Mark O'Connor

1) "Classical Countdown - Tchaikovsky's Greatest Hits" at 8 p.m. on June 6, 2006 at Symphony Hall, Boston, Mass. Tickets are $17 to $74. Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops perform the memorable melodies of Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, called by some the most popular composer of all time (except maybe for Vivaldi). On the program: his violin concerto with Boston Pops concertmaster Tamara Smirnova, the third movement of his Symphony No. 6 ("Pathetique"), and highlights from the ballet "Swan Lake."

2) New England String Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. on June 9, 2006 at Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, Mass. Tickets are $25 to $45. Grammy-winning violinist/fiddler/composer Mark O'Connor performs his "Appalachia Waltz" and "The American Seasons," and Music Director Federico Cortese leads this crack ensemble in Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" (see, I told you he was popular) performed by the winners of the New England String Ensemble's annual String Competition.

3) "GuitarFest 2006" at 8 p.m. on June 11, 2006 at Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, Mass. Admission is free. Under the direction of master guitarist Eliot Fisk, the finalists of the "GuitarFest" competition perform the standard works for their instrument and a newly commissioned work by Michael Gandolfi.

4) "The Medieval Institute at Longy" at 8 p.m. on June 13, 2006 at Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall, Longy School of Music, Cambridge, Mass. Tickets are $15. The Medieval Institute at Longy presents a program called "O Rosa Bella: The Magnificent Music of the Italian 14th Century." Countertenor Michael Collver does triple duty as singer, clavicytherium and organetto player, performing love songs by Machaut, Ciconia, Landini, and others crooners from the period.

5) "Sound Encounters 2006" at 8 p.m. on June 15, 2006 at Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, Mass. Admission is free. This performance workshop for contemporary chamber music includes the faculty concert by artistic directors clarinetist Michael Norsworthy and violist Carol Rodland, plus flutist Mario Caroli, violinist Ariadne Daskalakis, cellist Scott Kluksdahl and pianist Nonken. Composer August Read Thomas is in residence.

6) The Medieval Institute presents its "Grande Finale Concert" at 2 p.m. on June 17, 2006 at Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall, Longy School of Music, Cambridge, Mass. Tickets are $15. Many musicians share the load on this concert. The Early Music Institute Chorus performs the anonymous English "Caput Mass," and performance seminar participants present the songs and ceremonial motets of Francesco Landini and Johannes Ciconia.

7) Summer Institute for Contemporary Piano Performance at 8 p.m. on June 19 and 20, 2006 at Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, Mass. Admission is free. Now how about some music written 600 years after Landini? Artistic director and pianist Stephen Drury, composer-in-residence Michael Finnissey and pianists Yukiko Takagi and Shannon Wettstein go out on the cutting edge for these programs.

8) American Classics at 3 p.m. on June 25, 2006 at Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall, Longy School of Music, Cambridge, Mass. Tickets are $20. This program, titled "A Rose Is..." features songs and chamber music by Rorem, Chanler, Carter, Beach, Musto, Foote, Ives, and a newly commissioned song cycle for soprano, violin, cello, and piano by Graham Ramsay.

9) Juilliard String Quartet at 8:30 p.m. on June 30, 2006 at Tanglewood, Seiji Ozawa Hall, Lenox, Mass. Tickets are $16 to $49. The Julliard Quartet is reason enough to drive down the Mass. Pike, pay your tolls (the Big Dig still needs the money) and hear them in the excellent acoustics of Ozawa Hall. Need another reason? The program features Schubert's "Quartet No. 12" in C minor, D.703, Vinao's "String Quartet No. 2 (The Loss and the Silence)" and Brahms' "String Quartet No. 3" in B-flat, Op. 67.

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