Noted Anticipation

The fourth installment of the Ventura Chamber Music Festival began with a gentle bang last weekend. On Friday, the Cuarteto Latinoamericano launched its festival residency with a bold concert at the Mission.

None of the composers on the program was a household name, but the music won the audience over, validating the all-important aspect of discovery.

Saturday afternoon brought more traditional fare from the virtuoso violinist Cory Cerovsek, an evening performance of “Carmina Burana” and Vivaldi’s beloved “Four Seasons” Sunday afternoon.

The best, it seems, is yet to come. Tonight belongs to pianist Santiago Rodriguez, a significant player in last year’s festival. The Cuban pianist will perform a solo recital in the neo-Mayan splendor of the Church of Religious Science, as he did a year ago. The Romantic impulse is the key in a program of Brahms, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and the noted Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona.

For lighter musical fare, the Celtic-minded Ensemble Galilei, also in residency this year, lands Friday morning for a “Brunch on the Beach” performance at 11 a.m. at the Banana Belt Cantina. That night, they’ll play at the Mission, in a program entitled “The Mystic and the Muse: Six Women and Six Centuries of Music.”

The most eagerly awaited performance by the Cuarteto Latinoamericano takes place Saturday at 10 a.m. at Ventura City Hall. Here, Miguel del Aguila’s new string quintet, “Clocks,” will be premiered, with the composer at the piano. The program also features music by Villa-Lobos and Ginastera--those mainstays of Latin American concert repertoire--as well as the young composer Bernardo Feldman.

Rodriguez returns up the street at the Ventura Theatre for Saturday night’s orchestral showcase, as the soloist on Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto. New-music lovers, though, eagerly await the concert opener, the smart young composer Michael Torke’s “Ash.” Torke’s music was a smash at last year’s festival.

Opera fans’ needs are addressed with Sunday morning’s Metropolitan Opera Competition Winners program, at Ventura City Hall. Baritone Malcolm MacKenzie and soprano Cynthia Clayton, both of whom passed the rigorous auditions at the Met, will serve up a vocal program from Purcell to Copland.

Closing the festival will be Sunday afternoon’s recital of Christopher Parkening, who stole the show last year. Parkening, acknowledged as one of a handful of great classical guitarists, will present a tribute to Andres Segovia, his mentor--and the honorary mentor of all classical guitarists who came after him--at the Ventura Theatre.

It promises to be a concert of dynamically humble yet grand scale. But then, there lies the beauty of chamber music, intimate in presentation and big in spirit.

BE THERE

“Tea and Trumpets,” with Ventura Chamber Orchestra Festival Trombones, today at 3 p.m., Nona’s Courtyard Cafi, Bella Maggiore Inn, 67 S. California St. in Ventura. $36.

“Portrait of a Romantic,” with pianist Santiago Rodriguez, Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Church of Religious Science, 101 S. Laurel St. in Ventura. $25.

“Coffeehouse Blends,” with guitarist Matthew Greif and bassist Randy Tico, Friday and Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Daily Grind Coffee House, 607 E. Main St. in Ventura. Free.

“The Mystic and the Muse: Six Women and Six Centuries of Music,” with Ensemble Galilei, Friday at 8 p.m. at the San Buenaventura Mission, 211 E. Main St. in Ventura. $32.

“Quintessential Quintet,” with Cuarteto Latinoamericano and soloist Miguel del Aguila (performing the world premiere of del Aguila’s “Clock”), Saturday at 10 a.m. at Ventura City Hall, 501 Poli St. in Ventura. $24.

“Beethoven’s Magnificent Fourth,” Ventura Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, performing Torke, Barber and Beethoven, with pianist Santiago Rodriguez and soprano Cynthia Clayton, Saturday at 8 p.m. at Ventura Theatre, 26 S. Chestnut St. in Ventura. $24 and $34.

“Metropolitan Opera Competition Winners,” Sunday at Ventura City Hall, 501 Poli St. in Ventura. $20.

“Segovia Tribute,” with guitarist Christopher Parkening, Sunday at 3 p.m. at Ventura Theater, 26 S. Chestnut St. in Ventura. $34 and $39.