Fans of classical music and dance will have two performance series to choose from at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts beginning in December, when the John S. and James L. Knight Masterworks Season launches the center's latest programming effort.

The Sanford and Dolores Ziff Classical Music Series opens with the Israel Philharmonic, led by guest conductor and violinist Pinchas Zukerman and featuring cellist Amanda Forsyth. Violinist Itzhak Perlman returns to Miami for a solo recital, while conductor Leonard Slatkin leads the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Pianist Lang Lang, backed by the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra, rounds out the classical-music season.

The Signature Dance Series brings back the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a major success in its 50th-anniversary tour appearances in Miami last spring; Israel's edgy, ardent modern troupe Batsheva Dance Company, headed by internationally acclaimed choreographer Ohad Naharin, and the Joffrey Ballet, the Chicago-based company with a mix of contemporary, historically significant, and classic ballets.

Three presentations will feature the all-female vocal group Sweet Honey in the Rock performing a repertoire that ranges from blues, spirituals, gospel, rap and reggae to African chants, hip-hop, ancient lullabies and jazz. Miami-based professional choir Seraphic Fire, joined by the Firebird Chamber Orchestra and led by artistic director Patrick Dupré Quigley, will perform Handel's popular choral work, Messiah. And multiple Grammy- and Emmy-award-winning singer Tony Bennett will make his Arsht Center debut.

The center's classical-music and dance series was born of the ashes of the Concert Association of Florida, which filed for bankruptcy liquidation in February after more than 30 years as the region's major presenter of orchestras and dance troupes.

When the Concert Association folded before its season closed, the center's administrators negotiated new contracts with the scheduled performers to ensure that the bulk of the season would continue as planned.

They then launched the classical-music and dance series with financial support from Miami philanthropists and charitable groups, including a $500,000 pledge paid over five years from Dr. Sanford and Dolores Ziff, a $200,000 challenge grant from the Knight Foundation, and an $80,000 gift from the Classical Encore Circle.

For information on subscriptions to the classical music and dance series and tickets to the special event performances, sign up for the e-mail list at arshtcenter.org.

Dates for the Ziff Classical Music Series (all performances in Knight Concert Hall): Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Dec. 16; Itzhak Perlman, Jan. 12; Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Feb. 14; Lang Lang, March 29.

Signature Dance Series (all performances in Ziff Ballet Opera House): Batsheva Ensemble, Dec. 5-6; The Joffrey Ballet, March 26-27; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, May 20-23.

Season Special Events (all performances in Knight Concert Hall): Sweet Honey in the Rock, Dec. 11; Seraphic Fire and Firebird Chamber Orchestra perform Messiah, Dec. 19; Tony Bennett, Jan. 8.

-- DANIEL CHANG

MOCA FILM FEST

Time for Optic Nerve XI, the Museum of Contemporary Art's annual festival of short films and videos, featuring works created by some of the most innovative artists in South Florida.

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