Most of the major classical music groups in the Madison area have already finished their seasons.

The big remaining one is the Madison Opera, which will perform its premiere production of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" on Friday, May 9, at 8 pm. and Sunday, May 11, at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall.

Then there is pianist Jeffrey Siegel's Keyboard Conversation featuring Austro-Hungarian composers on Tuesday, May 6, at 7:30 in Mills Hall; and the Oakwood Chamber Players, which will perform on Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and June 1, at Oakwood Village West in a program of Richard Danielpour, Mozart, Chaminade and Ravel.

But many local fans mistakenly believe that the concert season at the University of Wisconsin School of Music has already concluded, just because the end of the academic year is almost here.

NOT SO!!!!

It is true that the high-profile Faculty Concert Series is over, as is Christopher Taylor's 10-concert cycle of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas.

But you can still hear several other very appealing events this weekend, just a week before classes end and final exams begin.

The biggest, and perhaps most appealing, event is surely the UW Choral Union (see photo at above left), which is made up of 160-plus campus and communtiy singers, the UW Symphony Orchestra and UW baritone Paul Rowe and a guest soprano Janet Brown in Ralph Vaughan Williams' "A Sea Symphony," with texts by Walt Whitman. The performance, which also features the folk-song based orchestral work "Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus.,'" commemorates the 50th anniversary of the tuneful composer's death. 

This time, the groups will give one performance only (instead of the usual two) under the baton of Beverly Taylor (see photo at right). It is on Sunday night at 7:30 in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center (instead of in Mills Hall on campus). Tickets are $20 for general admission, $10 for seniors and students. Call the Overture Center box office at 258-4141. (Adults members of the Choral Union even pledged to make up a shortfall in ticket sales in exchange for the chance to perform in the world-class venue.)

But the UW School of Music will offer a lot more this weekend, and all of it is for free.

Tonight at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Chamber Orchestra performs under conductor James Smith. The outstanding program of popular and accessible works includes J.S. Bach's "Brandenburg Concerto" No. 1, Beethoven's Romance in G major  and Ravel's "Tzigane," both with Pro Arte Quartet first violinist David Perry as soloist, and Mozart's Symphony No. 39 in E-flat, K. 543. Admission is free and open to the public.

On Saturday at noon in Morphy Recital Hall, the UW World Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of UW percussionist Anthony DiSanza, performs music of India, Brazil and Cuba. Admission is free and open to the public.

Also on Saturday at 8 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall, this semester of outstanding piano concerts continues with a duo-piano recital (featuring four-hand and two-piano works) by the wife-and-husband team of Angela Cheng (who won the gold medal at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition) and Alvin Chow, both faculty members at the famed Oberlin Conservatory.

The all-masterpiece program includes Schubert's "Fantasie in F minor," several "Hungarian Dances" by Brahms, "Scaramouche" by Darius Milhaud, the "Dolly" Suite by Gabriel Faure and Ravel's "La Valse." Admission is free and open to the public.

Sunday is Brass Day.

On Sunday at 2 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW band director Mike Leckrone directs the Concert Band. Admission is free and open to the public.

Also on Sunday at 4 p.,m. in Mills Hall, three University Bands will perform under Ernest Jennnings (see photo at below right), Brian Hughes and Adam Harry. The program includes "Mars" and "Jupiter' from Gustav Holst's "The Planets" as well as music by Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin and Anton Bruckner.  Admission is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit the School of Music's performance calendar at www.music.wisc.edu.