Like cheese, classical music is best enjoyed when in string form. Snack on the sounds of cultured compositions with today’s GrouponLive deal: for $17, you get one adult ticket to a Symphony on the Bay performance in Burlington (a $35 value). Seating is first come, first served. Choose from the following performances:

• “Beethoven’s Ninth” at Burlington Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, November 13, at 7:30 p.m.
• “A Family Christmas and New Year’s Celebration” at the Royal Botanical Gardens on Sunday, December 11, at 3 p.m.
• “A Flute and Harp Celebration” at Burlington Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, March 11, at 3 p.m.
• “The Great BPAC Piano Celebration” at Burlington Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, May 6, at 3 p.m.
• “A Musical Summer Solstice” at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church on Sunday, June 24, at 3 p.m.<p>

Under the steady hand of music director James R. McKay, the impeccably tuned troops of Symphony on the Bay’s community-based orchestra march forth into a diverse range of sonic vistas in their 2011–2012 season. This year’s program kicks off with a stirring rendition of “Beethoven’s Ninth”, a 100-person-choral masterwork featuring the Masterworks of Oakville Chorus with four vocal solos by Janet Obermeyer, Christie Derkson, Darryl Edwards, and Todd Wieczorek that give way to periodic explosions of string and brass. Christmas arrives several weeks early at the Royal Botanical Gardens, where “A Family Christmas and New Year’s Celebration” showers ears with a violin concerto and carol singalong. A general air of festivity permeates the program at spring’s commencement, when “A Flute and Harp Celebration” knocks concertgoers’ socks and semipermanent winter frowny faces off with string and woodwind renderings of works by Debussy, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. Ivory keys unlock the most stringently fastened of hearts during “The Great BPAC Piano Celebration”, and guest conductor Pratik Gandhi makes the sun weep warm tears of light as he channels Mendelssohn and others in “A Musical Summer Solstice”.

Symphony on the Bay has served up heaping portions of sound at elegant venues such as the new Burlington Performing Arts Centre since 1973. The all-volunteer symphonic orchestra benefits the Hamilton-Burlington community in countless ways, from inviting local musicians into its fold to drowning out the whimpering mermen that lurk just beyond the shores of Lake Ontario.

Though discounted tickets are available for seniors (65+, $25), students ($15), and children 13 and younger ($5), this Groupon offers the best value for adult and senior tickets.