Alexandre Tharaud. Photograph by Marco Borggreve.

Alexandre Tharaud, a rising French pianist known for his robust interpretation of the classics, performs at Bates College at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, at the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.

Tickets are $12 and may be purchased at batestickets.com. Free tickets are available for the first 100 seniors and students who reserve by email at olinarts@bates.edu. For more information, please contact 207-786-6135.

With this concert Tharaud continues the college’s Olin Arts Alive music series, celebrating renowned and emerging international musicians. The program features works by Scarlatti, Ravel, Chopin and Liszt.

Tharaud’s career took off after winning second prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. Since then, his imaginative approach to classical music, particularly French composers, has gained him a following throughout Europe.

“Tharaud is dazzlingly nimble-fingered and often admirably sensitive, without romanticizing,” wrote the BBC.

Described as “aristocratic and sensuous” by Gramaphone magazine, Tharaud now has his sights set on the U.S. Earlier this year he played to great acclaim at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. He returns to New York later this month to play Carnegie Hall.

Though best known for his sophisticated and inventive solo performances, Tharaud has played with a variety of chamber groups and orchestras, and has recorded several albums.

His most recent collection, Boeuf Sur le Toit: Swinging Paris (Virgin Classics, 2012), diverges from the classical to showcase France’s encounter with blues and American jazz in the early 20th century.

Learn more.

Red Baraat

Opening with Ethiopian-born Finnish singer-songwriter Mirel Wagner and concluding with the college’s own Jazz Band, the autumn 2012 concert season at Bates College represents the best of music from Bates and the world.

The season includes the debut of the Olin Arts Alive concert series featuring internationally renowned and emerging performers.

Classical music highlights include visits by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the contemporary music ensemble Momenta Quartet, performing a piece by a Bates composer. In addition, pianist Frank Glazer, an artist in residence at the college since 1980, will offer a season-long series comprising music from his most cherished Bates programs.

In a joint presentation with L/A Arts — one of several undertaken by Bates this academic year — rhythm and blues singer Francine Reed returns to Olin a year after her smash appearance here. Other familiar faces include the Bates College Orchestra and College Choir. And new to the college is Red Baraat, a most exciting ensemble combining the sounds of South Asia and the New World.

With exceptions as noted, most concerts are open to the public free of charge and take place in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St. To buy tickets, please visit batestickets.com. For more information or to arrange tickets for the free concerts, please contact olinarts@bates.edu or 207-786-6135.

Here’s the season schedule:

Mirel Wagner (7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12): Born in Ethiopia, raised in Finland, this folk and blues singer is known for her minimalist style and emotive depth. Note: This Olin Arts Alive series concert takes place at Keigwin Amphitheater at Lake Andrews, next to the Olin Arts Center. Rain site: Olin Concert Hall. Learn more.

Pianist Frank Glazer in 2006. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College.

Frank Glazer Retrospective, Program I (7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14): The renowned pianist begins a season of music from his most cherished Bates programs. Tonight: Handel, Mozart, Debussy, Chopin and Beethoven (Pathétique). Admission: $10 per concert or all eight programs at $65 per seat, at batestickets.com. Proceeds benefit the Frank & Ruth Glazer Scholarship Fund. A limited number of free tickets are available for seniors and students; contact olinarts@bates.eduor 207-786-6163.

BatesDowntown (5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28): The college’s informal series of free downtown concerts resumes with an artist TBA. Note: The venue is 22 Park St., Lewiston.

An Evening of Chamber Music (7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29): Four friends — Bates pianist Jim Parakilas, violinist Mary Hunter, cellist Steve Witkin and violist Heather Cook — perform Mozart, Fauré and Dvořák, including the beloved “Dumky” piano trio. Free, but tickets required; contact olinarts@bates.edu.

Red Baraat (7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30): Driven by bandleader Sunny Jain’s dhol, a North Indian drum, this uproarious Brooklyn band blends Brit-Indi Bhangra with funky New World brass. Admission $15/ $10, available at batestickets.com. Free tickets are available for the first 100 seniors or students. To reserve, please email olinarts@bates.edu. Learn more.

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6): One of America’s most compelling pianists, Jeremy Denk is among the six CMS players in an Olin Arts Alive performance. Featured is music by Bruch, Brahms and Dohnányi. Admission $15/ $10, available at batestickets.com. Free tickets are available for the first 100 seniors or students. To reserve, please email olinarts@bates.edu. Learn more.

Francine Reed

Frank Glazer Retrospective, Program II (7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12): See Program I, above, for artist and admission details. Tonight: Schoenberg’s Six Short Pieces, along with music by Schubert, Brahms and Chopin.

Francine Reed (7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13): Olin Arts Alive and L/A Arts present an evening with this blues, gospel and jazz singer. A hit at Olin a year ago, the openhearted, full-throated Reed is the widely recognized voice in Lyle Lovett’s Large Band, but has a powerhouse career in her own right. Admission: $15 / $10, increasing to $20 /$10 on the day of the show. Available at batestickets.com. Learn more.

Alexandre Tharaud (7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21). Olin Arts Alive presents the up-and-coming French pianist. “Tharaud is dazzlingly nimble-fingered and often admirably sensitive, without romanticizing,” wrote the BBC. A program of Scarlatti, Ravel, Chopin and Liszt. Admission $12, available at batestickets.com; free tickets are available for the first 100 seniors and students. Email olinarts@bates.edu to reserve. Learn more.

Rollin’ to Olin(12:30 p.m. on three Thursdays: Nov. 1, 8 and 15). The public is invited to this free arts-literacy program for local schoolchildren. A Bates College Museum of Art presentation takes place at 12:30 p.m., followed by a mini-concert from 1 to 1:30.

Europa Galante

Europa Galante (7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2): Olin Arts Alive presents a Baroque music ensemble from Italy, founded and still directed by violinist Fabio Biondi. The program “Apotheosis and Folia” includes music by Vivaldi, Couperin, Mascitti, Corelli and C.P.E. Bach. Admission $12, available at batestickets.com. Free tickets are available to the first 100 seniors and students; reserve by emailing olinarts@bates.edu. Learn more.

Frank Glazer Retrospective, Program III (7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9): See Program I, above, for artist and admission information. Tonight: Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales, along with music by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin.

Bates College Orchestra (7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10): Hiroya Miura directs the ensemble in a program including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92. Free, but tickets required.

Bates College Choir (8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 30-Dec. 1): John Corrie directs the choir in a program TBA. Free, but tickets required.

Frank Glazer Retrospective, Program IV (3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2): See Program I, above, for artist and admission information. Tonight: music by Franck, Weber, Gershwin, Barber, Copland and Brahms.

Momenta Quartet

Momenta Quartet (7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4): Olin Arts Alive and the Bates College Museum of Art present this quartet whose repertoire ranges widely from the classics to contemporary — such as tonight’s premiere by Bates composer Hiroya Miura, commissioned for the museum’s exhibition Starstruck. Also on the program: music by Debussy, Kee Yong Chong and Jason Kao Hwang. Admission $12, available at batestickets.com. Free tickets are available to the first 100 seniors and students; reserve by emailing olinarts@bates.edu. Learn more.

Bates College Jazz Band (7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5) Tom Snow leads the band in arrangements for large and small ensembles, and genres from big band to bossa nova to funk. Free, but tickets required.

The program also includes sonatas by J.S. Bach, Debussy and Poulenc. Tickets cost $12 for general admission and $6 for seniors and students, and are available at www.batestickets.com. For more information, contact 207-786-6135 or this olinarts@bates.edu.

Resembling a bowed guitar, the arpeggione enjoyed a brief popularity in the early 19th century. Schubert’s sonata, composed in 1824, is the only substantial piece of music for the instrument, and today cello is generally used for the arpeggione part.

Queyras and Tharaud’s recording of the piece was released in October 2006 by Harmonia Mundi France on a disc also including music by Webern and Berg. The recording’s success brought the pair numerous performance opportunities at venues including Frankfurt’s Alte-Oper and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The album was an “Editor’s Choice” in Gramophone and a “Chamber Music Choice” in the BBC Music Magazine.

Queyras’ focus is on repertoire for solo cello that brilliantly demonstrates the exceptional narrative and expressive force of the instrument. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras around the world and performed at Carnegie Hall with Concerto Köln in March 2004. A professor at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart, Germany, he plays a cello made by Gioffredo Cappa in 1696.

Tharaud has performed with leading orchestras across Europe and in Asia. His recordings for Harmonia Mundi, such as the 2001 collection of Rameau’s “Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin” and 2003′s complete piano works of Ravel, have received lavish critical acclaim. He graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and started his international career in earnest by winning second prize at the ARD Competition in Munich. Tharaud is resident artist at the Opéra de Rouen.