When Edwina von Gal, the landscape designer who founded the Perfect Earth Project, throws a party, you can bet that the music will be top-notch, and the lineup for her nonprofit’s biennial family picnic and concert on Labor Day weekend is a case in point. 

Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie will headline the Sept. 3 event, which will be at Cindy Sherman’s Springs-Fireplace Road property on Accabonac Harbor. Also performing will be Suzanne Vega, Rufus Wainwright, Teddy Thompson, Jenni Muldaur, and G.E. Smith. The fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi will be the master of ceremonies. 

This is the third biennial fund-raiser for the organization Ms. von Gal founded to advocate for toxin-free lawns and landscaping. Roger Waters, a co-founder of Pink Floyd, was the special guest at the 2014 picnic, and the late Lou Reed played the first one in 2012. On Sept. 3 the event will run from 3 to 7 p.m. In addition to the music, it will include activities for kids and a wild animal petting zoo with creatures from the Quogue Wildlife Refuge. 

The Perfect Earth Project works to educate landscape professionals and homeowners both here and around the world about the dangers synthetic lawn and landscaping chemicals pose to people and their pets. 

Tickets for the family picnic start at $1,000 ($100 for children) and can be reserved online at perfectearthproject.org. In case of rain, the event will be held on Sept. 4. 

Migguel Anggelo and his band, the Immigrants, will perform a free concert on the outdoor stage of the Southampton Arts Center on Saturday at 6 p.m. The group has recently returned from Russia, where it shared a vibrant fusion of Latin and American culture in sold-out shows in concert halls and music festivals and performed at the home of the U.S. ambassador.

The show will feature the Latin music of Augustin Lara, the Buena Vista Social Club, and Astor Piazzolla. In addition to original compositions by Mr. Anggelo and Mau Quiros, the musical director, the band will interpret the music of such legendary artists as Celia Cruz and Los Panchos. The center recommends not only chairs, blankets, and picnics for the rain-or-shine concert but also “your dancin’ shoes.”

Next Thursday at the center, Go People, a professional theater company founded by British actors, will stage “Bell, Book, and Candle,” a romantic comedy by John Van Druten about a city-dwelling witch who falls for her next-door neighbor. Unfortunately — or not — she will lose her powers if she falls in love. The free performance will take place at 7 p.m.

“The Sonic Garden Party,” a presentation of LongHouse Reserve’s Junior Council, will take place Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the East Hampton reserve and sculpture garden.

An exploration of sound and community set in the venue’s gardens, the evening will include music selected by National Sawdust with performances by Bora Yoon, who will create a site-specific electroacoustic musical soundscape, and Colin Self, who will perform a series of vocal and electronic compositions and narratives.

“Sonambient,” a sound installation by the sculptor Harry Bertoia, will be on display in Buckminster Fuller’s ”Fly Eye Dome,” and John Brien will create an immersive, four-channel audio installation using samples of Bertoia’s private recordings. 

The event, for which tickets cost $100, will also feature a silent auction of handcrafted sonic sculptures by Scott Bluedorn, Fitzhugh Karol, Nick Martin, and Nico Yektai, as well as complimentary drinks, food for purchase from a food truck, and an interactive drum circle finale.

The world premiere of “Andromeda,” a production of Kate Mueth and the Neo-Political Cowgirls, will take place outdoors at the Montauk County Park from next Thursday through Aug. 28.

“Andromeda” features a cast of actors from the Hamptons and New York City and puppets by Liz Joyce in a music-filled experience. Set under the stars on the edge of Montauk, an Ethiopian girl and her mother are in search of a home. Their journey takes them to a strange village where danger and magic set in. Andromeda struggles to find her true place in the world, but the challenges of exile prove too great. 

All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, which are available at npcowgirls.org, cost $20. The company has suggested that attendees take blankets, lawn chairs, and picnics to the dance-theater event. 

The Comedy Club at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor will present “It’s a Mad, Mad World . . . And We’re a Little Angry: An Evening With Angela LaGreca and Julie Halston” on Monday at 8 p.m. According to the theater, the two women will “dish on everything from marriage, motherhood, Botox, and the current deer population in the Hamptons.”

Ms. LaGreca has performed at comedy clubs and theatrical venues from New York City to Tahiti, and her television credits include “The View,” “Law & Order,” and Comedy Central, among others. 

Ms. Halston’s theatrical résumé includes the Tony Award-winning musical “Anything Goes,” “Gypsy,” and “Hairspray.” She has appeared in many productions with Charles Busch and has performed comedic solo shows at venues across the country.

Tickets range in price from $39 to $69.

The Southampton Arts Center is presenting no fewer than five films this week, beginning tonight at 7 with a screening of “Electoral Dysfunction,” an award-winning documentary that takes an irreverent look at voting in America. The filmmakers will answer questions after the screening. Tickets cost $12, and advance reservations have been recommended.

Stanley Kubrick’s horror film “The Shining” will be shown outdoors on Friday at 8:30 p.m. as part of the Hamptons Film Festival’s program of free outdoor screenings. Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duval, and Danny Lloyd, as their psychic son, star in the tale set at an isolated hotel in the off-season.

Two films will be presented on Sunday in conjunction with the Wildlife Conservation Society, commemorating World Elephant Day. “Naledi: A Baby Elephant’s Tale,” a documentary about an orphaned baby elephant in Botswana and the men who saved her life, will be shown at 5 p.m. “Mind of a Giant,” which explores the astonishing mental capabilities of elephants, will unspool at 7 p.m. and be followed by a panel discussion. Both films are free.

An encore presentation of “Racing Extinction!” will take place next Thursday at 7 p.m. The Oscar-winning director Louie Psihoyos assembled a team of artists and activists on an undercover operation to expose the hidden world of endangered species and the race to protect them against mass extinction. Carl Safina of the Safina Center and Dan Gulizio of Peconic Baykeeper will take questions after the free screening. A reception and book signing with Mr. Safina will be held from 6 to 7.

An outdoor concert by the talented young artists of “Pianofest” will take place on Saturday afternoon at 5. In the event of rain, the program will be held in the center’s theater. Advance reservations have been suggested for the free program, as have chairs and blankets.

The first annual Hamptons Festival of the Arts will launch on Saturday evening at 7 at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill with a recital in the galleries by the renowned soprano Renée Fleming and the singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. A reception will follow the performance.

The festival, which will grow to include a wide range of performances and events including music, dance, theater, and the visual arts, was developed by the museum in partnership with IMG Artists, a performing arts management company, and the IFAC Handa Foundation, a Tokyo-based philanthropic institution. Advance reservations are required for the event, for which tickets cost $275, $250 for members.

The Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival will present two concerts at the Parrish inspired by its current exhibition, “Unfinished Business: Paintings From the 1970s and 1980s by Ross Bleckner, Eric Fischl, and David Salle,” on Monday at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.

The program will include Schubert’s Trio for Violin, Viola, and Cello, D. 471 (1816), a movement from an uncompleted work; Arvo Pärt’s “Fratres” for Violin and Piano (1977), which uses a single idea to create many works of the same name; Brown’s “Lost Waltz” for Flute and String Quartet (1997), which draws on a bygone style, and Harbison’s “November 19, 1828, Hallucination in Four Episodes” for Piano Quartet (1988), which pays homage to the death of Franz Schubert.

The musicians are Marya Martin, flute, Amy Schwartz and Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin, Cynthia Phelps, viola, Carter Brey, cello, and Orion Weiss, piano. Tickets cost $35, $30 for members, and advance reservations have been suggested.

The Amagansett Library will continue its centennial-year celebration with a performance by Katherine C.H.E., a singer and library trustee, today at 6 p.m. in the community room. A Nashville native, she will perform music from 1916, the year the library was founded, as well as songs from its 90th, 80th, 70th, 60th, and 50th anniversary years.

Two concerts with imaginative programming and outstanding performances marked the beginning of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival’s 33rd season. One was an overview of a great composer’s life and music, and the other was a sampling of shorter, lighter pieces that are not often heard.                                                                                     

The series kicked off on July 31 with “Mozart: A Portrait in Music and Words,” narrated by Alan Alda. Mr. Alda, the actor, director, screenwriter, author, and visiting professor at Stony Brook University, who is a well-liked figure on the East End, was a perfect choice for the narration. He had crafted a storyline of Mozart’s life, drawing on some of his letters centering around the four pieces to be heard, and delivered it with warmth, affection, charm, and humor.

On the instrumental roster were Marya Martin, the flutist who founded the festival and is its artistic director; Kristin Lee on violin, Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu on viola, and Raman Ramakrishnan on cello, all familiar to festival veterans. Appearing with the festival for the first time was the pianist Jon Kimura Parker.

The first piece on the program, the “Sonata for Flute and Piano, K. 13,” was written in 1791 when Mozart was just 8 years old, and showed that the prodigy as a “beginner” had already absorbed the style of mature composers around him. The first movement was cheerful and in strict sonata form, the slow second movement showed interesting melodic interplay between the flute and piano, and the closing Minuet skillfully used chromatic lines. Of course, the high artistry of the performers brought out the beauty that lies beyond the written notes; one wonders if the child composer realized how much was hidden there.

The “Quartet for Flute, Violin, Viola, and Cello in D Major, K. 285,” next on the program, sounded more like the Mozart we know, having marks of his distinctive style. Although Mozart wrote in a letter that he hated the flute and having to compose for it, the picture that Mr. Alda portrayed with amusing touches suggested that his dislike of it probably was because he found composing a great distraction at that moment, because of his attraction to a certain young woman. Nevertheless, the piece was unabashedly delightful and masterful. In the first movement, the eye contact and facial expressions among the players were especially engaging, and their expressive tone and tight ensemble were apparent. The next section was a flute solo with pizzicato strings, and Ms. Martin’s playing shone with perfect quality, even tone, expressive pianos, and long, arching lines. The closing Rondo was high-spirited and exultant.

For the sake of good listening, the next entries on the program were in reverse chronological order. We jumped ahead to near the end of Mozart’s all-too-short life, at a time when, Mr. Alda touchingly described, Mozart had begun to come to terms with death and seemed to know his time was limited. The “Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in C, K. 548,” had great passion, drama, and pathos, and, unlike the earlier works, more questions than answers. This was especially true of the second movement, which for me had some of the most poignant moments of the evening.

One of the characteristics of Mozart is that we hear such incredible beauty and meaning in comparatively few notes — sometimes rapid and intricately ornate passages, to be sure, yet the texture is usually transparent rather than heavy. How can one say so much and say it so profoundly, and at the same time seem so understated? Indeed, that is his genius.

Yet Mozart was ahead of his time and was not fully understood. This reminded me of a telling little vignette between Mozart and Emperor Joseph II from the movie “Amadeus.” It goes something like this:

Emperor (perhaps overwhelmed but having to find something to criticize): “It seems to have too many notes.”

Mozart (defiantly, trying to stay calm): “There are just as many notes, Your Majesty, as I required; neither more nor less.”

Emperor: “Just cut a few, and it will be perfect.”

Mozart: “Which few did you have in mind, Majesty?”

Cutaway.

Mr. Alda then took us back to a happier, earlier time, “a high moment in Mozart’s life,” in 1786, when he wrote the “Quartet for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello in E flat, K. 493.” Here was exuberance; every note was played with intention and life. Another favorite part of the concert for me was the last movement, Allegretto. On hearing the opening theme, one might not expect that there would be such twists and turns in melodic themes and harmony to follow, and so many of them. But what a joyful and surprise-filled ride it was. In one playful section the players really acted it out, bringing chuckles from the audience.

Mr. Parker proved himself to be an outstanding addition to the roster. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Berlin’s Philharmonie, the Beijing Concert Hall, and the Sidney Opera House, to name a few. Mr. Parker, who perhaps carried the lion’s share of the elaborate passagework throughout the evening, was incredible, especially in the closing piece, playing some extremely difficult florid passages with seeming ease and impeccable clarity and expression.

My only minor quibble was the use of the church’s sound system for Mr. Alda’s voice, which gave it a somewhat thin sound and overemphasized the sibilants; too bad next to the superb quality of the instruments.

The evening ended with the packed-solid house giving a well-deserved standing ovation with bravos.

The chamber music festival’s annual outdoor concert, on Aug. 3, which is offered free to the community, was in a new location this year, the field behind the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church. One big advantage of this location compared to its previous one was that it was away from the noise of Montauk Highway. Last year, I wrote that noise from motor vehicles covered up some beautiful, quiet passages a few times. This year, fortunately, there was none of that.

The concert, called Summer Winds, featured five woodwinds: Ms. Martin, flute; John Snow, oboe; Romie de Guise-Langlois, clarinet; Peter Kolkay, bassoon; and Stewart Rose, horn, as well as four strings: Ms. Lee, violin; Ms. Wu, viola; Jakob Koranyi, cello, appearing for the first time at the festival; and Karl Doty, double bass. The repertoire for the one-hour concert consisted of quite short, mostly 20th-century pieces, and the composers’ origins represented an unusual array of countries: Czechoslovakia (Bohuslav Martinu), Denmark (Carl Nielsen), Hungary (Gyorgy Ligeti), and Lichtenstein (Josef Rheinberger), in addition to France (François Poulenc). The opening and closing numbers were nonets (using all nine instruments), but the others were in various smaller groupings, including one with the uncommon but colorful combination of just clarinet and bassoon.

While definitely modern in in their freer forms, jagged rhythms, and unpredictable harmonies, the selections were all very engaging, easy to listen to, and fitting for an outdoor summer evening. The closing piece was the final movement of a Rheinberger nonet, offered as an appetizer for Sunday’s concert, which was to feature all four movements. It was the only piece that was more substantial and romantic, with soaring, expansive Alpine themes. Over all, I thought that rather than the “winds” in the name of the concert, the evening felt more like sunny, happy, lovely, refreshing summer breezes.

Chamber music aficionados will want to check out the festival’s remaining seven concerts, including a Romantic Adventure, Unfinished Business, at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill; the annual Wm. Brian Little Concert at Channing Daughters Winery in Bridgehampton, with three of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, and a Baroque Saturday. The series culminates with a festive finale on Aug. 28. The Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church is the main venue.

Tickets for most events range from $35 to $55, and student tickets for $10 will be available for most concerts. Complete details and ticket information can be found at bcmf.org or by calling 631-537-6368.

I think it’s fair to say that “My Fair Lady” is one of the great examples of the American musical’s golden era (that period from the mid-1950s through the ’60s). This 1956 work has just about everything — humor, romance, and some trenchant social satire, including a feminist motif that must have seemed daring for the ’50s. And it was composed by no less than the classic writing team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe.

The question for a 21st-century audience, however, is just how dated this 60-year-old material will seem. Is it possible that “My Fair Lady” (running now through Aug. 28 at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater) still has resonance for a modern audience?  

The answer is mostly yes. This revival gets off to a rough start, though it is no fault of the performers: This is a highly enjoyable and wonderfully acted production. Instead, the fault lies in Mr. Lerner’s antiquated book. As the story opens, you might remember, a young woman named Eliza Doolittle is selling flowers on the streets of 1912 London when she spots a man copying her speech into a notebook. The man turns out to be Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics who makes fun of her coarse use of language, thus launching the first of the show’s many memorable musical numbers, “Why Can’t the English Learn to Speak?”

It is a charming and clever song, and if Higgins’s rough treatment of Eliza ended here, it would all be in good fun. But when the professor tries to give Eliza speaking lessons to teach her how to be a “lady,” the insults increase in harshness — “Cabbage!” “Guttersnipe!” “Imbecile!” — until he is actually threatening her with physical violence; he’d like to smash her in the head with a broom, for example. Even as you remind yourself that you are watching a musical from 60 years ago, it’s hard not to be distracted by the ugliness of Higgins’s attacks. Sure, you recognize that the point is to portray the professor as a misogynist, but his cruelty is written at such a high pitch that it is jarring to a modern audience, or at least it was to me. At one point, Eliza flinches as he comes near her, stating that she expected him to hit her.

Most of this nastiness ends at about the 20-minute mark, at which point the production hits its stride and you can concentrate on the ensemble’s terrific performances. You know this narrative, of course, even if you’ve only seen “Pretty Woman.” It’s the mythical Pygmalion story of metamorphosis, and Kelli Barrett, who plays Eliza, is nothing short of smashing; her transformation from cockney flower girl to elegant English rose really couldn’t be much better.  Ms. Barrett is not only a terrific actress who handles humor and drama in equal measure, she is also a fabulous singer who nails every musical number, especially, “I Could Have Danced All Night.”

Paul Alexander Nolan has a tougher job as the pretentious, imperious Higgins, and it is a credit to him that he does not shy away from the professor’s meanspiritedness. In fact, as an actor he rather seems to relish it. By the end, Mr. Nolan dances and sings his way through his role with such a deft touch that you almost feel sorry for him when he sets about the musical’s closing number, “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” Did I say almost? 

And one would be remiss not to mention John O’Creagh’s performance as Eliza’s father, Alfred. Mr. O’Creagh inhabits this drunken dustbin worker with an infectious cheer, and though his singing doesn’t measure up to the two leads, there’s no one in the cast who looks like he’s having more fun. Mr. O’Creagh nearly steals the show with his rousing rendition of “Get Me to the Church On Time.”

It’s not easy to get this broad-canvased musical to work on a small stage, but the director, Michael Arden, the choreographer, Chase Brock, and the set designer, Dane Laffey, find ways to utilize Mr. Laffey’s two-level, modern-looking set in ways that never seem claustrophobic.

In the end, of course, Higgins gets his comeuppance and Eliza finds her voice as a woman. But this is really a musical about the transparency of social class. Eliza’s transformation proves that “breeding” and “class” are utter myths and bear no relation to birthright or DNA. It’s about environment and simple cosmetics. Anybody can do it.

What most of us cannot do, though, is perform onstage with the joy and precision currently on display at the Bay Street Theater.