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Bent Frequency has been seeking out classical music’s theatrically comic and absurdist edge. The band recently paired up with Frequent Small Meals, an organization devoted to rare or weird cinema, for two film-music shows devoted to Argentine composer-filmmaker Mauricio Kagel.

This Monday at 7:30 p.m., Bent Frequency offers a free concert of music by Georges Aperghis (below).

Like his early mentor Iannis Xenakis, Aperghis was born in Greece, moved to France as a young adult and joined the powerful avant-garde movement. He describes his approach as “faire musique de tout” — make music from everything –…

At their best, jazz festivals gather a roster of international talent for a weekend of musicmaking, creating a crucible for collaborations among musicians who don’t normally play together.

In this spirit, the Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech hosted mainstays from California’s Monterey Jazz Festival on Saturday night. As a touring group, they last stopped in Atlanta two years ago (at Symphony Hall) with a sextet featuring pianist Benny Green and saxophonist James Moody. It was a celebration of Monterey’s 50th anniversary. The artists created a festival experience by breaking out into different configurations, creating multiple concerts within the…

Billed as the star of the Atlanta Opera’s “Aida,” soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams was scheduled to make her debut in the title role Saturday, but had to cancel with a sinus infection. In her place, veteran Aida soprano Indra Thomas sang it opening night, which was reviewed here.

Williams received a doctor’s OK during the day Tuesday — “antibiotics and steroids are wonderful things,” a physician familiar with the case told me — and she sang the role that evening.

But her voice didn’t sound 100 percent, and too detailed a description would seem unjustly definitive. Her sound…

UPDATE 5:20: A spokeswoman for the Atlanta Opera just called to say Mary Elizabeth Williams WILL sing Aida tonight.

High drama continues for the Atlanta Opera’s “Aida.” Read ArtsCriticATL’s opening night review here.

The scheduled title character, soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams (top photo), is reportedly feeling better after a sinus infection forced her to cancel Saturday’s opening night, just two hours before curtain. It would have been her first time singing the role.

As of noon today, she’s still a question mark. She had a voice lesson (over the phone) with her teacher, and…

Verdi’s “Aida,” oversized yet dramatically subtle, is always a good show — even when the title soprano cancels two hours before curtain, even when the rest of the cast sounds under the weather (with one notable exception), and even when the conductor paces the evening erratically.

The Atlanta Opera’s “Aida,” which opened Saturday at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and runs through March 7, is all that and more. And there’s an unusual amount of backstory to this production.

Set in ancient Egypt, this epic of a doomed love triangle, with the fate of nations…

Here’s the official announcement for Emory’s upcoming symposium. Cathy and I will participate. We’re slipping uncomfortably into a world where local newspapers have ceded center ground and have become just another niche media outlet. 

As Maria Saporta recently wrote on the Saporta Report: “There was a time when newspapers could set the community agenda. A major metro daily reached a majority of residents, plus the daily newspaper often provided the headlines that were read on radio and television newscasts. More importantly, newspapers included aspirational voices, progressive voices that stood for something … Today, those voices have been…