Dawn Upshaw, Jan. 26 in Ingram Hall, Blair School of Music Dawn Upshaw is one of the leading American classical singers, and she can convincingly cover American Songbook pop (as in her album of songs by Vernon Duke) as well as thorny modern compositions, Mozart operas, or French chansons. She is known for an unaffected style well suited to delivering music that requires clarity and lightness of touch. Upshaw has emerged as a champion for a number of contemporary composers like John Harbison or John Adams, who have the potential to reach beyond the esoteric circle of audience for much modern music. In her recital at Blair, she will appear with Gilbert Kalish on piano, one of today's finest accompanists and a well-known solo interpreter of 20th century pieces. Other notable programs coming up at Blair include a concert dedicated to works of visiting composer Joan Tower (Jan. 29) and a performance by bassist Edgar Meyer, who has collaborated with Mark O'Connor and Bela Fleck, and won a MacArthur "genius" grant (March 19). Call 322-7651 for ticket information. —David Maddox
Alias Chamber Music Ensemble, Feb. 19 in Turner Recital Hall, Blair School of Music Made up of Nashville Symphony members, the chamber ensemble Alias will once again show its willingness to take risks by offering the Nashville premiere of a challenging recent work by a living composer, the multifaceted ironist John Adams. "John's Book of Alleged Dances" was first recorded by the Kronos Quartet in 1998. Like other works by Adams, it makes offbeat gestures toward vernacular music, as if this postmodernist composer were preparing a "fake book" of arrangements for folk dances and some other selective dance trends of the past fifty years. But Adams refers only to "alleged dances," he claims, because "the steps for them have yet to be written." A prerecorded track of prepared piano sounds lends the palpable rhythms of paper and hardware bits creating friction against piano strings, even as the work allows the string quartet to diverge from and play against the reiterations of the tape loop. Call 329-9191, ext. 25, for ticket information. —Bill Levine
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, Feb. 23 in Langford Auditorium Long known as one of the most respected orchestras in the world, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields went back to its smaller-group roots when it established its Chamber Ensemble nearly 40 years ago. The Ensemble's major emphasis has been to perform works for string sextets and octets, though it's taken on any number of different configurations and has at times included wind instruments. Like its parent orchestra, which began with the intention of playing only Baroque works, but gradually expanded its repertoire to include composers of every period since then, the Chamber Ensemble has shown similarly evolving ambitions. Though its personnel and configurations vary, the Ensemble's record of more than 30 CDs with major classical labels has shaped its versatile yet solid tradition. In its American tour of 13 cities this February, the Chamber Ensemble has cultivated a repertoire that champions a number of lesser-known 20th century composers, like Martinu, Enesco and Schulhoff. Part of the Great Performances series at Vanderbilt, this concert will be built on established masterpieces by Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Borodin and Shostakovich. Tickets available at Sarratt box office or by calling Ticketmaster Telecharge at 255-9600. —Bill Levine
Branford Marsalis with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, March 22 in TPAC's Jackson Hall In 2001, Marsalis, for most of his career a post-bop saxophonist who has cultivated strong ties to selective pop artists, released only his second classical album, Creation. The material consisted of 20th century French composers such as Milhaud, Satie, Debussy and Ravel. Because of this focus, the album succeeded, as nearly all of the compositions were written with a sax part, so Marsalis did not have to rely on transcriptions. Backed by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, he was able to give impeccable readings of the tonally polished works while still maintaining his jazz sensibility in his improvised cadenzas, fluid variations and raucous expression. It's been a couple of years since he's toured with Orpheus, but the program he'll be performing with the Nashville Symphony will enable him to revisit some of these impressionist compositions, such as Debussy's "Ibéria," Ravel's "Pavane pour une Infante Défunte" and Ibert's "Concertino da Camera for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra," and will include other works by Tchaikovsky and Glazunov. The concert should testify to Marsalis' intuitive feel for the pulse of any music. Call 255-ARTS for ticket information. —Bill Levine
Nashville Symphony Orchestra, March 25 and 26 in TPAC's Jackson Hall Richard Wagner got credit for forging new compositional methods in the late 19th century, but in significant cases Franz Liszt got there first. Known most for bravura piano pieces that he performed as a celebrated concert artist, Liszt did not leave a body of symphonies, operas or chamber music, the types of works that we associate with most major composers. He did write a series of ambitious symphonic tone poems, one of which is Les Préludes, Romantic music at its most vivid and dramatic. The NSO will perform this piece on a program with Schubert's 8th (Unfinished) Symphony, Richard Strauss' Horn Concerto No. 2, and a work by contemporary composer Edino Krieger. Also keep an eye out for the Feb. 25 and 26 program, which includes the composition Big Medisonal Ceremonial by Gary Powell Nash. Nash serves on the faculty at Fisk and, based on the one piece of his I've heard, seems to be a very polished writer. Call 255-ARTS for ticket information. —David Maddox
The Men and Boys Choir of New College, Oxford, April 8 at St. George's Episcopal Church There is nothing quite so pure as the sound of British choirs, especially the all-male groups in which boys sing the high parts in their bell-like voices. The college choirs of Oxford and Cambridge are bastions of British choral traditions, and the widely recorded choir from New College Oxford ("New" when it was founded in 1379) will appear at St. George's Church in Belle Meade. Nothing equals the sonic impact these groups achieve. Call 385-2150 for more information. —David Maddox
Michael Velting plays an organ concert, 8 p.m. Jan. 9 at Christ Church Cathedral.
Nashville Symphony Orchestra, featuring guest pianist Angela Hewitt, performs Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, Eroica, Jan. 21-22 at TPAC's Jackson Hall.
"Unsung Rachmaninoff," featuring Blair voice faculty, 8 p.m. Jan. 22 in Turner Recital Hall at the Blair School of Music.
The Blakemore Trio, featuring Blair faculty members Amy Dorfman, Carolyn Huebl and Felix Wang, perform works by Beethoven, Schnittke and Dvorak, 8 p.m. Jan. 28 in Ingram Hall at Blair School of Music.
Blair String Quartet performs a spring concert featuring Beethoven's Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 74, Harp, along with works by Husa and Ravel, 8 p.m. Feb. 11 in Ingram Hall at Blair School of Music.
Nashville Chamber Orchestra, joined by a special guest to be announced, 8 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Grand Ole Opry House.
"Sweetheart Cabaret" Singer-songwriters Gretchen Peters and Darrell Scott, join the NCO string quartet and rhythm section for a Valentine's evening concert, 8 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Factory at Franklin.
Ten Blake Songs for Oboe and Tenor Stones River Chamber Players perform Ralph Vaughn Williams' piece, along with Quintet for Piano and Winds by Mozart and Trio for Trumpet, Violin and Piano by Eric Ewazen, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17 in Wright Music Building at MTSU.
"Organized Rhythm" Percussionist Joseph Gramley and organist Clive Driskill-Smith perform together, 8 p.m. Feb. 18 at Christ Church Cathedral.
Fisk Jubilee Singers perform a minority scholarship benefit for the John W. Work III Memorial Foundation, 8 p.m. March 15 in Ingram Hall at Blair School of Music.
Thomas Foster, organist from Beverly Hills, performs 8 p.m. March 18 at Christ Church Cathedral.
Trio PianOVo, featuring Axel Schmidt, Marie-Luise Ewald and Reinhard Wolschina from Weimar, Germany, performs a guest recital, 8 p.m. March 31 in Turner Recital Hall at Blair School of Music.
The Annual Appalachian Celebration, featuring oboist Bobby Taylor, dulcimer player David Schnaufer and mandolinist Butch Baldassari, 8 p.m. April 1 at Blair School of Music.
Stones River Chamber Players perform William Walton's Façade, along with "L'histoire du soldat" by Igor Stravinsky, 7:30 p.m. April 7 in Wright Music Building at MTSU.
Nashville Chamber Orchestra performs a concert with guitarist/multi-instrumentalist John Jorgenson, the NCO String Quintet and Rhythm Section, 8 p.m. April 15 at the Factory at Franklin.
Jose Feliciano and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra perform the world premiere of Michael Levine's Pedal Steel Guitar Concerto, featuring Hall of Famer Gary Morse and guitarist John Jorgenson, 8 p.m. April 16 at the Ryman Auditorium.
Nashville Symphony Orchestra, featuring guest pianist Olga Kern, performs Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, April 29-30 at TPAC's Jackson Hall.
"Bernstein: An American Master" Nashville Symphony Orchestra performs "Fancy Free," "Slavia! A Political Overture" and "The Dybbuk," May 13-14 at TPAC's Jackson Hall.
Alias Chamber Ensemble, featuring Audrey Causilla, Chris Farrell, Joel Reist and Melissa Rose, performs works by Matteis, Natra, Shostakovich, Walker and Brahms, 8 p.m. May 19 in Turner Recital Hall at Blair School of Music.
