By Rick Koster, The Day, March 9, 2017

Modern composers who create under the broad canopy of “classical music” take mighty strides into unexplored frontiers. At the same time, who amongst them can claim to not have been influenced by Mozart?

Not many — and certainly not the otherwise wildly different Arvo Pärt and Alfred Schnittke. The latter explored Mozart’s unfinished “pantomime music” in Moz-Art à la Haydn for Violin and Viola. The former composed Mozart-Adagio for Piano Trio in homage to his closer friend Oleg Kagan, who was in turn mightily influenced by Mozart.

These two works are part of a typically compelling bit of Musical Masterworks programing that will be performed Saturday and Sunday in the First Congregational Church in Old Lyme. Edward Arron, the cellist/artistic director of the series, fits them deliciously in a bill that also includes three works by Mozart: the String Trio fragment in G Major, K. 562e, Anh.66; the Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478; and the Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 493.

Joining Arron onstage will be violinist Tessa Lark, pianist Jeewon Park and violist Dimitri Murrath — returning Masterworks favorites all.