“I am so excited to champion the music of Cara Haxo through the premiere of her piece ‘The Passing of Grackles,’ written for me as part of my bird-concert programming,” says Dr. Carol Shansky, Applied Flute Faculty, Kutztown University (KU).

Carol Shansky presents “Fire and Ice,” 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21, Wells-Rapp Center for Percussion Research, Kutztown University, Kutztown.

Composed in 2025, “The Passing of Grackles” for solo alto flute illustrates a still garden, gathering flocks of birds and captures the melancholy and sadness of summer’s end.

Joined by KU faculty guest artists Dan Immel, piano; Peter Isaacson, violin, and Jeremy Justeson, saxophone, Shansky performs “Sonatine for flute and piano” by Claude Arrieu, “Deux Interludes for flute, violin and piano” by Jacques Ibert, “Epitaphe de Jean Harlow, Romance for flute, saxophone and piano” by Charles Koechlin, and “Sonata for flute and piano” by Sergei Prokovief.

“The French pieces are not well-known and are truly gems of lyricism and a French ‘coolness,’ while the Prokofiev piece is a work of fire and energy,” says Shansky, adding, “The audience will enjoy the French lyricism, Russian energy and poetic writing of the premiere work.”

Shansky, a chamber musician and orchestral flutist, is Principal Flute, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (N.J.); performs with Synergy 78 and Highwood Chamber Ensemble, and is a frequent recitalist and pit orchestra musician for musicals in the greater New York City area.

“Fire and Ice,” 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21, Wells-Rapp Center for Percussion Research, Kutztown University, 15205 Kutztown Road, Kutztown. Free. Information: 610-683-4550, https://www.kutztown.edu/

“The Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra (LVCO) is excited to kick off its 2026-2027 season with ‘Shadow and Light,’ featuring works by Jean Sibelius and Joseph Haydn,” says Sarai Dai, LVCO Director of Operations.

LVCO presents “Shadow and Light,” 3 p.m. Oct. 25, Church of the Mediator, Allentown.

Music Director Nikhil Bartolomeo opens the concert with a short talk about the concert’s themes and stories.

“Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ ‘Pelleas and Melisande, Op. 46’ (1905) casts the concert’s titular shadow through the lovers’ tragic tale,” says Dai.

“Originally composed as incidental music to accompany Maurice Maeterlinck’s play of the same name, the suite traces Pelleas and Melisande’s doomed love story through dramatic solos and grand symphonic moments,” Dai says.

“Sibelius’ interpretation of the play’s themes of human blindness and lack of self-knowledge, as well as its dim and decrepit setting of a decaying castle and claustrophobic forest, resonate throughout the suite, culminating in a dramatic, moving depiction of the lovers’ deaths at the hand of Melisande’s jealous husband,” says Dai.

“In contrast, Joseph Haydn’s ‘Symphony No. 88 in G’ (1787) shines a ray of light on the program. With a finale considered to be among the most cheerful Haydn ever wrote, the symphony shows off Haydn’s playfulness and creativity to masterful extent,” Dai says.

LVCO Music Director Nikhil Bartolomeo is a conductor, clarinetist and woodwind doubler based in New York City and founding member and co-director of Voyager Reed Quintet. He received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Clarinet Performance from The State University of New York at Stony Brook.

LVCO is a musician-led orchestra that seeks to engage and inspire the community through outstanding orchestral and chamber music performances, aspiring to provide a diverse, vibrant, and enriching experience.

Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, “Shadow and Light,” 3 p.m. Oct. 25, Church of the Mediator, 1620 W. Turner St., Allentown. Tickets: https://www.lvchamberorchestra.org/tickets

“Classical View” is a column about classical music concerts, conductors and performers. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com