Escape from the city for Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival

The Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival, two hours away and just over the Georgia line in western North Carolina, will have new temptations this year for Atlantans seeking a summer mountain getaway. Organized by William Ransom of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta, the 33rd edition will run from June 27 through Aug. 3.

Highlights of the 24-concert series include:

• The festival's first July 4th weekend concerts, titled "Musical Fireworks" on July 5-6, will feature Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concertmaster David Coucheron and his pianist sister, Julie.

• "Jazz Meets Classics: Sax in the Mountains" features saxophonists Will Scruggs and Leo Saguiguit with pianists Gary Motley and Elena Cholakova, July 18-19.

• The Grammy Award-winning Parker String Quartet performs in concert July 20-21, then gives an an afternoon children's concert and an informal evening performance at Buck's Coffee Cafe (both free) on July 22.

• "CelloMania," a concert featuring six cellists led by Sara Sant'Ambrogio of the Eroica Trio, will be held July 27-28.

• Violinist Tim Fain, musical star of the Academy Award-winning film "12 Years a Slave," will share an "American Idols" program (in this case, meaning composers including Philip Glass and Aaron Copland) with pianist Ransom on Aug. 1-2. Fain also will play during the Final Gala Concert on Aug. 3, featuring the Festival Chamber Orchestra giving the fest's first-ever performance of Mendelssohn's Double Concerto for Violin and Piano. A dinner follows the concert.