Jan. 28--Kronos Quartet, "My Lai": Beginning a five-year creative collaboration with the Harris Theater, the ensemble presents the world premiere of Jonathan Berger's operatic monodrama for string quartet, voice (tenor Rinde Eckert) and Vietnamese instruments (Van-Anh Vanessa Vo), based on the infamous 1968 massacre of civilians during the Vietnam War. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St.; $35-$125; 312-334-7777, www.harristheaterchicago.org
Chicago Ensemble: Piano quintets by Bohuslav Martinu and Ludwig Thuille anchor a chamber concert that also holds Faure's song cycle "La Bonne Chanson," sung by baritone Ryan Cox. Artistic director Gerald Rizzer is the pianist. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut St. (repeated Feb. 7 at International House, University of Chicago); $25, $10 for students; www.thechicagoensemble.org
Constellation: Canadian pianist Vicky Chow of Bang on a Can All Stars plays new works with electronics by Remy Siu, Adama Basanta and Andy Akiho, along with Steve Reich's "Piano Counterpoint;" 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The celebrated minimalist pianist R. Andrew Lee plays Dennis Johnson's 4 1/2-hour improv work, "November," the inspiration for La Monte Young's seminal "The Well-Tuned Piano," at 5 p.m. Sunday. 3111 N. Western Ave.; $10-$15; www.constellation-chicago.com
Elgin Symphony Orchestra: Music director Andrew Grams takes the podium for Copland's "Appalachian Spring" suite and Shostakovich's big, programmatic Symphony No. 11 ("The Year 1905"). 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin; $30-$65; 847-888-4000, www.elginsymphony.org
Lyric Opera -- Verdi's "Nabucco": In many ways the chorus is the star of this opera about power, politics and religion, Giuseppe Verdi's first big international hit, with its rousing "Va, pensiero" chorus. Zeljko Lucic takes the title role, with Tatiana Serjan as Abigaille and debuts by Sergey Skorokhodov as Ismaele and Dmitry Belosselskiy as Zaccharia. Carlo Rizzi conducts, Matthew Ozawa directs. Through Feb. 12, Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive; $34-$239; 312-827-5600, www.lyricopera.org
Northshore Concert Band: The program under Mallory Thompson's direction includes an instrumental arrangement of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana," along with works by Gustav Holst and Ron Nelson. 3 p.m. Sunday, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Northwestern University, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; $18, $13 for seniors, $7 for students and children; 847-432-2263, www.northshoreband.org
Oberlin Conservatory: The nation's oldest music conservatory makes its Chicago debut with two free concerts given in celebration of its 150th anniversary. The Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble under Timothy Weiss will play works by Augusta Read Thomas, Stephen Hartke, Marc Andre Dalbavie and others; 7 p.m. Friday, Ganz Hall, Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Ave. Raphael Jimenez conducts the Oberlin Orchestra in Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," Strauss' "Four Last Songs" and other works, with soprano Marcy Stonikas as soprano soloist; 8 p.m. Saturday, Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave. To reserve tickets for the Friday concert, visit www.oberlin.edu/chicago2016; for the Saturday event, call 312-294-3000, or visit www.cso.org
Garrick Ohlsson: The formidable American pianist, winner of the Bienen School's 2014 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance, plays solo works inspired by visual art, including Granados' "Goyescas" and Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." 7:30 p.m. Friday, Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall, Ryan Center, Northwestern University, 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; $30, $10 for students,; 847-467-4000, events.music.northwestern.edu
Schubertiade Chicago: More than 25 musicians will perform Schubert piano works, chamber music and songs as part of the PianoForte Foundation's free, annual Franz Schubert birthday celebration. 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, PianoForte Studios, 1335 S. Michigan Ave.; www.pianofortefoundation.org
Spektral Quartet: Chicago's hippest contemporary classical quartet celebrates the release of its latest album, "Serious Business," with concerts including new works written for the ensemble by Sky Macklay, David Reminick and Chris Fischer-Lochhead. 8 p.m. Friday, Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse Ave.; and 3 p.m. Sunday, Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago, 915 E. 60th St.; www.spektralquartet.com
John von Rhein is a Tribune critic.
jvonrhein@tribpub.com
