The ever-engaging Mason Concerts series swings into spring appropriately enough with this performance by the Sakura (“cherry blossom”) cello ensemble! The program: works by Bach, Handel, Barrière, and Dotzauer together with “Echoes of the Heart” by host-composer Todd Mason, in an arrangement for three cellos.

I’ll be introducing the concert with a short history of this magnificent instrument, the violoncello (literally the “little ‘big violin'”), an overview of the pieces, and a chat with Todd Mason about his evocative chamber work.