Canonici sings Renaissance love songs

Step back to Valentine’s Day in 1550 with a cappella group Canonici, who present “Plaisir d’Amour: The Pleasure of Love” as part of the free Classical Tuesdays in Old Town series. The program includes Renaissance love songs in English, French and Italian. 7 p.m. Feb. 14. Free, all ages. Slavonian Hall, 2306 N. 30^th St., Tacoma. 253-752-2135, classicaltuesdays.blogspot.com

Kurt Weill with Tacoma Opera

Tacoma Opera’s annual Young Artists’ performances this weekend offer a cabaret version of music by Kurt Weill, the 20^th-century German composer and enormous stage influence, with works like “The Threepenny Opera.” Cast members include Celeste Godin, Woong Kim, Ksenia Popova, Bryan Hiroto Stenson and Heather Weirich. 8 p.m. Feb. 11, 2 p.m. Feb. 12. $30. Theatre on the Square, 915 Broadway, Tacoma. 253-627-7789, www.tacomaopera.com. Read more »

Northwest Sinfonietta contrasts Mozart and Salieri

The Northwest Sinfonietta chamber orchestra debunks the legend of infamous classical-era rivals Mozart and Salieri in a concert featuring both composers this weekend, with soloists Adam LaMotte on violin and Heather Bentley on viola. Also on the program: Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings.” 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11 (Seattle), 12 (Tacoma) and 2 p.m. Nov. 13 (Puyallup.) $19-$49/$10 student rush. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; Rialto Theater, 310 S. 9^th St., Tacoma; Pioneer Park Pavilion, 330 S. Meridian Ave., Puyallup. 888-356-6040, www.northwestsinfonietta.org

String quartet concert at UPS

Maria Sampen and Tim Christie (violin), Joyce Ramée (viola) and David Requiro (cello) will play string quartets by Beethoven, Copland and Brahms tonight as part of the University of Puget Sound’s Jacobsen concert series. 7:30 p.m. tonight. $12.50/$8.50/free for UPS students. Schneebeck Concert Hall, UPS, 1500 N. Union Ave., Tacoma. 253-879-3419, ups.universitytickets.com, www.pugetsound.edu

Take the Prairie Line tour for art

The City of Tacoma is busy planning installation art for the proposed $5.83 million Prairie Line Trail downtown, a 2013 rails-to-trails project which will run along the former railway line that connected Tacoma to the rest of America in the 19^th century. Find out what’ll be there (and see some temporary art) this Saturday on a free tour. 2 p.m. Nov. 12. Free. Begins Tollefson Plaza, 1700 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. www.cityoftacoma.org

William Doppman plays for Second City series

The next Second City Chamber Series concert features organization co-founder and pianist William Doppman in recital, playing Schubert. 4 p.m. Nov. 13. $20/$10. First Lutheran Church, 524 S. I St., Tacoma. 253-572-TUNE, www.scchamberseries.org Read more »

It’s official – the Tacoma-based Northwest Sinfonietta chamber orchestra has been licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department for a 10-day, two-city tour of Cuba in January, 2012. The 10-member ensemble will be only the third orchestra to visit Cuba since the country’s 1959 revolution, due to U.S. government embargoes on trade with Cuba, and will be focusing its stay on cultural relations with Tacoma’s sister-city, Cienfuegos, offering workshops and performing side by side with local musicians.

“Music has the ability to transcend ethnic, cultural, social and ideological boundaries,” said Christophe Chagnard, the Sinfonietta’s musical director and co-founder. “This unique exchange will open vast horizons and enrich the lives of all involved.”

The tour, which runs January 19-29, begins with two days of cultural activities in the capital of Havana before moving to Cienfuegos, in the country’s south. Read more »

The Tacoma-based Northwest Sinfonietta chamber orchestra has just announced that Gerard Schwarz, outgoing artistic director of the Seattle Symphony, will be guest conductor for a gala season finale in June, 2012. On the program is the Dohnányi Concert Piece for cello and orchestra, with Schwarz‘ son Julian as soloist.

“It is an immense privilege to bring a musician of Maestro Schwarz’ stature to our stage,” said artistic director Christophe Chagnard. “Taking on the reins of the Northwest Sinfonietta for our season finale is the greatest compliment he could pay us.”

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If you’re not a Puyallup resident, you might be forgiven for thinking of Pioneer Pavilion as just a big, breezy venue for the Farmers’ Market and other noisy events. But this year it’s also been a regular classical music hub – the home of the Northwest Sinfonietta, who in addition to Seattle’s Benaroya Hall and Tacoma’s Rialto Theater, have established an appreciative audience in Puyallup. Last weekend’s concert proved that not only does Puyallup love the Sinfonietta, but their music sounds pretty good in the Pavilion. It’ll also sound good on their just-announced Cuba tour next January.

The 40-odd tables …

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If you know Mussorgsky, Debussy or Gershwin, you’d normally think of their music as piano pieces, or the big orchestral versions with clanging bells, blasting brass and more. But for its concerts this weekend in Seattle, Tacoma and Puyallup, the Northwest Sinfonietta will play chamber-orchestra arrangements of all three composers: 20^th-century masterpieces with an unusual twist.

Arrangers don’t normally get star treatment – these hard-working folk who take someone else’s music and score it for a completely different set of instruments are billed underneath the composer, and often ignored. But each piece in the Sinfonietta’s upcoming concert relies on …

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For its sold-out Mozartiana concert in the Rialto Saturday night, the Northwest Sinfonietta did what it does best: classical music, elegant and thoughtful, and capped with an ethereal new composition for clarinet by Alissa Firsova.

After opening with a Rossini overture – “La Scala di Seta” – that involved sprightly violins, edgy horns and a blossoming oboe solo, plus subtly quirky timing from director Christophe Chagnard, Firsova herself stepped forward to introduce her piece. Commissioned by Seattle clarinet soloist Laurie DeLuca and given a world premiere on Friday night in Seattle, the piece, as explained clearly and personably by the …

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Canonici sings a Renaissance tapestry at UPS

The Tacoma-based four-voice consort Canonici will sing “Musica Antiqua” at the University of Puget Sound tonight, featuring Renaissance English and Flemish madrigals, chansons and masses. 7:30 p.m. tonight. $12.50/$8.50/free for UPS students. Schneebeck Hall, UPS, 1500 N. Warner St., Tacoma. 253-879-3419, www.pugetsound.edu

Northwest Sinfonietta does Mozart

The chamber ensemble celebrates the genius of Mozart with his Symphony no. 40, his clarinet concerto played by Laurie DeLuca, a Rossini overture and a clarinet concerto world premiere by Elena Firsova. 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12, $19-$39 at Rialto Theater, 310 S. 9^th …

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