Some enthusiasts consider Mozart’s music so healing and powerful that it can temporarily raise human IQ and even increase milk production in cows. At one time, the Florida legislature even passed a law requiring Mozart to be played during state-funded childcare and education programs – all in pursuit of the fabled Mozart Effect.

The Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra invites members the community to decide for themselves on Feb. 25 and 26, when it will present Wondrous Wolfgang, an all-Mozart concert in honor of the composer’s 256th birthday.

The program includes the intense Symphony No. 25 in G minor, from which the Academy Award-winning movie “Amadeus” gets its theme. The orchestra will also present the heart-rending overture to “Don Giovanni” as well the overture to “Idomeneo,” an energetic introduction to the opera’s stormy plot.

To round out the evening, two members of the orchestra will perform the delightful “Concerto for Flute and Harp,” an all-time favorite.

CCCO conductor and musical director Timothy Smith will introduce each piece with educational stories and insights into the composer’s life and work.

Tickets for the Saturday, Feb. 25 performance at 7:30 p.m. in Pittsburg’s Los Medanos College Recital Hall are $5 to $10, available at the door only. Tickets for the Sunday, Feb. 26 performance at 7:30 p.m. in Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts are $10 for youth, $20 for seniors and $30 for adults, available at the door, by phone at 925-943-SHOW (7469) or online at www.lesherartscenter.org.