Enjoy the music of Mozart at the RiverCenter

It's the kind of event Mozart would love.

In three concerts, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra will present the legendary composer's greatest hits with a few classics by composers Haydn and Shostakovich thrown into the mix as an added treat.

The first ever TSYS Mozart & Friends Festival begins with a concert tonight followed by concerts on Jan. 12 and 16 at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts.

Three world-renown musical artists, all instructors at the Columbus State University Schwob School of Music, will be featured artists.

Cellist Wendy Warner is tonight's lead performer at the Chamber Festival Concert. On Jan. 12 at the Mozart Champagne and Dessert Concert, the spotlight will be on violinist Sergiu Schwartz and on pianist Alexander Kobrin at the Jan. 16 Mozart Chamber Concert.

Warner is considered one of the world's leading cellists.

"Warner's expressive playing and glowing tone were everywhere a pleasure," according to a New York Times review of one of her performances.

She has performed at New York's Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall in Boston, and the Salle Pleyel in Paris.

Schwartz holds the William B. and Sue Marie Turner Distinguished Faculty Chair in Music at CSU.

Reviewing a performance by Schwartz at a New York Recital at Carnegie Hall, a critic of the New York Times called it "an impressive, authoritative and surging performance."

A newspaper critic at Le Soleil in Quebec, Canada, said Schwartz "stands out as one of the best violinists of his generation."

The British Broadcasting Company has called Kobrin the "Van Cliburn of Today."

In 2005, Kobrin was awarded the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas.

If you go

What: TSYS Mozart & Friends Festival concert featuring cellist Wendy Warner, violinist Sergiu Schwartz and pianist Alexander Kobrin.

When: The Chamber Festival Concert with Warner is Jan. 7; the Mozart Champagne and Dessert Concert with Schwartz is Jan. 12; and the last with Kobrin, the Mozart Chamber Festival, is Jan. 16. All of the three concerts are at 7:30 p.m.

Where: RiverCenter for the Performing Arts.

Admission: Tickets for tonight's show are $34 for orchestra level, $38 for mezzanine and $30 for balcony. For the concert on Jan. 12 with Schwartz, all seats are general admission and cost $35. For the concert featuring Kobrin, tickets are $34 for orchestra, $38 for mezzanine and $30 for balcony.

Tickets: The RiverCenter box office is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Call 706-323-5059 or go online to www.rivercenter.org.

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Enjoy the music of Mozart at the RiverCenter ."