Warland in Winona

Among American choral directors only the late Robert Shaw can claim a career as storied and full of achievement as that of St. Olaf College alumnus Dale Warland. Now in his mid-80s, Warland continues to be active, and returns to the Minnesota Beethoven Festival for two concerts with the Festival Chorale, a hand-picked group of specialist ensemble singers from across America. His program ranges from Renaissance — Allegri's famous Miserere — to modern, with works by Stephen Paulus, Arvo Pärt, John Tavener and outstanding Scottish composer James MacMillan. (7:30 p.m. Sat. & 3 p.m. Sun., Chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, St. Mary's University, Winona, Minn. $21-$25. 1-507-457-1715 or mnbeethovenfestival.org)

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Alberto Ginastera was born a hundred years ago in Buenos Aires, and it's good to see his music being celebrated in "Let's Dance," the concert kicking off this year's Sommerfest season at the Minnesota Orchestra. Ginastera's ballet "Estancia" (or "Ranch") is a boy-meets-girl scenario located in the tough cattle fields of the Argentinian pampas, and is one of the composer's most vivid, colorful creations. It shares the bill with "Rodeo," another cowboy ballet, by Ginastera's friend Copland, and works by Liszt, Ravel and Saint-Saëns. Andrew Litton, artistic director of Sommerfest, steers the orchestra. (8 p.m. Fri., Orchestra Hall, Mpls. $30-$60. 612-371-5656 or mnorch.org)

The late-romantic emotionalism of Alban Berg's Sonata and Brahms' magisterial Handel Variations are the twin pillars of a recital by St. Paul pianist Andrew Staupe. Works by Mozart, Schumann and Sarah Snider are also featured, as Staupe continues to pursue a burgeoning solo career alongside teaching commitments at the University of Utah. (7 p.m. Tue., Plymouth Congregational Church, Mpls., free, plymouth.org)

Minneapolis-based Tom Patterson is a notably eclectic composer who in recent years has focused particularly on the tuned percussion instruments of the Javanese gamelan. Patterson's classical compositions are forefronted in a concert by the Mill City String Quartet, containing String Quartet No. 7, and the premiere of No. 8. (7 p.m. Thu., Studio Z, St. Paul, free, millcityquartet.com)

Upstairs, downstairs: Mozart meets "Downton Abbey" as Angels and Demons, a company specializing in site-specific opera productions, inhabit the James J. Hill House for a special, room-to-room staging of "The Marriage of Figaro," Mozart's comic study of a libidinal aristocrat whose sexual predations are constantly thwarted by quick-witted servants. (7 p.m. Sat.-Sun., 240 Summit Av., St. Paul, $150, 651-492-8009 or angelsanddemons.org)

Terry Blain