Photograph: Danielle Aquiline, courtesy of Chicago Q Ensemble

Chicago Q Ensemble string quartet.
 

There are a lot of free classical concerts around Chicago this time of year. Get away from the fluorescent lights of the office and catch the shows going on right now: 

4/5 at 12 noon 
Songs of Hugo Wolf
This beginning-of-the-month series occurs on the first Friday, run by the Pianoforte Foundation. Here, the baritone Ryan de Ryke sings lieder by the underrated Austrian Romantic composer Hugo Wolf. Sherwood Community Music School, 1312 S Michigan.

4/10 at 12:15
Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert
The long-running Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts continue a World War II morale-boosting daytime concert series originating with the eponymous dame in London. Here in Chicago, most Wednesdays see a live performance and radio simulcast, such as this one with the pianist Inesa Sinkevych playing Debussy, Schubert, and Prokofiev. Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E Washington.

4/11 at 12:15
Lyrebird Ensemble
The University of Chicago’s Noontime Concert Series brings the flute-and-harp Lyrebird Ensemble to play a program of duos by unfamous composers throughout history, such as the French harpist/scoundrel Robert Nicolas-Charles Bochsa and the modern Belgian organist Joseph Jongen. Fulton Recital Hall, U of C, 5845 S Ellis.

4/15 at 12:15
Songs of Francis Poulenc
Poulencophiles can get a fix when the Chicago Opera Theater’s Young Artists perform about 20 of the Les Six composer’s quirkily lovely songs in recital. Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E Washington.

4/19 at 12:15
Gaudete Brass
A Friday staple, Fourth Presbyterian Church’s 15-minutes-inaccurate Noonday concerts often feature the majestic pipe organ and go alfresco in July and August. Our pick for April is the brass quintet Gaudete Brass. Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E Chestnut.

4/22 at 12:15
Musicians Club of Women, Award Winners in Concert
Alison Wahl is the soprano who portrayed Clori in Haymarket Opera Company’s Clori, Tirsi, e Fileno last summer. She presents this month’s Cultural Center recital under the aegis of the Musicians Club of Women (who also put on a monthly concert at Fourth Pres). Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E Washington.

4/23 at 1
Tuesdays at One
Another series from the school of literal naming is UIC’s Tuesdays at One. This season, UIC brought the velvety soprano Jonita Lattimore and the sensitive Avalon Quartet. This concert also has the violinst Kia-Hui Tan playing notable entries from a solo-violin composition competition she runs. Recital Hall L060, EPASW Building, UIC, 1040 W Harrison.

4/26 at 10
FJORDS
Okay, you’re probably only eating lunch at 10 a.m. if you’re in seventh grade. But this episode of the tykes-focused Juicebox series merits an adult swapping a coffee break with a lunch break. In a mash-up of puppetry, shadow puppetry, video, poetry, and live music by the string quartet Chicago Q, this performance, titled Fjords, actually sounds and looks like toddlers weren’t the original target audience. Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E Washington.

4/29 at 12:15
Korean GangNam Symphony Orchestra
I have to admit that I have no idea what the Korean GangNam Symphony Orchestra is, and Google is virtually no help. But I know I want to hear it. Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E Washington.