STRING CLASSICS The New York String Orchestra performs a program of wellknown classical favorites, including Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra in D minor, Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. The program also includes Louis Spohr’s rarely performed Eighth Violin Concerto, which caused a stir in the early 1800s when the composer took it on tour throughout Europe and showed how closely a violin concerto could mimic an operatic scene. Tonight, 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, Isaac Stern Auditorium, 881 Seventh Ave. at 57th Street, 212-247-7800, $17-$47.

BAGELS AND BONGOS Ninety-year-old lounge pianist Irving Fields joins Cuban-born percussionist Robert Juan Rodriguez and his septet for a performance of Jewish and Latin music. Mr. Fields pioneered the mixing of Cuban sounds and Jewish rhythm in his 1950s “Bagels and Bongos” series. Tonight, 8 p.m., Makor, Steinhardt Center, 35 W. 67th St., between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, 212-415-5500, $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

MEDIEVAL MELODIES The duo Asteria, consisting of soprano Sylvia Rhyne and lute player and tenor Eric Redlinger, performs late-medieval vocal and instrumental music. Friday, 1 and 3 p.m., the Cloisters, Fort Tryon Park, 212-650-2290, free with museum admission, $15 general, $10 seniors, $7 students, free for children under 12.

SMITH’S CELEBRATION Rocker Patti Smith and her band perform a New Year’s Eve show this weekend. Her Friday show is sold out. Brothers Past come onstage in the wee hours of 2006. Saturday, 9 p.m. doors open, Bowery Ballroom, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. at Bowery, 212-533-2111, $55. Note: 18 and older.

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