Arts Agenda: Classical Music – February and March 2025

Each week, ArtsATL delivers a critic’s short list of the shows, exhibitions, concerts and events we recommend for the coming weeks within one discipline in the kaleidoscope of Atlanta arts and culture. Every week, we’ll present a different art form.

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February 9

Bach Bowl — Concerti of J. S. Bach at Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. The Society Chamber Orchestra performs a pre-Super Bowl concert with some of Atlanta’s brightest classical stars: violinist David Coucheron, trumpeter Stuart Stephenson and oboist Elizabeth Tiscione: Free.

February 13 and15

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Belshazzar’s Feast at Symphony Hall. Guest conductor Vasily Petrenko leads the orchestra and the ASO Chorus in William Walton’s 1931 jazz-inspired oratorio drawn from the Old Testament story. Tickets: $36 and up.

February 20 and 22

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s All Haydn at Symphony Hall. Guest conductor Matthew Halls and cellist Sterling Elliott play an evening of Haydn. Saturday is HBCU night and features a post-concert gathering in partnership with HBCU Alumni Alliance. Tickets: $29 and up.

February 21

UGA and First Presbyterian Choirs’ Lux Aeterna at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. An evening of light and emotional music is promised in a performance of the Morten Lauridsen work. Free.

February 27 and March 1

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven Project: Symphonies 6 + 8 at Symphony Hall. The ambitious Beethoven Project — a year-long  plan to perform eight of Beethoven’s nine symphonies — continues apace as maestro Nathalie Stutzmann conducts. Tickets: $27 and up.

February 28

Candler Concert Series: Daniel Hope with Polish Chamber Orchestra at Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. The celebrated violinist returns with a favorite partner, the Polish Chamber Orchestra of Sinfonia Varsovia, to perform Orawa by Polish composer Wojciech Kilar, along with works by Gluck, Haydn and Mozart. Tickets: $65 with student discount.

February 28-March 2

Atlanta Baroque Orchestra’s The Golden Hour. This mixed bill features the same concert at three locations: The Cathedral of St. Philip, Lassiter Concert Hall, Marietta, and First Baptist Church of Decatur. Tickets: $35 and up with discounts available.

March 1-9

The Atlanta Opera’s Macbeth at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. The Verdi opera based on the Shakespeare play was — in the words of the composer himself — “like no other!” Tickets: $52-$197.

March 2

Black Violin’s Full Circle Tour at Symphony Hall. Classical meets hip-hop with the Grammy winning duo Wil Baptiste and Kev Marcus. Tickets: $39.50 and up with special offers.

March 6-9

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven Project: Symphonies 4 + 7 at Symphony Hall. But wait — there’s more! The Beethoven Project continues into the spring with another pair by the German composer. Tickets: $39 and up.

March 8

Challenge the Stats and Concerts @ First’s Sounds of Home at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. An evening of music celebrating Black, indigenous and immigrant stories. Free with RSVP.

March 9

Escher String Quartet with Boris Giltburg at Spivey Hall. The quartet known for “its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty” welcomes the sensitive and compelling Boris Giltburg on piano playing Beethoven, Bartók and Brahms. Tickets: $35-$65.

March 14 and 15

Atlanta Master Chorale’s Pathways at Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. This concert intriguingly asks audiences to go with the flow and find alternative pathways through the music and through life. Tickets: $42 with student discounts available.

March 15

Elisabeth Brauss at Spivey Hall. The German pianist has been lauded for being an old soul in the body of a young performer. Her Spivey Hall debut includes Beethoven, Prokofiev and more. Tickets: $25-$55.

March 20 and 22

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Robert Spano Conducts Copland at Symphony Hall. The Atlanta favorite returns to conduct Appalachian Spring, as well as Jennifer Higdon’s Grammy-winning Harp Concerto. Tickets: $29 and up.

March 25

DeKalb Symphony Orchestra at Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Stone Mountain. Take in something a little unusual with Séjourné’s Concerto for Marimba and Strings performed by Eve Gordon, winner of the symphony’s Young Artists Concerto Competition. The orchestra also plays Verdi and Dvořák. Tickets: $10-$44.

March 28 and 29

Atlanta Baroque Orchestra and the Cathedral of St. Philip Choir and Schola at St. Philip Cathedral. Monteverdi’s Vespers performed by period instrumentalists in an acoustic environment similar to the one for which the work was written. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Tickets: $10-$150.

March 29

Tetzlaff Quartet at Spivey Hall. Widely known throughout Europe, this quartet has been in action for over 30 years. This rare U.S. appearance includes works by Mendelssohn, Widmann and Dvorak. Tickets: $35-$65.

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Pairs well with…

Other events you might enjoy.

Civil War re-enactors discover that perhaps the war never really ended in the comedy drama Shiloh Rules at Act1 Theater (February 7 through February16) … Every Saturday in February delivers moments in Black history through improv in Black Voices Unscripted at Whole World Improv (Through February 22) … Timothy Hull takes a modern view of classical Greek sculpture in Anonymous Fragments at the Michael C. Carlos Museum (February 14 through June 29) … Fiction legend Tayari Jones speaks with Isaac’s Song author Daniel Black at the Atlanta History Center (February 9) … Continue a celebration of Black History Month with a free screening of the documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble at the Rialto Center for the Arts at GSU (February 21).

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Next week’s Arts Agenda: The arts on TV