From the Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2005 issue

Music

Concerts

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 24



MUSIC FOR LUNCH

Pianist Susan Neumann plays Handel's Suite in A Major, Debussy's "Arabesque No. 1," a Chopin Nocturne, and three pieces from Argentinean composer Alberto Ginastera's Suite de Danzas Criollas. Sherman-Clay Piano & Organ, 1624 Fourth Ave, 622-7580, 12:15 pm, free.

MICHAEL BISIO TRIO

Bassist Bisio plays standards with guitarist Paul Sawyer and flutist Bernie Jacobs in an elegant, drummerless trio that concludes its three-year residency at the Pink Door. Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, 443-3241, 8 pm, free.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 25



LAKE UNION CIVIC ORCHESTRA

This community orchestra performs Samuel Barber's "Second Essay for Orchestra," Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F with soloist Sara Buechner, and a new work by conductor Christophe Chagnard. Town Hall, Eighth Ave and Seneca St, 343-5826, 7:30 pm, $8/$14.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 26



FLORENCIA IN THE AMAZONS

Kudos to the Seattle Opera for flouting the Sixth Law of Opera ("Thou shalt not revive any opera by a living composer") by bringing back Daniel Catán's Florencia en al Amazonas. With just enough of the old (lush, tempestuous arias that are actually good tunes) and glints of the new (use of the marimba and vaporous orchestral timbres--I especially like the nod to Petrushka at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 3), Florencia is "new" but not too new. Runs through March 12; see www.seattleopera.org for details. McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St, 389-7676, 7:30 pm, $40-$123. SUNDAY FEBRUARY 27



SEATTLE YOUTH SYMPHONY

Conductor Huw Edwards leads the band in Wagner's overture to The Flying Dutchman, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music, the finale of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, and my favorite Tchaikovsky orchestral work, the rowdy, rambunctious Symphony No. 5. Benaroya Hall, Third Ave and Union St, 362-2300, 3 pm, $8-$35.

PAT METHENY GROUP

Kvetch if you must about the thoroughgoing slickness of Pat Metheny, but I admire the ultra-arranged tunes, peerless picking, and fastidious, lick-the-plate clean production of this guitarist's albums. And though his new disc, The Way Up (Nonesuch), is nowhere near as gutsy as 1994's blisteringly noisy Zero Tolerance for Silence (it befuddled fans much like Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music), Metheny & Co. cannily sew enough smart sections of bop, fusion, and the avant together to keep things interesting. Paramount Theatre, Ninth Ave and Pine St, 292-2787, 8 pm, $35-$60.

TUESDAY MARCH 1



DAVE DOUGLAS & NOMAD

Exploratory trumpeter and John Zorn compadre comes to town with his latest project. Douglas formed Nomad, an ensemble of trumpet, clarinet, cello, tuba, and percussion, "to play music inspired by the myths and the spirit of rural mountain culture." I don't care if he's inspired by supermarkets, Douglas is a must-hear musician. The Triple Door, 216 Union St, 838-4333, 7:30 pm, $27.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 2



ELECTRONIC ARTS

Media arts historian Robin Oppenheimer screens excerpts of rare film and video footage of 1960's electronic art, including Variations V, a 1966 document of a multi-media work choreographed by Merce <> Cunningham and scored by John Cage. Essential. Seattle Art Museum, 100 University St, 654-3100, 7:30 pm, free.

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