Suzanne Tirk, assistant professor of clarinet at Wichita State University and principal clarinetist for the Wichita Symphony Orchestra (WSO), will perform a duet with guest artist David Shifrin when the symphony kicks off the new year with the timeless music of Beethoven.

Concerts are at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, in the Century II Concert Hall, downtown Wichita. Tickets range from $20-$44.

Guest conductor Markand Thakar will lead the orchestra in Beethoven’s beloved “Symphony No. 6, Pastoral,” preceded by the WSO’s first performance of “Musica Celestis” by Aaron Kernis. Thakar is music director of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra.

Shifrin, a three-time Grammy nominee who has served as faculty for the Juilliard School of Music and as music director of the Chamber Music Society of Yale, will join the orchestra in performing Carl Maria Von Weber’s flashy Clarinet Concerto No. 2.

Tirk, who joined the faculty of Wichita State’s School of Music in fall 2004, will be featured in a duet with Shifrin. She also is a member of the renowned artist-faculty ensemble in residence Lieurance Woodwind Quintet.

Many children learned of Beethoven’s music when they heard his Sixth Symphony, Pastoral, in the famous 1940 Disney film “Fantasia.” The Pastoral symphony is full of delightful melodies depicting scenes of the countryside, Fantasia’s depiction being of the Greek Gods and myths on Mount Olympus.

Tickets can be purchased by calling (316) 267-7658, online at www.wso.org or in person at the Wichita Symphony Orchestra Box Office on the second floor of Century II, suite 207.