Each May, Birdfoot Festival returns to New Orleans to bring artists and audiences together to celebrate live chamber music through a series of dynamic live performances. This year’s Birdfoot Festival has a variety of events, showcases and rehearsals that run through June 2.

On May 29, the festival will provide two mealtime shows. One is a free lunchtime concert at Pan American Life Center where attendees can bring their own lunch and catch a side of chamber music along with it. The other is a musically and tastily delicious “Musical Feast” hosted by Brennan’s in their famous Chanteclair room, where Chef Slade Rush will pair his award-winning cuisine with Birdfoot Festival’s world-class musicians

From May 29 to June 1, the Birdfoot Festival will take over New Orleans’ Contemporary Arts Center for its open rehearsals, an integral, if often unnoticed, part of the festival. The Rehearsal Residency puts far less pressure on artists than the public concerts and events, where precision and preparation is key. Here, musicians have the time and resources to study their chamber music in depth and fully explore the creative process, giving audiences a one-of-a-kind experience with the music.

One of the main attractions is the Creole Contradanzas show, where the chamber ensemble will celebrate the New Orleans tricentennial with a tribute to jazz’s African and Spanish roots. The show will feature influences of New Orleans music from multiple centuries, including numbers by Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Paquito D’Rivera, Maurice Ravel and Wynton Marsalis.

Another notable performance from the ensemble will be their Alla Zingarese concert, featuring music by Joseph Haydn, Osvaldo Golijov and Johannes Brahms. The show’s namesake, meaning “in gypsy style,” comes from a technique Brahms and Haydn used in their music to emulate the music of the streets and taverns.

Closing the festival season at 8 p.m. on June 2 is the grand finale: The Devil’s Violin. This show will feature performances by the chamber ensemble of Igor Stravinsky’s “Histoire du Soldat Suite,” Maurice Ravel’s “String Quartet,” and George Enescu’s “Octet in C Major, Op. 7.”

Information about additional shows and events can be found on Birdfoot Festival’s website. Tickets for each event are available online as well.