Music

Whatever music Billy and Joe Tayoun play - the authentic folk songs of the Mid-East Ensemble, or the modern ethno-rock of Barakka - their surname carries a legacy. Through their two bands, the brothers are not only ambassadors for Lebanese culture in the Philadelphia area. They, along with brother-in-law Roger Mgrdichian, also are keepers of a family entertainment tradition that dates to 1959, when the Middle East Restaurant opened in South Philly at 10th and Ellsworth Streets. Owned by Joe and Billy's father, the late Edmond Tayoun, and their uncle, former City Councilman Jimmy Tayoun, the Middle East became a hotbed of live art, music, and dance when it moved a decade later to 126 Chestnut St. in Old City.

The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia doesn't end its season with a bang, but with the sort of alternative mandate in which Mozart's less-often-played Symphony No. 29 is an appropriate grand finale. Other conductors might have questioned that at Monday's concert in the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater: The 18-year-old Mozart was turning out consistently pleasant music at that time, but not mature masterpieces. Still, music director Dirk Brossé told the audience that it rates high among his favorites, so one had to trust that he hears something others miss.

'Girls like us, we don't mess around. . . . Don't girls like us make the world go around and around," the Pistol Annies declare on their new album. One thing's for sure: The three young singers and songwriters back up their boast while providing quite a boost for hard-core country music, and Annie Up (RCA ****), released Tuesday, tops a spate of new releases by name country acts. Miranda Lambert, Angaleena Presley, and Ashley Monroe (who also has a terrific new solo album, Like a Rose )

A concert or a sports victory? The Philadelphia Orchestra performance on Friday felt like the latter at the close of the Mahler Symphony No. 1 , with each of the principal players being cheered, spontaneously and vociferously, like Olympic gold medal winners, the biggest applause being reserved for music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Though Bach's St. Matthew Passion was his greatest artistic feat so far this season, this Mahler concert was perhaps his biggest audience success - in a symphony that can more or less play itself, but is hardly fail safe.

Oshgie Ehigianusoi Age: 24 Where ya from? 48th and Baltimore Where he grew up: Atlanta. Lived in Philly four years. What he does: DJ What brought him to Philly: "Records. I collect records. Philly's a great place for that because it's got a history of soul and funk. Those records been here for a long time, and lot of people in the area have a background of buying and keeping those records. So I come out here and purchase them and go spin. " What's different about life up here?

The lunch-hour rush is under way at the convoy of food trucks that line Spruce Street near the University of Pennsylvania campus. From inside the cramped Chez Yasmine, Jihed Chehimi is serving gourmet street fare from around the globe - heaping salmon sandwiches sprinkled with caviar, homemade couscous, and cups of Indian red lentil soup - all with a side of conversation that occasionally turns to the science of AIDS. For more than two decades, the Ph.D. in viral immunology was an HIV/AIDS researcher, first at Penn and then at the labs of the Wistar Institute, where the senior scientist explored innate and adaptive immunity.

Theater 1812 Productions: It's My Party - The Women & Comedy Project An exploration of the role of comedy in women's lives. Closes 5/19. Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Pl.; 215-592-9560. www.1812productions.org . $28-$38. Chicago Award-winning musical. Closes 5/5. DeSales University, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley; Labuda Box Office: 610-282-3192. $26; $24 seniors and students. Cooking With The Calamari Sisters: Mangia Italiano! 'Live broadcast' of a cable show hosted by 2 colorful sisters.

T OMMY JOYNER, 42, of Ardmore, is the founder of MilkBoy the Studio, in Callowhill, and two MilkBoy coffee-and-music venues, in Center City and Ardmore. Now, Joyner and longtime business partner Jamie Lokoff, 47, of Society Hill, are branching out. A third partner, Bill Hanson, 38, of Southwest Center City, is involved in the food-and-beverage part of the biz. I spoke with Joyner. Q: How did the business start? A: It began as a recording studio in North Philly in 1994. I didn't have a business plan and needed a place to record my band's record.

Money is so tight in the Philadelphia School District that the unthinkable has happened. For the first time in 17 years, CAPA - the High School for Creative and Performing Arts, the district's arts gem on South Broad Street - cannot afford to put on a musical. "I was shocked and upset," said Jack Schmieg, a freshman vocal major at Oberlin College in Ohio who starred as Jean Valjean in CAPA's production of Les Misérables last year. "I couldn't imagine not having a musical.