Lake Placid Sinfonietta Music Director Stuart Malina conducts during rehearsal at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Wednesday, July 24. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

LAKE PLACID — Halfway through its season, the Lake Placid Sinfonietta’s schedule is packed with free and ticketed concerts planned across the Tri-Lakes into August.

“We have three concerts a week for the next three weeks,” Sinfonietta Executive Director Debbie Fitts said. “One of our organizational values … is inclusivity, and by offering free concerts as well as paid admission concerts, it really opens up the artistry of our musicians to everybody without limits.”

Every Sinfonietta concert is “like an event,” Fitts said, with the musicians presenting something new every time. This Sunday, July 28, the Sinfonietta will perform Symphony No. 5 by Austro-Bohemian composer Gustav Mahler — an unusual choice, Fitts said. Music Director Stuart Malina agreed.

“Mahler’s fifth symphony was probably written for an orchestra of about 100 — maybe 105,” he said. “We’re 20 players. Sometimes we’ll supplement with one, two, three players max, but most repertoire for orchestras is written for a much larger group.”

When Malina picks what the Sinfonietta’s going to play, a few factors come into play. He tries to find pieces that were originally composed for the Sinfonietta’s set-up and size. Then, he looks at other pieces meant for larger groups that he think will still work musically with the smaller Sinfonietta. Sometimes, re-orchestrations will already be available that the Sinfonietta can purchase and use. Other times, Malina — who won a Tony Award in 2003 for his orchestration of the musical “Movin’ Out” alongside Billy Joel — will re-orchestrate the pieces himself — such as the Sinfonietta’s July 20 performance of Franz Schubert’s sixth symphony.

Lake Placid Sinfonietta bass player Devin Howell rehearses at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Wednesday, July 24. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

“Stuart is really gifted at choosing music that gives that impression (of a large orchestra), and he’s also a very skilled orchestrator,” Fitts said.

Malina said that in every concert, he strives for a good variety of music.

“You want a mixture of things that people either know already or are comfortable with, with things that might be unfamiliar, because I think that also makes concerts interesting, to hear new things,” he said. “Most of all, I have to like the music.”

Though he has a hard time picking favorites, Malina said he really enjoyed the Sinfonietta’s rendition of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade on July 14.

“The audience just came along for the ride,” he said.

Lake Placid Sinfonietta violinist Diana Pepelea Vardi rehearses at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Wednesday, July 24. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

He’s also looking forward to playing Mahler this Sunday.

“This week is going to be a great week,” Malina said. “It’s really going to show off how good the orchestra is, because it’s not easy to do what we’re going to be doing. Each player will be doing the job of four or five people.”

Those looking to delve deeper into classical music should consider coming to one of the Sinfonietta’s ticketed shows at the LPCA, Fitts said, where the performances “tend to be a deeper repertoire.”

“People (at free, public concerts) expect a lighter kind of musical selection, so the musicians have a chance to play that fun repertoire,” she added. “If anybody wants to come to a concert and there’s something that’s preventing them — whether it’s accessibility or cost — they should reach out to us. We would love to get more kids at concerts, the paid admission concerts.”

Fitts said that the Sinfonietta prides itself on the amount of free, public concerts it performs. This summer, the Sinfonietta had more free concerts than ticketed concerts on its schedule — and even its ticketed concerts come at an atypically low price point.

Lake Placid Sinfonietta percussionist Tony Oliver plays a timpani during rehearsal at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Wednesday, July 24. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

“I have to say, even our paid admission concerts at $35 a ticket, with $10 tickets for anyone 18 and under … even if we sold every single seat, we wouldn’t cover the cost of putting the concert on,” Fitts said. “We rely heavily on donations, and I think ever since the Sinfonietta became a nonprofit in the early 1980s, it’s wanted to keep that as a big part of its mission.”

The Sinfonietta’s always accepting volunteers, too, she added.

Malina said that the Sinfonietta’s small size and dedicated players are part of what makes it special. The other part is the beauty of the Adirondacks.

“This whole area, Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Keene Valley, Tupper Lake, it’s just some of the prettiest surroundings in the country, if not the world,” he said. “I think that the combination of all of this beautiful music in this very special, isolated place is really unique.”

The Sinfonietta’s quality shines through in its performances, according to Fitts.

“Our musicians are all professional musicians. Our biggest cost in putting on the season is paying our musicians, and it takes about three to four rehearsals to prepare for one of the ticketed concerts, and it takes a full rehearsal to prepare for one of the park concerts,” she said. “So, you’re paying 20-some people for quite a bit of work. But, it’s so worth it, because it’s so uplifting to hear.

“I always find something new every time they play even though I’ve heard them many, many times,” Fitts added.

This week, the Sinfonietta will perform at Keene Central School at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 25, and at the LPCA at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 28.

Next week, they’ll be at Mid’s Park in Lake Placid at 7 p.m. on July 31, The Wild Center in Tupper Lake at 6 p.m. on Aug. 1 and at LPCA at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 3.

During the final week of their season, the Sinfonietta will perform at Mid’s Park in Lake Placid at 7 p.m. on Aug. 7, the Hotel Saranac in Saranac Lake at 7 p.m. on Aug. 8 and at LPCA at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 11.

The rain location for concerts in Mid’s Park are St. Agnes Church.

For more information about any of these concerts, visit the Lake Placid Sinfonietta’s website online at lakeplacidsinfonietta.org.