“This is actually a rather eclectic program,” says Diane Wittry, Allentown Symphony Orchestra Music Director and Conductor, adding, “It includes the world premiere of Allentown Symphony Association Composer-in-Residence Clarice Assad’s “Frankenstein,” Aulis Sallinen’s “Cello Concerto, Op. 44,” performed by our 2024 Schadt String Competition Winner Gaeun Kim, and Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64.”

Allentown Symphony Orchestra presents “Season Finale: Tchaikovsky’s 5th!,” 7:30 p.m. April 26; 2 p.m. April 27, Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown.

The concert opens with Assad’s “Frankenstein,” a work composed by “many hands.” Approximately 64 individuals, including El Sistema students, submitted short melodies, chord progressions or rhythms along with a dash of Artificial Intelligence which Assad “skillfully stitched together.”

A graduate of the Juilliard School, cellist Gaeun Kim then takes the stage for Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen’s two-movement “Cello Concerto, Op. 44” (1977), comprising a blend of Finnish tango characteristics, minor keys, march rhythms and lyrical and dramatic sections.

The concert closes with Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64” (1888) where the music “goes from the depths of fate and darkness to a triumphal ending,” says Wittry, adding, “It’s a great piece with which to end this year’s ASO season.”

Allentown Symphony Orchestra, “Tchaikovsky’s 5th!,” 7:30 p.m. April 26; 2 p.m. April 27, Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown. Free tickets for those 21 and under. Tickets: box office; 610-432-6715; https://millersymphonyhall.org/

“I discovered Josef Rheinberger at a choral workshop and thought two of his works would partner well with Zoltán Kodály’s ‘Brevis Mass in D minor,’” says Eduardo Azzati, Camerata Singers Conductor and Artistic Director, adding, “And I am very pleased that distinguished organist Mark Laubach joins us for this program.”

Camerata Singers presents “Music of Rheinberger and Kodály,” 3 p.m. April 26, First Presbyterian Church, Allentown.

The concert opens with organist Laubach’s performance of the virtuosic, powerful and dramatic “Fantasia in G Minor, BWV 542” by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Commencing with free improvisation, it moves to ominous passages with surprising harmonic twists and turns.

Says Azzati, “We then follow with two works by Liechtenstein composer Joseph Rheinberger (1839-1901), where each work highlights sections of the singers.”

Rheinberger’s “Mass in B flat major, Op. 172” (1892), written for men’s chorus and organ, features tenors and basses in the movements, “Kyrie, “Gloria” and “Sanctus,” while his “Three Latin Hymns, Op. 96” (1876) features treble voices and organ in movements “Regina Coeli,” “Adoramus” and “Ave vivens hostia.”

“One of my favorite composers is Hungarian Zoltán Kodály but, unfortunately, his music is not often performed in the United States,” notes Azzati.

“For this concert, I chose Kodály’s “Brevis Mass in D minor” for chorus and organ, which he composed during World War II while seeking shelter in the Budapest opera house.”

The work, a complete setting of the Catholic mass, features a solo trio for three sopranos, numerous solo lines and several passages resembling Renaissance music.

“In the Rheinberger pieces, the organ has more of a support role whereas in the Kodály mass the organ has its own material and personality, depicting different parts of the text colors and sounds to highlight the expression of the text,” says Azzati.

At the organ is Mark Laubach, Organist and Choirmaster of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Wilkes-Barre; Pro-Cathedral of the Diocese of Bethlehem, and Honorary Canon Precentor of the Diocese.

Camerata Singers, “Spring Concert: Music of Rheinberger and Kodály,” 3 p.m. April 26, First Presbyterian Church, 3231 W. Tilghman St., Allentown; Tickets: PSO office, 1524 W. Linden St., Allentown; 610-434-7811; http://www.pacameratasingers.org/tickets.html

“Classical View” is a column about classical music concerts, conductors and performers. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com