Fall Highlights: Classical & Opera

SEPTEMBER
Musicircus
John Cage's anarchic 1968 work comes to the MCA. The original event was an all-day affair at University of Illinois that mixed art, music, film, dancing and everything else anyone could think of. The Chicago Composers Forum's half-day version should be a blast if it comes even halfway close to the original. Museum of Contemporary Art. Sept 25, free.

East Meets West
Now in its second season, Dominican University's Performing Arts Series shows no signs of slowing. Violinist Daniel Hope takes an outside-the-box approach to classical music, mixing Bartok with Eastern traditions. The group—pianist Sebastian Knauer, sitarist Gaurav Mazumdar and tabla player Asok Chakraborty—presumably gives Hope a break from his more staid day job with the Beaux Arts Trio. Lund Auditorium. Sept 30; $25, $40.

OCTOBER
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
In his 53 years as principal trumpet, Adolph Herseth was really known for one piece: Mahler's Symphony No. 5 and its opening unaccompanied trumpet solo. Christopher Martin, the new principal trumpet, takes on that solo in this concert, and we'll see what sort of changing of the guard we're in for. Violin powerhouse Nikolaj Znaider will play Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, too. Daniel Barenboim conducts. Symphony Center, Orchestra Hall. Oct 14–16, $17–$114.

Hakan Hardenberger
The Swedish trumpet virtuoso plays a largely contemporary recital. On the bill are Berio's Sequenza X, Hindemith's Trumpet Sonata, Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre and smaller works by Honegger and Enescu. The Hindemith, from 1939, is an indelible picture of war's horror. The Berio? Let's just say that trumpet-playing inside a piano shouldn't be missed. Aleksandar Mazdar accompanies. Mandel Hall. Oct 21, $30.