PORTLAND – Critically acclaimed guest conductor Christian Knapp will lead the Portland Symphony Orchestra in the first Sunday Classical concert of the new year on Jan. 25 at Merrill Auditorium. “The All-Mozart Matinee” celebrates the most popular classical composer of all time, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, two days before his 253rd birthday.

The program opens with the Overture to Don Giovanni, considered among Mozart’s greatest works. The concert also includes the Clarinet Concerto in A Major (noted for its delicate interplay between soloist and orchestra); the Bach-inspired Adagio & Fugue, K. 546; the dark and serious Masonic Funeral Music (written in 1785 on the deaths of two of Mozart’s Masonic Lodge brothers); and Symphony No. 35 in D Major, “Haffner” (commissioned in 1782 by the Haffner family of Salzburg).

The “All-Mozart Matinee” also features William Hudgins, principal clarinet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1994. Also a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Hudgins can be heard on the Grammy-nominated CD of Hindemith’s Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano. He performed for seven seasons with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra , Charleston, S.C., and the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy.

The concert will begin at 2:30 p.m., following a Concert Conversation at 1:15 p.m. in the rehearsal hall. A radio broadcast of the performance will be aired on Maine Public Broadcasting Network at 8 p.m. on Feb. 11.

Tickets range from $17 to $54, with special pricing available for students, seniors and groups. All Portland Symphony Orchestra tickets are sold through PortTix at 842-0800 or www.porttix.com. (Phone and Internet orders subject to $5 per ticket handling fee.) Tickets may also be purchased in person at the box office at 20 Myrtle St. from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, visit www.portlandsymphony.com.