Summer in Philadelphia is an entry point to classical music

Summer settings put us back in touch with the dialogue between nature and classical music — one of this world’s deep pleasures, to be sure. But another way of thinking about pieces dotting the summer season is how perfectly many of them function as on-ramps to the rest of the repertoire.

There are a fair number of movie scores — especially by John Williams, whose emotional-rollercoaster music is a sly path into Mahler, Shostakovich, and others.

Each piece on the Kennett Symphony’s Longwood Gardens program — Rachmaninoff’s touching Vocalise, Khachaturian’s jubilant Masquerade Waltz, and others — reads like an invitation to look for what else these composers have written.

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Pride program is constructed like a series of short samplers. If you like the Copland or Bizet, you’re just a Spotify shuffle away from more. Plus, the concert and several others are free. So what are you risking?

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s free neighborhood concert series isn’t as robust as it once was, but this one in the Northeast promises to remind listeners of what a lovefest these visits can be. Conducting fellow Austin Chanu leads a program that includes Mignone’s “Congada” from O contratador de diamantes, Guarnieri’s “Dansa brasileira,” and works by Bernstein, Copland, and John Williams. The concert is free, with reservations at philorch.org.

Marin Alsop conducts a program dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community with works by LGBTQ+ composers and allies. The music spans a broad range: the world premiere of Laura Karpman’s The Marvels Suite (from the forthcoming movie); the fourth movement of Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra; Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, and Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman; a little Bizet and Tchaikovsky; and Lady Gaga and Jeppe Laursen’s “Born This Way.”

With the ANNA Crusis Feminist Choir, Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus, and the Philadelphia Voices of Pride. The concert is free, with reservations at philorch.org.

The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia takes its Tchaikovsky, Purcell, and Mozart into the colonial architecture of Christ Church and the sylvan setting of Villanova’s Stoneleigh garden in these one-hour concerts. chamberorchestra.org.

The Philadelphia organist has come up with an intriguing program for this free recital at the Kimmel, including To Longwood Gardens, a 1925 work by a then-15-year-old local named Samuel Barber. Also: Britten’s Prelude and Fugue on a Theme of Vittoria, the first movement of Elgar’s Organ Sonata in G, Conte’s own arrangement of the “Moonlight Music” from Strauss’ Capriccio, the Edwin Lemare Carmen Fantasy, and other works. kimmelcenter.org.

Fireworks onstage and off can be expected in this annual concert, one of the few pure classical vestiges of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s once-all-classical season in Fairmount Park. Paolo Bortolameolli, associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, leads the Philadelphians in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, Romeo and Juliet, and 1812 Overture. manncenter.org.

Tender, bellicose, and absolutely terrifying. Conductor Anthony Parnther is on the podium for this live-to-screen Philadelphia Orchestra performance of John Williams’ exquisitely imagined and orchestrated score to the 2015 film. manncenter.org.

Michael Hall conducts the ensemble in traditional fare by Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff, Aram Khachaturian, and others in the Open Air Theatre. longwoodgardens.org.

When his music appeared at the Mann a few seasons ago, Darin Atwater proved a major compositional voice. Now he’s back with Black Metropolis in collaboration with rapper Chill Moody and the Philadelphia Orchestra led by Jonathan Taylor Rush. The concert is free, with reservations at manncenter.org.

For students it’s a chance to learn. The rest of us can sit back and enjoy performances by pianists like Ching Yun Hu, Michael Lewin, Alon Goldstein, Jerome Lowenthal, and Sophia Shuya Liu. pypa.info.