BSR Classical Interludes, more in April 2026

Network for New Music, Haverford Department of Music, and Haverford College Arboretum: A Murmur in the Trees
Saturday, April 18, 1-2pm
Haverford College Arboretum Nature Trail, 370 Lancaster Avenue, Haverford

This immersive performance is a remounting of A Murmur in the Trees, composer Eve Beglarian’s 30-minute work for (yes!) 24 double basses. The music is based on the naturally occurring marks on birch bark. In celebration of Earth Day, audiences meander the Arboretum’s nature trail and wander through the players, hearing the music among the trees. This is the third iteration of the unusual 2023 work, written originally for the late bassist Robert Black. All are welcome; pay what you wish; park in Visitors’ and South parking lots.

Market Street Music: Pyxis Piano Trio with Jordan Barrett, Baritone
Saturday, April 18, 3pm
First & Central Presbyterian Church, 1101 North Market Street, Wilmington

This concert, celebrating America’s 250th anniversary features the Pyxis Piano Trio in an afternoon of all-American music. Ensemble members Luigi Mazzocchi (violin), Jie Jin (cello), and Hiroko Yamazaki (piano) will open with Gwyneth Walker’s Selections from Craftsbury Trio, as well as the Delaware premiere of Lori Laitman’s 2002/2010 song cycle Fathers, sung by baritone Jordan Barrett. The program’s second half is dedicated to the romantic Piano Trio of Arthur Foote, a Harvard grad who spent his career studying and composing in the United States.

1807 & Friends: Trio Montage
Monday, April 20, 7:30pm
Academy of Vocal Arts, 1920 Spruce Street, Philadelphia

This is the 25th season for Trio Montage, and their concert draws on that quarter-century of repertoire. Nancy Bean (violin and viola), Derek Barnes (cello), and harpist Anne Sullivan will play works ranging from the premiere of Maria Thompson Corley’s Psalm 121 to pieces by Schubert and Saint-Saëns, as well as the Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia and Tomaso Vitali’s Chaconne, expanded by Ferdinand David. The concert also features Massenet’s beautiful Meditation from Thaïs and Sullivan on solo harp in Gabriel Pierné’s Impromptu-Caprice. Tickets are available at the door.

Philadelphia Orchestra, with Time for Three
Thursday, April 23, 7:30pm
Friday, April 24, 2pm
Saturday, April 25, 8pm
Kimmel Center/Marian Anderson Hall, 300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia

Principal guest conductor Marin Alsop will lead the orchestra in a concert that pairs Ravel’s sensuous Bolero (made famous in the 1979 film 10) with the Richard Strauss musical portrait of the famous libertine and philanderer Don Juan and Haydn’s Symphony No. 59 (“Fire”). A highlight of this concert is the appearance of the innovative ensemble Time for Three—Ranaan Meyer (double bass and vocals), Nicolas “Nick” Kendall (violin, vocals), and Charles Yang (violin, vocals)—in Kevin Puts’ Contact, a work that won the 2023 Grammy award for both the composer and the ensemble.

Delaware Symphony: Flames of Renewal
Friday April 24, 7:30pm
The Grand / Copeland Hall, 818 N. Market Street, Wilmington

Popular conductor Michelle Di Russo winds up her first season as DSO’s music director with a concert that awards the orchestra’s annual A.I. duPont Composer’s Award to Carlos Simon, who will attend the performance. Simon holds the first-ever composer’s chair of the Boston Symphony, and the DSO performance opens with his Four Black American Dances. Additional star power will be provided by versatile American pianist and Yamaha artist Peter Dugan, host of NPR’s popular radio show From the Top that showcases young artists. Dugan will play Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F. The evening closes with Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, adapted by the composer from his ballet music. The concert will be repeated downstate on Sunday in Lewes, Delaware.

Thanks for reading BSR! If you enjoyed this preview, be sure to subscribe to our free newsletter and don’t miss the next one. There’s never a paywall at BSR, and you can join the donors who keep our journalism accessible.

Featured image: Carlos Simon will be the recipient of the Delaware Symphony’s 2026 A.I. duPont Composer’s Award. (Photo by Kendall Bessentt.)

Image description: Simon, a Black man, in a red-orange suit with black shirt and necklace, poses for portrait in front of a red-orange tapestry.