Provided

Cellist Zvi Plesser

All about plants

A late spring exhibit at the Top Shelf Gallery in Mann Library features select plant treasures from the L.H. Bailey Conservatory's collection -- one of the most outstanding of its kind in the world -- along with highlights from the conservatory's history in promoting a better understanding of global plant biodiversity and public appreciation for art and science. This exhibit, "A Showcase of Biodiversity and Research in Plant Biology," runs through May 31 during library hours. More information available online.

Ithaca trains

To celebrate the 60th Reunion of the Class of 1952, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art will feature the exhibit "When Ithaca Went by Train: The Lehigh Valley Remembered," May 19-July 15. The exhibit explores the importance of the train to the Cornell student experience in the first half of the 20th century. On view will be artwork and memorabilia from the museum's collection, Kroch Library and Historic Ithaca. Free.

Mayfest

Pianists Xak Bjerken and Miri Yampolsky will direct the fifth annual international chamber music festival, Mayfest, May 20-23. Featured are violinist Xiao-Dong Wang and cellist Zvi Plesser -- favorite guests from two seasons ago -- violist Katherine Murdock (former Ithacan, now with the Los Angeles Piano Quartet) and Cornell's new faculty violinist, Ariana Kim.

The opening event will be in Milstein Hall at 3 p.m., May 20, featuring Gideon Klein's String Trio (Ariana Kim, Wang, Plesser), Christopher Stark's "Red Ochre" for violin and prerecorded sounds (Kim), J.S. Bach's Keyboard Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052 (Mike Lee with Susan Waterbury, Kim, Wang, Plesser) and selections from Rachmaninoff's "Vespers," conducted by Scott Tucker with the Chorus and Glee Club.

Subsequent chamber music concerts will be in Barnes Hall Auditorium May 21, 22 and 23 at 8 p.m. These include, May 21, Cornell pianists Malcolm Bilson (F-Minor Sonatas by Hummel, op. 20, and Schubert, D. 625), Miri Yampolsky (Schuman Sonata in G Minor, op. 22), and Andrew Zhou (Thomas Adès' "Traced Overhead," op. 15); May 22, Ives' "Largo" for clarinet, violin and piano (Richard Faria, Kim, Zhou), Beethoven's String Trio in C Minor, op. 9, no. 3 (Wang, Murdock, Plesser), Bizet's "Jeux d'Enfants" for piano four-hands (Xak Bjerken and Roger Moseley), and Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2 (Wang, Plesser, Yampolsky); and May 23, Janácek's Violin Sonata (Kim, Yampolsky), Bartók's "Contrasts" for clarinet, violin and piano (Faria, Wang, Bjerken), and Brahms' Piano Quartet in A Major, op. 26 (Wang, Murdock, Plesser, Bjerken).

For information: http://mayfest-cornell.org.

Admission for each concert: $15 adults; $8 students, available online at Ticketbud, and at the door.

Dilmun Hill work party

Support sustainable agricultural practices at the Dilmun Hill Student Farm. Help plant, tend and harvest vegetables, herbs and flowers. Work parties are held through Oct. 28, Thursdays, 4-7 p.m., and Sundays 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Birds and blossoms

Take a bird or wildflower walk or botanical garden mini-tour. Bird walks will be held May 18 and 25, beginning at 8 a.m. at the entrance to the Mundy Wildflower Garden off Caldwell Road. Wildflower walks will be held at Sapsucker Woods, May 20 and 27, beginning at 1 p.m., at the Lab of Ornithology visitor center. An evening wildflower walk will be held May 24 beginning at 7 p.m., at the entrance to the Mundy Wildflower Garden.

Botanical garden mini-tours will be held May 26 at 15-minute intervals beginning at 10 a.m. and running through noon, at the Brian C. Nevin Welcome Center. The botanical garden collections include the Bowers Rhododendron Collection, Robison York State Herb Garden, Martha Young Flower Garden, Heasley Rock Garden, Mullestein Winter Garden and Groundcover Collection.

The event is free and Information is available online.

Chorus and Glee Club

The Senior Week concert, held May 26 at 8 p.m., Bailey Hall, and conducted by Scott Tucker, features music from the Cornell University Chorus and Glee Club's 2011-12 repertoire. It includes works for men's voices and for women's voices; the two choirs join forces to present mixed-voice works, including selections from Rachmaninoff's "Vespers." The concert also includes traditional Cornell songs. Admission: $10, available online, in person at Ticket Center Ithaca (273-4497), and at the door.