Prism Quartet and Cantori New York

Sun., March 11, 4 p.m., Trinity Center for Urban Life, 22nd and Spruce streets

by Peter Burwasser

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For jazz aficionados, sax and voice make a natural combo. Just think Billie Holiday and Lester Young, or John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. Few other instruments mirror the basic expressiveness of the human voice more effectively than the saxophone, in all of the ranges. And so it seems natural, if surprisingly unusual, to be presented with a program of new music for saxophone quartet and choir. The Prism Saxophone Quartet will join forces with Cantori New York, a chamber choir much praised for its finesse and power, to bring such a concept to life. The program weighs heavily on the tonal and accessible side of new music, including three North American premieres, from composers Hugi Gudmundsson of Iceland, the Georgian Giya Kancheli, and from Estonia, Erkki-Sven Tüür, all of whom aspire to deeply spiritual qualities in their music. Then things go pop for the balance of the show, with Colombian folk songs, tangos from Astor Piazzolla, and to round things out, an arrangement of The Beatles' "Fool on the Hill."

Sun., March 11, 4 p.m., $20, Trinity Center for Urban Life, 22nd and Spruce streets, 215-438-5282, www.trinitycentercity.org.