This weekend’s offering by the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra features the talents of somebody very old and somebody rather new.

Actually, a lot of new somebodies.

In addition to the talents of the orchestra members, the upcoming production of “Shakespeare: Comedy and Tragedy with the BPA Shakespeare Society” will feature the talents of the 2015 Young Artist Competition winner and runner-up, as well as the Bainbridge Island Youth Orchestra in a two-day-only musical tribute to the Bard.

The concerts are the culmination of a month-long Shakespeare-themed celebration organized by the Bainbridge Performing Arts Shakespeare Society, the founder and director of which, Tom Challinor, will be performing excerpts from the famous author’s works between the pieces throughout the show.

All of the music is inspired by or written for Shakespeare productions, BSO music director and program conductor Wesley Schulz explained.

The lineup includes: Otto Nicolai’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” selections from Felix Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Édouard Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole, 1st movement,” Edvard Grieg’s “Piano Concerto in A minor,” “Overture to West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein and Maurice Peress, “Coriolan Overture” by Ludwig van Beethoven and the “Fantasy Overture” from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

Performing with the orchestra will be the winner and runner up from this year’s Young Artist Competition, Andrew Barnwell, 17, and Shintaro Taneda, 13, respectively, as well as members of the Bainbridge Island Youth Orchestra.

The collaboration between musicians of greater and lesser experience levels is necessary, Schulz explained, for the growth of the art form, and this show was the perfect banner under which to consolidate so many performers.

“People ask me, ‘How do you continue classical music? How do you advocate for classical music? Is classical music dying?’” Schulz explained.

Not even close.

“I think the answer is youth,” he said. “It’s education. It’s students and it’s introducing them to this music.”

The BSO, Schulz said, invites the youth orchestra to play with them at least once a year and some people would be surprised, he added, at how passionate the young musicians are about the classical style.

“Most students don’t dislike classical music because they find some aesthetic that’s offensive,” Schulz laughed. “They just aren’t familiar with it. They don’t know the depth of it.

“The whole goal here is to just bring kids in as much as we can,” he added.

Playing with an orchestra for the first time, Barnwell said, solidified his intention to pursue music as a profession after high school.

“It was kind of surreal to finally be on that stage,” the piano player from Mercer Island said, adding that the piece he and Schulz had selected for him to play with the orchestra was a personal favorite.

“I love how emotional it is,” he said of Grieg’s “Piano Concerto in A minor.”

“It’s a really powerful piece,” he added. “It has a lot of building of tension and these huge swells in the strings that’s great.”

Taneda, the show’s second guest soloist, agreed that the experience of playing with the entire orchestra was a powerful one.

“If you’re playing by yourself you can kind of make your music,” the violinist from Lynwood said. “But if you’re playing with an orchestra you’ve got to be together and connect with the conductor.”

Sharing the stage with so many talented musicians as well as Challinor’s Shakespeare readings, Schulz said, is exactly the kind of creative partnerships he enjoys most and one of the best parts of the Bainbridge Island cultural scene.

“I love to collaborate with other artists or musicians,” he said. “It just sort of deepens what we do.”

Tickets for “Shakespeare: Comedy and Tragedy with the BPA Shakespeare Society” are one sale. The cost is $19 for adults, $16 for students, military and teachers. Youth ages 18 and under are free with paying adults.

Visit www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org to purchase.

The production will run for two shows only at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 18 and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 19.

Bold, Bard and Beautiful

What: The Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra’s “Shakespeare: Comedy and Tragedy with the BPA Shakespeare Society.”

When: At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 18 and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 19.

Where: Bainbridge Performing Arts (200 Madison Ave. North).

Admission: Tickets are $19 for adults, $16 for students, military and teachers. Youth ages 18 and under are free with paying adults. Visit www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org to purchase.