This weekend features a spectacular variety of quality opera, chamber music, a cappella, baroque and live music set to dance.

The Shoemaker, a new church opera by St. Paul composer Stephen Paulus, receives its world premiere with free performances 2 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 29-30, at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. Philip Brunelle conducts a 14-piece orchestra, and the cast features well-known Twin Cities soloists baritone James Bohn, tenor Dan Dressen, soprano Maria Jette and alto Krista Palmquist, along with the Plymouth Choir.

On Friday and Sunday, Sept. 28 and 30, the Minnesota Concert Opera debuts “I Puritani” with music by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) and Libretto by Carlo Pepoli. In this powerful love story set during the English Civil War of the 1640s, a would-be bride becomes unhinged by the battles that swirl within and outside the castle walls. There are two opportunities to view this performance at the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts’ Goodale Theater: Friday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 30 at 3 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online here, or by phone at 612-206-3600.

Staying on the operative stage, Minnesota Opera concludes its celebrated run of “Nabucco” with performances through Sunday at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, in St. Paul.

On Friday and Saturday, Sept. 28-29, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Artistic Partner Dawn Upshaw sings Grammy Award-winning jazz innovator Maria Schneider’s Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories, a work commissioned and premiered by The SPCO in 2008. Also included on this program are chamber works by American Romantic composers Walter Piston, John Harbison and Samuel Barber, including Barber’s Adagio for Strings. Tickets range $5-$40 and can be purchased online or by phone at 651-291-1144.

On Sunday, Sept. 30, at 1:30 p.m. in All Saints Catholic Church, Twin Cities vocal collective The Hyperion Singers present Bach’s glorious Magnificat in a benefit concert for Pope John Paul II Catholic School. The concert will also include Cantata 149, Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg. To purchase tickets, call 612-789-8851, or email events@popejohnpaul2ne.org

OboeBass! The Vecchione/Erdahl Duo is also performing two free recitals for the Kitchigami Regional Library System (KRLS): Thursday, Sept. 27 at 4 p.m. in the Cass Lake Community Library (223 Cedar, Cass Lake, MN), and Friday, Sept. 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the Wadena City Library (304 1st Street Southwest, Wadena).

And on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Sept. 28-30, composer and pianist Jocelyn Hagen collaborates with choreographer Penelope Freeh on “Slippery Fish”—a hybrid program at the Southern Theater featuring short works of new music and dance. Musicians on the program include Minnesota Orchestra violist Sam Bergman and local vocalist Carrie Henneman Shaw, who sings with Glorious Revolution Baroque. Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 8 p.m. Sunday.

The music continues Monday, Oct. 1, with international award-winning octet Voces8, performing an intimate showcase of unique jazz and pop arrangements at Hell’s Kitchen. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with live music beginning at 7 p.m. Click here to purchase tickets online. Or call 651-225-4340.

And on Tuesday, Oct. 2, join MNuet for an amazing, eclectic evening at Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater our monthly Étude à Trois with a “Back to School” theme. Top-tier ensembles from Minnesota Youth Symphonies and the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies share the stage with the Renegade Ensemble, whose musicians met at the University of Minnesota School of Music. Doors open at 6 p.m. and performances start at 7.  Tickets are $12 and can be purchased here.

If you still have gas in your musical tank by the middle of next week, don’t miss Karita Mattila’s recital at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, in The Schubert Club’s season-opener at the Ordway. “Like” MNuet on Facebook and get half off select seats. Go here for more details.

Go to our extensive calendar for an ever-growing array of local classical music. If you want to see your events in the MNuet calendar, just email the details to calendar@mnuet.com.

Pictured: (right) The Renegade Ensemble, (top) The Vecchione/Erdahl Duo, Stephen Paulus, The Hyperion Singers, Jocelyn Hagen and Penelope Freeh, and Maria Schneider.