Back for its 21st year, this festival showcases its ensemble-in-residence, the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, led by veteran conductor Boris Brott. The training orchestra pairs young North American music school graduates with seasoned professionals from Canada.

FOUR SEASONS X 3 Violinist Lindsay Deutsch appears as soloist in three-quarters of Antonio Vivaldi’s popular suite of compact violin concertos, each inspired by one of the four seasons. Included in the mix is a different kind of nod to nature’s cycles: Argentine tango master Ástor Piazzolla’s (1921–1992) Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, originally written for a folk ensemble but performed here with a virtuoso solo violin part played by Deutsch. Aug. 6. $25. St. John’s Anglican Church, 272 Wilson St. E., Ancaster.

HIGH TEA WITH GIAMPIERO SOBRINO The clarinetist joins the NAO Chamber Players for a program of some of the most enchanting music ever composed for his instrument, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s profound Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622, which was the composer’s last-completed instrumental work; and American icon Aaron Copland’s jazzy 1948 Clarinet Concerto, written for the inimitable Benny Goodman. Traditional high tea is served at intermission. Aug. 17. $40. St. John’s Anglican Church, 272 Wilson St. E., Ancaster.

MAHLER’S SYMPHONY NO. 2 The festival’s finale calls on soprano Leslie Fagan, mezzo-soprano Marcia Swanston, the Arcady singers, Brott Festival Choir and National Academy Orchestra for Gustav Mahler’s mammoth Symphony no. 2 in C Minor (“Resurrection”). Composed in 1894, this thrilling creation was the most successful of the Austrian master’s nine symphonies. Opening the concert is the world premiere of a new work by local composer Barbara Croall, titled Dagwaagin (“It Is Autumn”), under NAO associate conductor Martin MacDonald. Hailing from Manitoulin Island, the Odawa composer incorporates a number of native instruments into the orchestral mix. Aug. 21. $25. McIntyre Theatre, Mohawk College, 135 Fennell Ave. W., Hamilton.—Rick MacMillan