov conducts excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird, Humperdinck’s "Witch's Ride," from......