The week's five best Twin Cities classical concerts

October 7, 2018 at 7:00PM
File - In this June 9, 2013 file photo, Vadym Kholodenko of Ukraine performs a concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra during finals in the 14th Van Cliburn international piano competition in Fort Worth, Texas. Police say the two daughters of Kholodenko have been found slain in their Texas home and the musician's estranged wife is being treated for stab wounds. Benbrook police Cmdr. David Babcock said Friday, March 18, 2016 that Kholodenko is cooperating with investigators and that no on
Vadym Kholodenko is in recital at Macalester on Sunday. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Accordo season opener

Featuring players from the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Accordo chamber group has shifted operations to the new recital hall at Westminster Presbyterian Church for its 2018-19 season. SPCO concertmaster Steven Copes leads the opening concert, pairing string quintets by Cherubini and Schubert. (7:30 p.m. Mon., Westminster Presbyterian Church, Mpls.; $31-$41, 651-292-3268 or schubert.org)

The avant-garde at 40

Zeitgeist kicks off its 40th season by teaming up with new music counterparts from the Cleveland-based group No Exit. The cutting-edge program features music by Minnesota and Ohio composers, including Alexis C. Lamb and Duluth's Adam Glenski. Also featured is "Stay On It" by the late Julius Eastman, a prime example of the composer's "guerrilla minimalism." (7:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 2 p.m. Sun.; Studio Z, St. Paul; $10-$15, zeitgeistnewmusic.org)

Northrop's great pipes

When renovations began at Northrop auditorium in 2011, all 7,000 pipes of the hall's mighty Aeolian-Skinner organ were crated and cataloged, pending a restoration that would cost an extra $3 million. With the organ's re-installation finally complete, the Minnesota Orchestra unveils the instrument's splendor with a concert featuring Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony. Also on the program is John Harbison's "What do we make of Bach?" for organ and orchestra, with the outstanding Paul Jacobs as soloist. (8 p.m. Fri. & Sat., Northrop auditorium, Mpls.; $30-$97, 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org)

Britten and Haydn

The San Francisco Symphony's Christian Reif guest-conducts the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in a program featuring Britten's rarely heard Sinfonietta. Also included are Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony and Symphony No. 92 by Haydn, a composer the SPCO plays peerlessly. (8 p.m. Fri. & Sat., Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul; $12-$50, 651-291-1144 or thespco.org)

'Mirrors' on Ravel

Vadym Kholodenko won a gold medal in 2013 at the Van Cliburn Competition, one of the biggest feats in the piano world. His Frederic Chopin Society recital features two works by Ravel — "Miroirs" and "Sonatine" — along with sonatas by Prokofiev (No. 6) and Scriabin (No. 5). (3 p.m. Sun., Mairs Concert Hall, Macalester College, St. Paul; $15-$30, 612-822-0123 or chopinsocietymn.org)

TERRY BLAIN

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