Tango is the dance of love, of passion, and of a world that transports you to another plane. So say the tango lovers and novices who have re-discovered this emotional and passionate dance expression.

Join Jill for a conversation with Meredith Klein, director of the the Philadelphia Argentine Dance School, and organizer of the Third Annual Philadelphia International Tango Festival, which takes place from May 24th through May 27th. Twenty-two workshops with world-renowned dancers/teachers, five milongas (social dances) and outstanding performers will teach, perform, and work with those who live and breathe tango and those who have had no prior exposure or experience to it.

Tango, unlike other dances, has a mystique surrounding it that is deeply felt and absorbed by the participant, and is also a new world for the novice to discover. Internationally renowned couples, directly from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Javier Antar & Kara Wenham and Guillermo Cerneaz and Marina Kenny will teach workshops for intermediate and advanced dancers and perform at nightly social dances. Tangueros from around the United States are planning to travel to Philadelphia to study with these celebrated masters.

Most events will take place in the upstairs ballroom of the beautiful RUBA Club in Northern Liberties (414 Green Street, Philadelphia), which is reminiscent of some of the elegant and sometimes edgy tango spaces in Buenos Aires. A therapeutic yoga class is available daily taught by Argentine yogi and tango aficionada Monica Moya. More information here.

Bach specialist Nicholas McGegan conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra this Sunday, May 19th, 2 to 4 pm, in an all-Bach concert - bringing a special touch to the Orchestra, and throwing the spotlight on several Philadelphia Orchestra soloists.

Concertmaster David Kim, Principal Oboist Richard Woodhams, Principal Horn Jennifer Montone, and Principal Flute Jeffrey Khaner are just some of the stellar players of the Orchestra who will play major roles in a program including:

Get ready for a dynamic season of opera broadcasts from the world-renowned Lyric Opera of Chicago. The lineup includes La boheme, Elektra, Hansel & Gretel, Rigoletto, Oklahoma! and more. This Saturday, May 18th, it's Giuseppe Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA from 1 to 4 pm featuring baritone Thomas Hamspon in the title role. Sir Andrew Davis conducts.

And here they are...Be Our Guest Contest winner is: Ellarose Steinverg, Elkins Park, PA. Fabulous Philadelphians Friday Contest winners are: Marion Steltz, Wallingford, PA and Bernard Hohlfeld, Doylestown, PA. AVA Contest winners are: Natalie Weiss, Blue Bell, PA and John Fulginiti, Springfield, PA.

Congratulations!

Orchestra concerts don't usually leave people laughing.  But, as WRTI’s Susan Lewis reports, some contemporary composers are combining serious music with comedy. Berlin Philharmonic Music Director Sir Simon Rattle is introducing innovative works to audiences in Germany, and brings an example with him in his upcoming visit to Philadelphia.

On May 16th, 18th and 19th, Maestro Rattle conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center in a program that includes the music of Beethoven, Ligeti, Webern, and Berg.

This week, America’s oldest art school and museum will - for the 112th time - display the finest work by its newest graduates. As WRTI’s Jim Cotter reports, the show is also where "in-the-know" collectors and dealers come to discover the stars of tomorrow.

The 112th Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Annual Student Exhibition runs through June 2nd.

What does it take to make a chorus come together?  The pressure of an impending performance?  The skill and sensibility of a conductor? The intrinsic beauty of the music? WRTI’s Meridee Duddleston stopped by the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill for a rehearsal of the Greater South Jersey Chorus as it strives for perfection.

This Saturday evening, May 18th at 8 pm, The Greater South Jersey Chorus performs Spotlight, a program of choruses and songs from opera, stage, and screen. The concert will be performed at The Roman Catholic Church of St. Isaac Jogues in Marlton.  More information about the concert.

Let us know Where Music Lives in your community! Add your ideas in the comments section here and check out our other Where Music Lives posts.

The 2013 Philadelphia Jewish Music Festival concluded with a curious 1918 silent film, The Yellow Ticket, presented at the Gershman Y in Center City, with live musical accompaniment that gave the often-grainy images a new life and renewed meaning. One of the first films about anti-Semitism, The Yellow Ticket reminded The Philadelphia Inquirer's David Patrick Stearns just how much the world has changed – and how much it has yet to change.

The renowned British conductor and early-music expert Nicholas McGegan is the conductor on Sunday’s Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert broadcast on WRTI.

McGegan, an accomplished harpsichordist and flutist, specializes in Baroque, and early Romantic repertoire. But as WRTI’s Jim Cotter reports, this doesn’t stop him from being a strong advocate for new music.