JIM KNAPP ORCHESTRA
NYC composer and Meredith Monk collaborator Kirk Nurock joins this straight-ahead aggregation for some contemporary big band jazz. Nurock's work includes arranging for ex-Manhattan Transfer chanteuse Janis Siegel, conducting for NYC drummer Bobby Previte, and scoring music for 20 voices and three canines, so expect the tunes to have some unexpected twists and turns. Kerry Hall at Cornish College, 710 E Roy, 325-6500, 8 pm, $6/$12.
FRIDAY JANUARY 31
AMADEUS
Was Mozart a great composer? Next to Beethoven, Mozart drifts down to my B-list, but ol' Wolfgang did write some heart-stopping vocal music. For this all-Mozart concert, baritone Clayton Brainerd joins the NW Sinfonietta for overtures and arias from six Mozart operas. Also Sat Feb 1 at the Rialto Theater in Tacoma, and Sun Feb 2 at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in Olympia. Town Hall, Eighth Ave and Seneca St, 888-356 6040, 8 pm, $10-$35.
SEATTLE COMPOSERS' SALON
A monthly, informal presentation of new music by Seattle composers, the Salon features finished works, previews, and works in progress. Composer and emcee Tom Baker has rounded up acoustic and electronic works by Phillip Arnautoff, Ellen Fullman, Robert Henry, Josh Parmenter, Korby Sears, and yours truly, who scrounged up a field recording from the war in Afghanistan. Soundbridge at Benaroya Hall, Second Ave & Union St, 215-4747, 8 pm, $5.SATURDAY FEBRUARY 1
SWITCH, THIS UNCOMMON LIGHT BEARS A HOST OF PALE FORMS
No, Switch is not an off-off-Broadway musical of that great, forgotten mid-1970s TV series with Robert Wagner, but an electro-acoustic improvising chamber group specializing in spare, gradually transforming sounds. Led by alto saxophonist Gregory Reynolds, whose mastery of slowly changing tones (almost literally) knocked me out a few weeks ago, this sextet boasts an interesting instrumentarium, which includes accordion, prepared Fender Rhodes piano, and assorted electronics. Polestar Music Gallery, 1412 18th Ave at E Union St, 329-4224, 8 pm, $6.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 2
ANDREW J. KING
King, who has been an organist at First Lutheran Church of West Seattle since 1974, presents a concert of German organ music ranging from the 18th to the 20th centuries. On the program: Johann Walther's Partita on "Jesu meine Freude," J. S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in E-Flat Major (BWV 552), Mozart's Fantasy in F (K. 594), and two choral preludes by Brahms. Two almost-forgotten 20th-century composers, Paul Hindemith and Max Reger, round out the bill. Walker-Ames Room, Kane Hall, UW Campus, 685-8384, 3 pm, $8/$10.
MUSICAL EXPERIENCES
Pianist Fred Kronacher, violinist Adrianna Hulscher, and cellist Mara Finkelstein perform trios by Haydn (the trio in A, Hob. xv.9) and Brahms (the trio in B op. 8). Each performance also features a discussion led by Fred, so you can find out why the "Hob." stands for Hoboken. Here's a tip for living composers: Catalog your works before you die, otherwise who knows what weird letters (or words) will follow your works. Green Lake United Methodist Church, 6415 First Ave NE, 368-9247, 3 pm, $12/$17.
