A look at classical concerts and events courtesy of our friends at Classical Voice of North Carolina.

Saturday, March 25


Awadagin Pratt, piano. Music by Bach, Rachmaninov and Schumann-Liszt. Ruggero Piano Company, 4720 Hargrove Road, Raleigh. 7:30 p.m. Music and heavy hors d’oeuvres. $50, sponsorship $150 (includes two tickets). Annual fundraising gala for Raleigh Chamber Music Guild. 821-2030 or rcmg.org.

André Watts, piano, and N.C. Symphony, Grant Llewellyn,
conductor. Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 and music by Walton and Elgar. Meymandi Concert Hall, Raleigh. 8 p.m. Annual off-series N.C. Symphony gala. 733-2750 or
ncsymphony.org.

Geri Allen, piano. Music by Allen, Mary Lou Williams and Charlie Parker. Auditorium, Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham. 8 p.m. $20, Duke students $5. 684-4444 or duke.edu/web/dukeperfs/index.html.

Takács Quartet with Garrick Ohlsson, piano. Brahms: Piano Quintet and music by Mozart and Beethoven. Reynolds Industries Theater, West Campus, Duke University, Durham. 8 p.m. $25, Duke students $5–limited availability. 660-3356 or chamberartssociety.org.

Donald Oehler, clarinet, Mayron Tsong, piano, Richard Luby, violin, and UNCG’s Red Clay Saxophone Quartet. “Related by Occupation”–new music by Chapel Hill composers T.J. Anderson, Allen Anderson and Stephen Anderson, and others. Hill Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill. 8 p.m. Free. 962-1039 or unc.edu/music.

OK, sports fans. If we can make it through Saturday, we’re pretty much in the clear. That’s ’cause there are two competing galas involving colorful pianists plus a third piano concert (jazz, at the Nasher), a superior string quartet with yet another pianist(!), and a (free) new-music program in Chapel Hill that, on paper at least, looks like a real knockout–and where pianist No. 5 hangs her hat. If there are two or three of you, you’re in luck! (We’re not sayin’ where we’re goin’, lest the piano mafia rise up and attack us….)


Sunday, March 26


Awadagin Pratt, piano. Music by Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, Franck-Bauer, Rachmaninov and Bach-Busoni. Fletcher Opera Theater, Raleigh. 3 p.m. $22, full-time students $8. 821-2030 or rcmg.org.

Mallarmé Chamber Players: Etty Ben-Zaken, soprano/actress, Naji Hilal, oud, Brooks de Wetter-Smith, flute, Richard Luby and Jacqueline Saed, violins, Yoram Youngerman, viola, and Brent Wissick, cello. Middle Eastern Delight: Improvisations and music by Nagi Hilal, Reza Vali and Eitan Steinberg. Nelson Music Room, East Campus, Duke University, Durham. 3 p.m. $15, students/children free. 560-2788 or mallarmemusic.org.

Pratt plays for the RCMG the night before, as noted above, but this is a full recital–and there’s a special presentation, too, by Zenph Studios, a local company that’s creating re-performances of older recordings using state-of-the-art computer technology, during which you can hear Rachmaninov himself…. Or, in Durham, you can take in the last of this season’s regular Mallarmé Chamber Players concerts, which features a fascinating program that marks the Persian New Year. (If we play our cards right, we can celebrate with music all year long!)

Recommended Reviews

Seven Deadly Sins a Hit in UNC/Duke Collaboration, by Roy C. Dicks. www.cvnc.org/reviews/2006/032006/Seven.html

Miami String Quartet Comes to Duke with Jaffe, Haydn, and Schumann, by Timothy W. Holley. www.cvnc.org/reviews/2006/032006/Miami.html