Week's best classical: SPCO plays Britten, two concerts featuring mezzo Clara Osowski

Earlier this month Twin Cities mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski won a prize for best interpretation of Schubert Lieder at the International Song Competition at London's Wigmore Hall, one of Europe's most prestigious recital venues. With her piano accompanist Tyler Wottrich, Osowski now presents a free recital featuring some of the repertoire she sang at the competition. That includes Schubert, Grieg and Poulenc, all ideally suited to Osowski's poised, warmly expressive vocalism. (6 p.m. Mon., Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall, University of Minnesota, Mpls.; free)

String quartets from Beethoven's middle and late periods are the focus of the Artaria String Quartet's new season. The season kicks off with the so-called "Harp Quartet," Op. 74, intriguingly coupled with Britten's "Three Divertimenti" and Samuel Barber's lone string quartet, from which his famous "Adagio" was extracted. (7:30 p.m. Mon., MacPhail Center for Music, Mpls.; $20, artaria quartet.com)

In honor of its 125th anniversary, Thursday Musical (Minnesota's longest running recital series) commissioned a new piece for soprano and flute trio by Minneapolis composer David Evan Thomas. "Give Her the River" shares the program with vocal works by Donizetti and Ben Moore, plus Beethoven's "Waldstein" Piano Sonata played by Sarah Kang. (10:30 a.m. Thu., MacPhail Center for Music, Mpls.; free, thursdaymusical.org)

Young Britten, younger Schubert

Frank Bridge is mainly remembered as composer Benjamin Britten's teacher. When Britten was just 23 he wrote a dazzling tribute to his mentor, a work for strings called "Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge." It forms the centerpiece of a St. Paul Chamber Orchestra program also featuring Schubert's ebullient Third Symphony (written at age 18) along with selections from Mozart's "Don Giovanni" arranged for the SPCO's excellent wind soloists. (7:30 p.m. Thu., Trinity Lutheran Church, Stillwater; 8 p.m. Fri., Wayzata Community Church, Wayzata; 8 p.m. Sat., St. Paul's United Church of Christ, St. Paul; 2 p.m. Sun., Benson Great Hall, Bethel University, Arden Hills; $11-$26, 651-291-1144 or thespco.org)

Twin Cities jazz musician and composer Jeremy Walker premieres a collection of "jazz art songs" with tenor Tesfa Wondemagegnehu and mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski. Offsetting Walker's new works are standards from the Great American Songbook, including some Frank Sinatra. Walker accompanies on piano. (3 p.m. Sat., Crooners, Fridley; $20, 763-571-9020 or crooners loungemn.com)