The first weekend of March will be a rich one for local music lovers as Bates College presents concerts by an avant-garde duo and an up-and-coming Irish-style band. Both programs will take place in the concert hall at Olin Arts Center.

Combining flute with electronic and computer-based music, DuoInteraktiv will perform on Friday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. Computer operator and music theorist Reiner Krämer and flutist Patricia Surman create and perform music that fuses the sounds of traditional acoustic instruments with computer-generated electronica. The duo received the 2011-12 Yamaha-College Music Society In-Residence Fellowship for their efforts to bring works for flute and computer to a larger audience. Admission is free, but tickets are required.

Called “a bright new name in the American Irish music scene” by Brian O’Donovan, host of the radio program “Celtic Sojourn,” The Forge will perform on Sunday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. Composed of bodhranist Anna Colliton, fiddler Cara Frankowicz, harpist and vocalist Maeve Gilchrist, and flutist Nicole Rabata, this Northeast-based quartet has appeared throughout North America, Europe and Asia. As individual artists, they have performed with renowned performers the Chieftains, Three Irish Tenors and Capercaille. Admission is $12.

Also on Sunday, March 3 at 3 p.m. in Olin Arts Center, Bates musicians Dean Stein (violinist) and Chiharu Naruse (pianist) will present the second of three concerts over which they will perform all of Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and piano. This program will consist of sonata’s No. 5 in F major (Op. 24, “Spring”); No. 10 in G major (Op. 96) and No. 6 in A major (Op. 30, No. 1).?Admission is $10.

Olin Arts Center is located at 75 Russell St. Tickets for all three concerts are available at batestickets.com. For the latter two concerts, a limited numbers of free tickets are available to seniors and students by reservation; for more information or to reserve tickets, call 786-6163 or email olinarts@bates.edu.