World Traveler

With its 2009-2010 season opening, Tulsa Symphony Orchestra takes audiences on a tour of the globe, and its first destination is Germany.

On Saturday, Sept. 26, led by Maestro Andrew Massey, resident conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, TSO will perform works by Bach, Mozart and Brahms.

Germany has long led the world in the history and development of classical music, producing masters such as Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Handel and Mahler. To celebrate this, TSO musicians, which design each season's program, have chosen to present works that challenge, inspire and excite them.

On the bill for the evening is Bach's "Ricercare" from "A Musical Offering," also referred to as the "King's Theme," because it was commissioned by Frederick II, who challenged Bach to compose a long and complex musical figure into a three-voice fugue. Upon completion, Frederick further challenged the composer to turn it into a six-voice fugue.

TSO will perform Anton Webern's 1935 symphonic arrangement of the work.

In addition, the orchestra performs Mozart's "Symphony No. 29," one of the composer's landmark early symphonies, and Brahms' "Symphony No. 4," the last of his symphonies, which is largely considered a defining work.

In conjunction with this season, TSO offers a special promotion for season subscribers.

With each subscription, patrons receive "a passport" and a list of restaurants, the cuisine of which either hails from or is inspired by the countries presented through music by TSO this season.

After each concert, patrons who dine at one of the restaurants listed (The Chalkboard, Garlic Rose, Biga, Ciao!, Oscar's Gastro Pub, Cattleman's Steakhouse, James E. McNellie's Public House, Dilly Deli, El Guapo's Cantina and Ti Amo) will receive a stamp on their passport.

Full passports will be entered, at the season's conclusion, into a drawing for a trip, airfare and hotel accommodations paid, to one of the destinations featured. Season subscriptions run from $60 to $354.

Single tickets for Sept. 26's concert, in the Chapman Music Hall of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, 110 E. Second St., are $10-$65.

More information at www.tulsasymphony.org.

Welcome to Town

The Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center, a 1,500-seat venue at 701 S. Main in Broken Arrow, debuts its inaugural season this week with a grand opening celebration Sept. 28-Oct. 3.

The center, in addition to providing a performance venue, hopes to help revitalize downtown Broken Arrow and serve as a catalyst for economic development.

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, the BAPAC presents a pop concert at 7pm, featuring Kathryn Zaremba, J. Barrick Griffiths and Russ McKinnon performing alongside Broken Arrow students. Tickets are $10 each.

On Thursday, Oct. 1, at 7pm, BAPAC hosts Clay Cooper and his Country Music Express. Cooper performs regularly in his theater in Branson, Mo. Tickets are $25-$45.

And on Saturday, Oct. 3, the venue presents Frank Sinatra Jr., accompanied by a 32-piece orchestra, for "Sinatra Sings Sinatra." Tickets are $35-$75.

For more information about BAPAC and the rest of its 2009-2010 season, go to www.thepacba.com.

Another Night's Stay

Theatre Tulsa continues its run of Hot L Baltimore, Lanford Wilson's 1970s-era, off-Broadway show about a group of misfits living in the Hotel Baltimore, a decaying property once considered a jewel of a hotel, this weekend.

Boasting a cast of 15, the play follows a group of people facing eviction when their crumbling residence is condemned. The hotel's manager struggles to keep order in light of the chaos that ensues.

"The people are misfits, cast offs, much like the hotel itself," director Randall Whalen said. "But, through the hotel, they find each other. They find strength in each other. The play is full of humor, tender moments and some sadness."

The production wraps up this week, Sept. 24-26 at 8pm in the Liddy Doenges Theatre of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $22, and additional information is available at www.theatretulsa.com.

Where the Heart Is

Local artists are showing and selling their work for a good cause this weekend with "Art at the Heart of Cherry Street," Saturday, Sept. 26 from 4-7pm.

About a dozen artists, whose media range from clay to photography and oil to animation, will set up shop inside the historic St. Paul's United Methodist Church at 15th Street and Quaker.

Forty percent of the proceeds received from the sale of their work will go to Sustaining Community Life Inc., a fund created for the renovation of the church's kitchen, which is used to feed Tulsa's hungry and homeless. The kitchen and dining room have helped the hungry for the last 14 years, feeding nearly 200 people every Friday.

This second annual event will help the church continue its mission, which is not funded by the church but by outside donations.

Outdoor Art

Living Arts presents its annual fundraiser, "Living With Art in the Garden," Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sunday from 1-5pm.

The annual event allows patrons to tour the homes of locals who have deemed art so important that they choose to surround themselves with it, not only inside their homes, but outside as well, in their gardens.

Admission is $10 at any of the addresses below and will get you into all of the houses on the self-guided tour. Art will be available to purchase as well.

On the tour are: 2128 E. 25th Place, 1610 E. 29th St., 1414 E. 49th Place, 5343 S. Norfolk Ave., 6726 S. Atlanta Ave., 6727 S. Atlanta Ave. and 6735 S. Atlanta Ave.

For more information, call 747-1919 or go to www.livingarts.org.