LEWISTON — The Olin Arts Center Concert Hall at Bates College will offer a whirlwind world tour March 13-16, giving listeners the choice of traditional Irish music, traditional and classical Chinese music, the Bates College Orchestra with an international program and a renowned Spanish string quartet.

Danú, an Irish sextet will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 13. Tickets cost $30 for the general public and $22 for seniors (65 and older) and students, and are available at batestickets.com.

The Silk Trio, a group of innovative string players specializing in the music of China, will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 14. Tickets cost $10, also available at batestickets.com.

Scott Ordway will lead the Bates College Orchestra in a program including a Mozart concerto for two pianos, with Frank Glazer and James Parakilas of the Bates faculty as soloists, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 15. The show is free but tickets are required, available through bit.ly/oacbates.

Finally, the Olin Arts Alive Quartet Series will present the celebrated Spanish ensemble Cuarteto Quiroga with a program of Mozart, Bartok and Schoenberg at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 16. Tickets cost $12, available at batestickets.com.

The Olin Arts Center Concert Hall is at 75 Russell St. A limited number of free tickets for students and seniors (65 and older) are available for Danú (after March 10), Silk Trio and Cuarteto Quiroga at bit.ly/oacbates.

For more information, call 207-786-6163 or email olinarts@bates.edu.

Danú

Hailing from Ireland’s historic County Waterford, Danú is one of the leading traditional Irish ensembles. Their standing-room-only concerts are renowned for high energy and a glorious mix of ancient and new repertoire.

Danú takes its audiences on a musical journey to Ireland, offering a moving and memorable concert experience. Their recordings are available on the Shanachie label and live performances are often broadcast on NPR, the CBC and the BBC.

Founded in 1995, Danú’s virtuoso players of flute, tin whistle, fiddle, button accordion, bouzouki and voice (Irish and English) have performed around the globe and recorded seven critically acclaimed albums and a live DVD, “One Night Stand.”

Winners of numerous awards from the BBC and Irish Music Magazine, Danú has toured throughout Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Silk Trio

The Silk Trio comprises Chinese musicians known as both effective proponents of the music of China and as masters of their instruments. Ann Yao plays the “zheng,” a plucked zither; Wang Guowei, the “erhu,” a two-stringed fiddle; and Yihan Chen, the “pipa,” a pear-shaped lute.

Born into a family of musicians in Shanghai, Yao grew up immersed in Chinese folk and classical music. She moved to the U.S. in 1985, and has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other venues with the innovative ensemble Music From China, which promotes modern Chinese musical culture while preserving ancient Chinese music.

Also a Shanghai native, Wang gained national prominence in garnering the prestigious Art Cup award at the 1989 International Chinese Instrumental Music Competition. He has toured to Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Belgium, Canada, England, Italy and Australia. Wang has been critically praised for his “extraordinary” and “gorgeous” playing.

Chen garnered top awards at the 1995 Freedom International Chinese Instrument Competition, as well as the 1989 Art Cup. She has performed throughout the United States and appeared at major festivals in Asia, Europe and Canada. She has toured as soloist with the Hua Xia Chamber Ensemble (Beijing) and Music From China.

Bates College Orchestra

Ordway, a nationally renowned composer, teacher and conductor, leads the 45-member orchestra in a program consisting of three works.

The opener is the Andante Festivo, a short piece by the Finnish composer Sibelius, followed by Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 10 in E-flat for Two Pianos, with soloists Glazer and Parakilas. Ordway explains that the 99-year-old Glazer, who has been an artist in residence at Bates since 1980, proposed the Mozart. In rehearsals, he says, the music has been “terrific” — Glazer “plays with a tremendous wisdom and tremendous confidence.”

Sibelius and Mozart suit each other well, Ordway feels. “They have a certain kinship, a remarkable poise and dignity.” And they pose a pleasing contrast to the Czech composer Dvorak, whose popular Symphony No. 9 in E-minor (“From the New World”) — in its Bates premiere — completes the program.

Cuarteto Quiroga

The New York Times described Cuarteto Quiroga as “exquisite: precise, perfectly balanced, interpretatively fresh performances, couched in consistently warm hues.”

The members of the quartet are violinists Aitor Hevia and Cibrán Sierra; violist Josep Puchades; and cellist Helena Poggio. Named for violinist Manuel Quiroga, a Spanish musical hero, the foursome is one of the most dynamic and unique quartets of its generation. It is internationally acclaimed for its distinctive personality as well as its bold and original approach to the string quartet repertoire.

The group’s 2011 CD “Statements,” with music of Haydn, Webern and Sollima, was named “Best Classical Music Album 2012” by the Spanish Independent Producers Union and was acclaimed by the international press.

The 2013 recording “Revolutions,” dedicated to the early works of the Second Viennese School, is being praised by critics and audiences, and was labeled “exceptional” by Scherzo, Spain’s leading magazine for classical music.

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