Music lovers have a lot to celebrate in downtown Houston this weekend

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It may be rodeo season, but in the country's fourth largest city, music of a different kind will soar through the air this weekend in downtown Houston.

Ars Lyrica Houston, the city's early music ensemble, will be presenting a trio of artists at its annual fundraising gala, called A Mid-Winter Night's Dream.

Attendees will be switching out their boots for ballgowns in order to support productions of Baroque-era music, theater and opera productions.

What is Baroque music? According to Ars Lyrica Houston, the music is from the 17th and 18th century, and features productions with elaborate scene design, stylized dances, colorful orchestra and some very impressive singing.

Historically, the baroque music period was from the 1600 to 1750. If you ever took piano lessons as a child and pecked through a few pieces composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, it was actually Baroque music meant to be played on a harpsichord!

Saturday night's performance at the Hotel Alessandra will feature soprano Cecilia Duarte, lutenist Aresh Noori and percussionist Jésus Pacheco, all experts in the genre

The event is being chaired by Stephanie von Stein and Dr. Mark A. Schusterman and will honor Dr. Sippi Khurana. The event supports Ars Lyrica's biennial Baroque opera productions, which begin this fall with Handel's Agrippina at the Hobby Center on November 16 and 18.

No word yet on if Dr. Khurana, a physician, will show off her mad violin skills to guests. That would be an awesome surprise at a music event!

To learn more about Ars Lyrica Houston, visit arslyricahouston.org/.