SEVEN DAYS OUT is Voice of OC’s weekly list of can’t miss arts and culture events in Orange County.
Sir András Schiff: (Sunday, Feb. 24, , Soka University Performing Arts Center): In addition to performing worldwide, this beloved Hungarian pianist has been awarded numerous international prizes and praise, including a Knighthood for services to music, as well as critical acclaim for his recordings of works by Schubert, Schumann, Janáček, Beethoven and Bach. Schiff plays two works each by Janáček and Schumann. www.soka.edu/pac
Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham (Wednesday, Feb. 27, Segerstrom Concert Hall): Susan Graham’s operatic roles span four centuries, from Monteverdi’s Poppea to Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking,” which was written especially for her. She won a Grammy Award for her collection of Ives songs, and her recital repertoire is so broad that 14 composers from Purcell to Sondheim are represented on her most recent Onyx album, “Virgins, Vixens & Viragos.” www.scfta.org
Martha Graham Dance Company (Wednesday, Feb. 27, Irvine Barclay Theatre): Modern dance’s most iconic figure is gone, but her company continues to thrive. The program includes “Diversion of Angels,” Graham’s lyrical essay on love; “Ekstasis,” a gorgeous reconstruction of Graham’s original creation of the discovery of a woman’s body; “Lamentation Variations,” in which today’s choreographers take inspiration from Graham’s iconic “Lamentation;” and “Errand into the Maze,” a Graham masterwork and her signature role. The concert honors the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. www.thebarclay.org
Russian National Orchestra (Thursday, Feb. 28, Segerstrom Concert Hall): Founded in 1990 by pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev, the RNO is considered one of the world’s top orchestras. Pletnev was Gold Medal and First Prize winner of the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition when he was only 21, a prize that earned him early recognition worldwide. The program will include works by Glazunov, Chopin and Proikofiev. www.scfta.org
Kishi Bashi (Thursday, Feb. 28, Musco Center for the Arts): A master of building his music from the ground up, from live violin loops to multi-layered singing and beatboxing, Kishi Bashi designs remarkable pocket symphonies steeped in classical music and 21st-century pop. Backed up at Musco Center with a string quartet, the multi-instrumentalist creates unpredictable, dreamlike, dizzying and danceable repertoire that is as hard to define as it is easy to love. www.muscocenter.org