Sunday afternoon the Chicago Sinfonietta performed at Dominican University. With conductress Alondra de la Parra in charge the orchestra provided a delightful afternoon, the kind one might not expect to expect from an ensemble in the throes of a search for a new music director. de la Parra is a formidable candidate for the position, and the Sinfonietta would be lucky to score such a coup as engaging her to replace founding director Paul Freeman.

I was apprehensive about reviewing the Chicago Philharmonic’s Sunday concert at Northwestern’s Pick-Staiger Auditorium due to a multitude of conflicting interests. My mother is on the orchestra’s board; I had given a talk about the performance; I’ve written grants for the group; my parents are donors; orchestra members are personal friends and former teachers of mine; I even played with the group once. I was concerned that if the concert were sub-par, I would have to figure out a way discreetly to suggest as much. Fortunately, that unenviable task was not to be mine, as the concert was thrilling. All that said, given these conflicting interests, you are cordially invited, as always, to ignore every last comment I might have about the performance.

So I’m a sucker for great wind playing; I guess almost a band geek. But the first half of last night’s Chicago Chamber Musicians’ concert at Gottlieb Hall was proof (not that any was needed) that a bunch of wind players have as much a place on a beautiful concert stage as on a football field. The program opened with Franz Krommer’s B-Flat Partita. A renowned oboist once said of this work specifically, “It’s the kind of music that, you know, needs a little help.” Well, the CCM players gave it that and a lot more. I was “blown” over by the nuances and emphatic attention to detail the group displayed. Pitch perfect, wide dynamic range, all that good stuff. Charles Geyer’s trumpet playing added flair to the ensemble (as did, I suppose, Krommer’s instrumentation), and Dennis Michel showed off his superb technique and tone in some virtuosic passages in the closing rondo.

Singing in the West Loop? Nope, not Lyric this time! This afternoon the St. Charles Singers put on a splendid concert at Old St. Pat’s. I’m not much of a crier or much of a churchgoer, but this concert made me one of each. The moving program was a sampling of works from Mozart’s early years.