Civitas Ensemble: The chamber group of Chicago Symphony musicians closes its season with an all-French program that includes Saint-Saens’ merry “Carnival of the Animals” and works by Ravel, Poulenc and Florent Schmitt. Guest artists include pianists Marta Aznavoorian and Victor Asuncion, and baritone-narrator Hugh Russell. 3 p.m. Sunday, Gottlieb Hall, Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria St.; $30, students free with RSVP; www.civitasensemble.org
Academy Orchestra: The Music Institute of Chicago’s training ensemble for pre-college string players and pianists performs a concert of Mozart, Copland and Mendelssohn works under the direction of James Setapen. His daughter, violinist Ilana Setapen, plays the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston; $10-$30; 847-905-1500, ext. 108; www.musicinst.org
Chicago Ensemble: Piano trios by Beethoven (E flat, Op. 1, No. 1) and Brahms (C major, Op. 87) make up the group’s season finale. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut St. (repeated June 3, International House, University of Chicago); $10-$30; 773-558-3448, www.thechicagoensemble.org
Chicago Philharmonic: The orchestra under Scott Speck wraps up its season with “Hollywood Heroes,” a program of favorite film music by John Williams, Maurice Jarre, Ennio Morricone and others. 3 p.m. Sunday, Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph St.; $10-$75, special pricing for children; www.chicagophilharmonic.org
Chicago Sinfonietta: High school student ensembles taking part in the orchestra’s mentoring program SEED (Student Ensembles with Excellence and Diversity) perform their year-end recital. 6 p.m. Tuesday, Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria St.; free, but reservations are required; www.chicagosinfonietta.org
Chicago Symphony Orchestra: Pianist Mitsuko Uchida joins guest conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and the orchestra for Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3; Brahms’ Haydn Variations and Schoenberg’s “Transfigured Night” complete the program; 1:30 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday; $34-$221. Marek Janowski makes his CSO subscription series debut conducting Weber’s “Euryanthe” Overture, Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony and orchestral excerpts from Wagner’s “Tannhauser” and “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg”; 8 p.m. Thursday (repeated June 1-3); $34-$220. Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-294-3000, www.cso.org
Festival of New Carillon Music: The first such festival in Chicago includes 16 world premieres, including “Ripple Effects” by University of Chicago composer Augusta Read Thomas, and scores by Laura Steenberge, Geert d’Hollander and Kathryn Alexander. The carilloneurs are Tiffany Ng, Frans Haagen, Ellen Dickinson and Joey Brink. 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn Ave.; free; 773-834-4685. http://rockefeller.uchicago.edu
Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts: Pianist Renana Gutman plays music of Bach, Chopin, Ligeti and Schulhoff. 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.; free; 312-670-6888, www.imfchicago.org
‘In the Realm of the Senses’: String player Jeff Yang, who created the cross-disciplinary, multi-sensory project (which launches this fall), presides over a fundraiser that includes a new version of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” live animation, an original stage art installation and a private concert by the Spektral Quartet. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse St. (also 7:30 p.m. June 16, PianoForte Studios, 1335 S. Michigan Ave.); $45-$60; www.intherealmofthesenses.com
Lyric Opera of Chicago: In collaboration with the Chicago Urban League, the company presents “Empower,” an original opera with music by Damien Sneed and libretto by Ike Holter, based on the life experiences of 31 local African-American high school students. All of the Chicago students took part in developing the new work since the October launch of the program, EmpowerYouth! Igniting Creativity through the Arts. Also participating will be singers Angela Brown and Will Liverman, and a choir from Nicholas Senn High School. 7 p.m. Thursday, Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive; $10-$20; www.lyricopera.org/empoweryouth
Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra: The ensemble is joined by vocal soloists, the University Chorale and Apollo Chorus for Rachmaninov’s choral masterpiece “The Bells.” It shares the program with what is believed to be the first-ever Chicago-area performance of Prokofiev’s early, gritty Symphony No. 2 (1925). Victor Yampolsky conducts. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street; 847-491-5441, www.concertsatbienen.org
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Orion Ensemble: Violinist Stefan Hersh and violist Stephen Boe join the chamber group for its season finale, which includes Carl Maria von Weber’s Clarinet Quintet in B flat and Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A major. 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston; $10-$26, free for ages 12 and under; 630-628-9591, www.orionensemble.org
University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra: Barbara Schubert leads the student orchestra in its season finale, which includes the Brahms First Symphony and Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 (“The Age of Anxiety”), with Daniel Pesca as piano soloist. 8 p.m. Saturday, Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St.; donations of $10 general, $5 students and children, are requested; 773-702-8484, www.music.uchicago.edu
John von Rhein is a Tribune critic.
Twitter @jvonrhein