Vashon Maury Chamber Orchestra will open a new season of concerts with a full performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, and an abbreviated and discounted family matinee at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at Vashon Center for the Arts.

The local orchestra, led by co-music directors Karin Choo and Justin Cole, is made up of 22 island musicians.

For the concert, island pianists Linda Lee and Evan Stults will join the orchestra in Saint-Saëns’ whimsical “Carnival of the Animals” in a program of “Amuse-Bouche,” bite-sized French delights, also to include Couperin’s “Pieces en Concert,” featuring Rowena Hammill on cello.

Only “Carnival of the Animals” will be performed at the family matinee on Saturday, where it will be enhanced by an animated video presentation.

The concerts will be dedicated to Ann E. Larson, a cellist who played with the orchestra for 16 years. Larson died in August, after a long illness. In an obituary published in last week’s issue of The Beachcomber, Larson was eulogized for her dedication to the orchestra, which included not only serving as the group’s only cellist for many years, but also for keeping detailed records of past performances and the group’s repertoire. She was also a skilled bow-maker for violins, violas, cellos and basses.

“Quite a few of us on the island have her bows,” said the orchestra’s co-music director Choo, noting that local musicians who have bows made by Larson are invited to participate in a special piece, Nocturne from the “Incidental Music to Shylock” by Gabriel Fauré, at the Friday concert. The whole concert, though selected months ago, seems a perfect tribute to Larson, Choo said.

“‘The Carnival of the Animals’ has the most gorgeous cello and piano movement,” she said. “It just seems so perfect that the whole concert is anchored by cello.”

Tickets for the concert are available at vashoncenterforthearts.org.