Two celebrated Mozart compositions, as well as a performance by talented student musicians, will be on the agenda when the Arcadia Players open their new season Friday with a concert at Smith College in Northampton.
Now in their 29th season, the Arcadia Players specialize in performing Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical music on replicas of 18th-century instruments, which gives the music lower pitch and a more mellow and intimate sound.
The result, the group says in a press release, is “Mozart performances different than anything usually heard in these times.”
Friday’s concert, at 7:30 p.m. at Smith College’s Sage Hall and led by keyboardist and artistic director Ian Watson, will feature Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, dating from 1785, as well as Symphony #41 (known today as “Jupiter”), with four distinct movements that offer strains of, among other melodies, European country dances.
Opening the show will be selections from Mozart’s chamber music piece, “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” (A Little Serenade), which will be performed by eight music students from Pittsfield and North Adams. The students are part of Kids 4 Harmony, an outreach program Arcadia Players conducts with various schools in the state.
General admission tickets are $37.50 in advance; the price for students is $10. They may be purchased by credit card by calling (413) 586-8742. Tickets will be available at the door for $40. Visit arcadiaplayers.org for additional options or for more information.