Genre-bending and innovative works add to Philly’s classical music fall

Classical music in Philadelphia this season is making a heroic run at regeneration. After returning from the pandemic shutdown with a double-digit percentage of the audience missing, groups are now aiming to attract new listeners with innovative works — while retaining enough traditional repertoire to excite old friends.

Some — like Opera Philadelphia — have trimmed programming with the hope that they haven’t diluted the exact thing that made them a distinctive success.

Others are starting from scratch. With the Philly Pops on hiatus and its leadership having spent more time last season in the company of lawyers than musicians, a new group has sprung up. No Name Pops makes its Kimmel Center debut this fall. These plucky players know there’s an ardent audience for pops repertoire and that it would be a shame to see the love go unrequited.

The pandemic accelerated several trends already chipping away at the status quo, but none more powerful than an artistic one: the dissolution of firm genre boundaries. Nothing illustrates the point like seeing Time for Three and Chill Moody being presented by WXPN at the Mann on the same bill — a classical string trio with a bluegrass twang celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with a groovy-indie-alternative radio pioneer.

Tradition isn’t disappearing. Bruckner, Mahler, and Rachmaninoff are all on the Philadelphia Orchestra schedule. Philadelphia Chamber Music Society programs are once again awash in Haydn, Schubert, and Beethoven this season.

Which programming philosophy will listeners endorse — the traditional canon, genre-blending, works about social justice and the environment? Most likely all of the above. Groups today find themselves catering to an ever-growing spectrum of tastes and interests.

Lebanese American tenor Karim Sulayman stitches together works of Handel, Monteverdi, and others with new music by Mary Kouyoumdjian to create this chamber opera which, according to the opera, “reframes the Crusades from a Middle Eastern perspective to reveal a new story of belonging and resilience.” Unholy Wars is part of Opera Philadelphia’s O23 festival, which also brings the premiere of Rene Orth’s 10 Days in a Madhouse, inspired by pioneering investigative journalist Nellie Bly and her undercover work in the late 19th century from within a New York asylum; and Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, a relative rarity performed by Opera Philadelphia only once before, three decades ago.

operaphila.org, 215-893-3600

Lush singer, lush orchestra. When McDonald has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra before, it’s made for a potent artistic synergy, and the return of the pairing promises to be one of the high points on the orchestra’s fall calendar. There’s no prepublished program; McDonald will announce tunes from the stage. Likely are works by Richard Rodgers, Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley, Jerry Herman, Duke Ellington, Frederick Loewe, Jule Styne, Harold Arlen, and Gershwin. With McDonald, it doesn’t much matter what she’s singing — only that she is. With conductor Andy Einhorn.

philorch.org, 215-893-1999

The trio born the night the Philadelphia Orchestra couldn’t perform, when the lights went out at the Mann, is back. Now with Charles Yang (violin, vocals), Nicolas “Nick” Kendall (violin, vocals), and Ranaan Meyer (double bass, vocals), Time for Three teams up with West Philly rapper Chill Moody.

manncenter.org, 215-546-7900

Inspiration for art can come from anywhere, but David T. Little found it at what might be thought of as the odd intersection of Julia Child and the Addams Family. The composer reached back into an ancient ritual in which someone places food upon a dead person, and then eats the food to absorb the sins of the deceased. So many questions. But the resulting piece answers by drawing some surprising parallels to modern professions. Sin-Eater, co-commissioned by the Crossing choir and Penn Live Arts, is performed by the chorus and the Bergamot Quartet led by conductor Donald Nally.

pennlivearts.org, 215-898-3900

In a program entitled “Let’s Groove: Motown and The Philly Sound!,” the No Name Pops begins to make a name for itself in its Kimmel Center debut. The group, which self-organized from players of the Philly Pops after that group suspended operations amid a flurry of lawsuits, aims to occupy approximately the same niche as the Philly Pops, but without the legal and organizational drama. The debut has two show times — 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. — with conductor Herb Smith and vocalists Chester Gregory, Brik Liam, and Ashley Jayy.

kimmelcenter.org, 215-893-1999

Beethoven’s String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132 almost always hits the listener as a great piece, but when played by the right group on the right night, the quartet explains everything you need to know about classical music, why live music matters, and the reason we keep returning to certain works. If this Italian foursome is new to listeners here — their Philadelphia Chamber Music Society premiere includes the Beethoven, plus Wolf’s Italian Serenade and the Ravel Quartet in F Major — PCMS’s deep well of credibility makes this debut a good bet.

pcmsconcerts.org, 215-569-8080

The esteemed Philadelphia trumpeter and Longwood Gardens/Wanamaker Grand Court organist team up for a recital that includes Harry James’ short, exhilarating Concerto for Trumpet and Bach’s Trumpet and Organ Concerto in D Major (after Vivaldi’s RV 230).

longwoodgardens.org, 610-388-1000

The pianist, an Astral Artists laureate from two decades ago, returns for a recital of both books of Debussy’s Preludes. Each of the 24 pieces is a world unto itself, as the subtitles suggest. And who wouldn’t want to take up residence in music with subtitles like “What the west wind has seen,” “Fairies are exquisite dancers,” and “Canopic jar?”

astralartists.org, 215-735-6999

Philadelphia’s Mazzoni Center honors composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz with a concert featuring songs from Wicked, Godspell, Pippin, and other shows with artists Paula Cole, Terrence Mann, Jason Robert Brown, Charlotte d’Amboise, Lizzy McAlpine, and others. Hosted by Soledad O’Brien. Proceeds benefit the Mazzoni Center, which serves Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community.

kimmelcenter.org, 215-893-1999

Time was, Philadelphia would get an annual holiday-season visit from Anonymous Four, the spiritual, soaring, crystalline-pure vocal quartet. Anonymous Four is no more, but one of its singers, Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, has formed a new women’s ensemble that ranges from one to six voices. The program features carols and other holiday tunes from the 13th to 21st centuries.

pcmsconcerts.org, 215-569-8080