As we prepare to turn the clocks ahead this weekend, two local orchestras are ready to spring for strings.

Cuban violinist Ilmar Gavilán will join members of the Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey for a concert to be held in the intimate setting of the Trenton War Memorial ballroom on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and French violinist Philippe Graffin will be a guest of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium on Mar. 19 at 4 p.m.

Gavilán, a founding member of the Harlem Quartet, will perform audience favorites by Fritz Kreisler (“Praeludium and Allegro in the Style of Pugnani”) and Pablo de Sarasate (“Zigeunerweisen,” or “Gypsy Airs”). Also on the CPNJ program will be Mozart’s Divertimento in D major, K. 136, and Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings.”

Graffin will be the soloist in Sir Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto. Also on the PSO program will be Carl Nielsen’s distinctive and dynamic Symphony No. 4, known as the “Inextinguishable.” The tempestuous work, written against the backdrop of World War I, celebrates the indomitable life force. Most notably, the symphony features a thrilling duel between timpanists positioned on either side of the orchestra. Christopher Lyndon-Gee will act as guest conductor for one of the most powerful works by Denmark’s greatest composer.

The allure of Elgar was so strong for Graffin that he left Paris to live in London for two decades, where he worked with Yehudi Menuhin and studied the work’s original manuscript.

Read more about both violinists in my article in today’s Trenton Times.

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2017/03/classical_music_ilmar_gavilan.html

PLEASE NOTE: The Harlem Quartet will join pianist Igal Kesselman and host Rob Kapilow for the next “What Makes It Great?” Kapilow and the musicians will deconstruct Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, followed by a complete performance of the work. Hear it tonight at 8:00 EST, with a repeat tomorrow afternoon at 1:00, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTOS: Gavilán (left) and Graffin