The inauguration of the Maine Music Society’s 2004-2005 concert season fills a weekend from Friday morning, Sept. 17, through the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 19.

Youth concerts by the Maine Chamber Ensemble will bring 600 middle-schoolers to Bates College’s Olin Arts Center on Friday morning. A full evening of dinner, entertainment and silent auction at Martindale Country Club in Auburn follows that same day.

And the Maine Chamber Ensemble performs in Portland on Saturday night and in Lewiston on Sunday afternoon.

The program for the opening concerts includes two works of different styles and content, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Elliott Carter’s Symphony No. 1. Perhaps the most popular of all the Romantic violin concertos, Mendelssohn’s showpiece will feature Sarah Geller, a young virtuoso from Farmington who’s now building her career in New York. In this work, Mendelssohn transformed the concerto idea from a dramatic contention between soloist and orchestra. The soloist becomes an actor supported by players who serve as a foil, providing color and texture.

At 96, Carter is the dean of American composers. Born in 1908, he came of age as a younger member of the Aaron Copland generation. Like Copland during the 1930s and ’40s, he sought an American style of music.

The so-called “populist” style reflected the open spirit of the people and the land. Though capable of deep feeling, as in the slow movement, that spirit and the music it inspired is positive and upbeat. Carter’s Symphony No. 1, written more than 60 years ago, retains its verve, charm and American insouciance, according to a spokesman for the Music Society. These will be the first performances in Maine of this exhilarating work.

The silent auction and cocktail hour will begin at 6 p.m., followed by a buffet dinner, at Martindale Country Club. For people who cannot attend the auction, bids will be taken over the phone at the Music Society office, 782-1403, until noon Sept. 17. Phone bidders will need to specify how high they would be willing to bid.

The Sept. 18 concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in John Ford Auditorium of Portland High School; the Sept. 19 performance will begin at 3 p.m. in the Franco-American Heritage Center at St. Mary’s in Lewiston.

Advance tickets for the concerts are $15 for adults, $14 for seniors, $17.50 at the door. Student tickets are half-price, and children 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Tickets are available at Lewiston and Auburn Hannaford and Shaw’s supermarkets, Mr. Paperback and Mainely Drumz in Lewiston, Starbird Music in Portland; by calling the Music Society, 782-1403; or by visiting www.mainemusicsociety.org.