PEACH WEEKENDER

Music: Toledo Symphony wraps up Classics Serie

Stefan Jackiw will perform with the Toledo Symphony Friday and Saturday in the Peristyle.

Ending its groundbreaking 70th season with a flourish, the Toledo Symphony will perform at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle.

Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor is on the program, to be led by principal conductor Stefan Sanderling, a fitting milestone for his first decade leading the orchestra.

From its opening trumpet call in the funeral march, this weighty yet lyrical work, scored for more than 100 musicians, moves to the final rondo, expressing the richness of human emotion in a way few other works can manage.

But before the Mahler, the festive evening will mark the debut of yet another rising-star young artist, violinist Stefan Jackiw. He’ll perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor.

Two years after the Toledo Symphony made its highly acclaimed 2011 Carnegie Hall debut in the Spring for Music Festival, Jackiw performed on the famed Isaac Stern stage, winning over audiences with his intelligent and sensitive playing. His interpretation of the Mendelssohn concerto has become one of Jackiw’s signature works. He has played it in Detroit, London, and the Netherlands since his debut in 2002.

The son of Korean and German parents, physicists both, Jackiw (JACK-ee) began playing violin at age 4. Now 26, he has degrees from Harvard University and the New England Conservatory of Music and has won the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Jackiw lives in New York but is a musical star around the globe.

Presented in memory of longtime symphony supporter Edward H. Schmidt, the concerts wrap up a 2013-2014 season which has pushed the orchestra and its management in new and exciting directions, including the very successful Ode to Joy debut in Huntington Center and the Brahms Festival last winter with Kyril Gerstein, pianist.

Formed in 1943 by a small but determined cluster of visionary Toledoans, the Toledo Symphony has grown and flourished from its premiere in Macomber Vocational School’s auditorium. Creative problem-solving, strong community support, and dedication to the highest artistic standards have helped the orchestra solve fiscal and artistic challenges.

With its core orchestra members living in the area, today’s orchestra is the musical tide that lifts so many creative vessels, providing wonderful and original live programming, music education from preschool through adult, reaching into the entire northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan territory. To all supporters, president Kathy Carroll says: “You and I are ‘makers of music’ because we recognize the power of great music to bind a community together.”

Tickets for this final Classics Series concert are $22-$55 at 419-246-8000 or www.toledosymphony.com.

● More young performers — perhaps tomorrow’s international stars — will take the Valentine Theatre stage in the annual Kaleidoscope presented by the Toledo School for the Arts. Shows are set for 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, plus a 2 p.m. matinee Saturday.

Created around a theme, the programming draws on instrumental and choral music — solos and ensembles — dance troupes, theater, acrobatics, and more. Romantic choreography, scripts, and costumes are the norm for this amazing outpouring of young accomplishment.

The Great Hall next to the auditorium holds an exhibit of student art in many media, and there’s a shop for that perfect gift. Tickets are $12-$28 at 419-246-8732 ext. 226 or at the Valentine box office before each show.

● Yet another youth-focused project, the Greater Toledo International Youth Orchestra, now in its third incarnation with founder Yang Kun Song, has announced a concert this weekend and plans for a major summer journey.

Spain is the destination for the orchestra’s week-long trip, which will include stops in Toledo, Madrid, and Segovia. Arranged in conjunction with the Association of Two Toledos, the tour will include home stays with families in this city’s namesake, with a performance in Toledo’s city hall. After visiting other sights, the group is to make an appearance at the annual two-week International Music Festival in Segovia. Dates are July 8-17.

In preparation, the youth orchestra will perform its spring concert at 4 p.m. Sunday in Westgate Chapel, 2500 Wilford Dr., where the group rehearses weekly. The program planned will include music to be performed during the July tour. Tickets will be $7-$10 at the door.

● Tecumseh Center for the Arts, 400 N. Maumee St., will present the resident big band in its Spring Concert, 4 p.m. Sunday in the auditorium. Joining the band will be the VocalAires ensemble bringing sounds of the swing era to life. Tickets are $5 at the door.

Information: 517-423-6617 and www.theTCA.org.

● Ballet Theatre of Toledo, which offers classical ballet instruction for ages 3 through adult under the direction of artistic director Nigel Burgoine and ballerina Anne Marie Getz, will host an open house from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday at its studio, 1124 Corporate Dr. in Holland. The day will include class demonstrations in its three studios, dancers of all ages, instructors, including Burgoine and Getz, and costume and set displays. Parents of dancers as well as Ballet Theatre of Toledo board members will give tours and answer questions on educational and performance-based opportunities. Refreshments will be served. For information, call 419-861-0895.

● St. Tim’s Discovers presents chamber music at 5 p.m. Sunday in the sanctuary of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 871 E. Boundary St., Perrysburg. Performers will be clarinetist Georg Klaas, violist Florin Simioanca, pianist Pamela Ashmore, and soprano Cheryl Babb. Admission is free.

● Harpists from 15 states and Canada will meet today through Sunday at Sauder Heritage Inn in Archbold, Ohio, for the seventh annual Harp Festival. There will be workshops, concerts, and jam sessions. The public may attend any of the three concerts; tickets, $15, will be available at the door. Individual workshop tickets can be purchased for $65.

Performing at 7 p.m. Friday are the harp and acoustic guitar duo Tapestry (Denise and Michael Grupp-Verbon of Toledo), and Frank Voltz, gospel/​jazz harpist from Winston-Salem, N.C.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, San Francisco harpists Lisa Lynne and Aryeh Frankfurter, and Scottish harpist Maeve Gilchrist will perform.

On Sunday at 11:15 a.m., the Harp Gathering Ensemble, directed by Frank Voltz, followed by Cynthia Shelhart of Chesterton, Ind., will perform.

Information: harpgathering.com or 419-478-4177.

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