Classical picks

The N.C. Symphony starts its classical season in a grand manner this weekend. Tonight and Saturday in Raleigh's Meymandi Concert Hall, music director Grant Llewellyn leads the orchestra in something new (the premiere of "City of Oaks" by our own Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Ward), something relatively unfamiliar (Samuel Barber's "Knoxville, Summer of 1915") and something well-known and loved (Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"). For the Barber piece, rising soprano Nicole Cabell adds her well-established lush vocalizing. Look for my review online Saturday afternoon.

Next Thursday in Meymandi, the symphony offers a concert featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

The Mallarmé Chamber Players celebrate their 25th anniversary season Sunday in Durham's First Presbyterian Church. Six musicians play Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat," Ravel's Piano Trio, Britten's Cello Suite No. 3 and Miriam Gideon's "The Seasons of Time."

Tonight, Duke Chapel organist David Arcus plays a recital on the Létourneau pipe organ at Edenton Street United Methodist Church with works including Mendelssohn, Bach, Widor and Messiaen. On Saturday, UNC Music has a program with cellist Fred Raimi, violinist Richard Luby, harpsichordist Elaine Funaro and soprano Jeanne Fischer performing solo cello suites and arias by Bach, Handel and Britten.