THE TIME WARP

The trademark quality of the Handel and Haydn Society is their anachronism. The group strives to be as historically accurate as possible, using performance techniques that were common hundreds of years ago, but have fallen out of practice today.

Because the style of making instruments has evolved over the centuries, the instrumentalists also use “period instruments” to make their music sound like it did at the time of the piece’s premiere. And despite its misleading name, the society, founded in 1815, has a repertoire that extends far beyond the works of Handel and Haydn.

H&H’s next concerts are on March 12 and 13 in Sanders, and will feature Harvard’s own Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church Peter J. Gomes as narrator.

THE AVANT GARDE

“The Law of Floating Objects for Flute and Tape.” This cutting-edge piece, written in 2001, features a live flutist playing a duet with a recorded tape. The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) will produce this work, along with other original, equally eclectic compositions, on March 15.

Some people tend to dislike contemporary classical music even more than traditional classical music, calling it “ugly noise,” but BMOP actively tries to dispel this stereotype by uniting “composers and audiences in a shared concert experience.” Since its creation in 1966, BMOP has collaborated with many of the most famous and well-respected composers of the modern age, including two-time Oscar nominee Phillip Glass.

BMOP brings these new composers to new audiences, performing not only in traditional classical music spaces but also at offbeat venues such as the Moonshine Room at Club Café in Boston.

THE BENCHMARK

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is mostly self-explanatory. It is Boston’s symphony orchestra. Throughout the academic year, the BSO performs “serious” classical works, featuring soloists and guest conductors. Tickets are cheap for college students. Student rush tickets are available, and “college cards” can be purchased for an entire season. $25 buys passes to 14 concerts free of charge, which comes out to about $1.79 per concert. That’s roughly one-fifth the cost of a movie ticket.

THE PLAYFUL ONE

Spring reintroduces the beloved Boston Pops Orchestra, a branch of the BSO. This orchestra plays lighter fare, delighting its audience with favorites such as John Williams’ “Theme from Star Wars” and John Phillip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.” The carefree Pops atmosphere, complete with balloons and pitchers of “Pops Punch,” brings a welcome step out of the dreary winter.