With oboe and baton

Frenchman François Leleux is one of a growing number of musicians who run parallel careers as soloists and conductors. For his St. Paul Chamber Orchestra debut, Leleux plays an Oboe Concerto with Haydn's name on it (but probably by someone else), and a selection of Mendelssohn's delightful "Songs Without Words" arranged for strings and oboe. At either end of the program he picks up the conductor's baton for two works with a Mediterranean flavor, Schubert's Overture in the Italian Style and Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony. (11 a.m. Fri., 8 p.m. Sat. & 2 p.m. Sun.; Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul; $12-$50, 651-291-1144 or thespco.org)

Classical dance part 1

The elegance of French baroque music lends itself perfectly to dance, and ballet features in many French operas of the period. The interaction of the two art forms is examined in Lyra Baroque's "Les Caractères de la Danse." Paige Whitley-Bauguess and Thomas Baird are the dancers in a program including three pieces by Jean-Féry Rebel, a favorite composer of the Sun King, Louis XIV. Brazilian violinist Luís Otávio Santos leads Lyra's ensemble of historical instruments, and plays two concertos by Jean-Marie Leclair, a Rebel contemporary. (7 p.m. Thu., Rushford-Peterson Auditorium, Rushford, Minn.; 7:30 p.m. Fri., Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Rochester; 7:30 p.m. Sat., Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, St. Paul; $5-$30, lyrabaroque.org)

Classical dance part 2

Solo piano music and dance are woven together in an unusual collaboration between Twin Cities pianist Rie Tanaka and the ballerina and choreographer Yuki Tokuda. Dancers Haruna Asanuma, Hannah Benditt, Erika Ellis and Jennifer Mack join Tokuda in her interpretation of pieces by Chopin, Couperin, Dukas, Ravel, and Saint-Saëns. (3 & 7 p.m. Sun., Schmidt Artist Lofts, St. Paul; $10-$20, riepiano.com)

Jazz fusion

Not many composers have convincingly blended jazz and classical, but Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin is one of them. His Flute Trio is the centerpiece of a recital by the Musical Offering, which also includes Clara Schumann's Three Romances for Oboe and the nonet version of Brahms' Serenade No. 1. (3 p.m. Sun., Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, St. Paul; $10-$30, musicaloffering.org)

Russian rarity

Alfred Schnittke was one of the most significant Russian composers of the post-Shostakovich generation, and a rare opportunity to hear his String Quartet No. 3 comes in a recital by the Mill City String Quartet. Also featured is "Punctum," a short piece by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw. (noon Thu., Courtroom 317, Landmark Center, St. Paul; free, schubert.org)

TERRY BLAIN