Celebrity support for charities is no new thing. It goes back to the 18th century. And a key recipient in those days was the Foundling Hospital in Holborn, which was set up as an orphanage in 1739 and turned into a fashionable cause by artist William Hogarth and composer Handel (pictured).

Hogarth organised displays of paintings that effectively became the first public art gallery in London. While Handel not only gave the hospital an organ but established annual fundraising performances of his greatest hit, Messiah, generating an income that kept the hospital in business until 1954, when its last orphans were relocated to foster homes.

All this gets celebrated on Saturday when the surviving Foundling Hospital Museum holds a Handel Day to mark its formative connection with the great composer.

There are family events, talks, a concert at 1pm (Meet Mr Handel, free with museum admission) and another at 7pm (Hearing Handel’s History, £14, £12 cons) in which alumni of London’s Handel Singing Competition explore aspects of Messiah. October 26, Foundling Museum, Brunswick Square, WC1N 1AZ. Details: foundlingmuseum.org.uk

Other concerts this week

FRIDAY OCTOBER 25

• Woodwind players from the London Symphony Orchestra play Tippett & Beethoven. 1pm, £15, £13 cons, LSO St Luke’s, Old Street, EC1V 9NG, 020 7638 8891, https://lso.co.uk/
• The Nuevo Tango Quintet play Piazolla. 7.30pm, £7.50, £5.50 cons, Royal Academy of Music, Marylebone Road, NW1 5HT, 020 7873 7373, tickets.ram.ac.uk/sales/whatson
• The Ben Cox Band play jazz recreations of the songs of James Taylor. 8pm, £15+, Hampstead Jazz Club, Duke of Hamilton, New End, NW3 1JD, 07916 0595, https://hampsteadjazzclub.com

SATURDAY OCTOBER 26

• Swedish singer-songwriter Rosalie and Jamaican-born guitarist Ciyo Brown play jazz variants on soul classics. 8pm, £15+, Hampstead Jazz Club, Duke of Hamilton, New End, NW3 1JD, 07916 0595, https://hampsteadjazzclub.com

SUNDAY OCTOBER 27

• Autumn season opens for Baroquestock period performance concerts, starting with music by Mozart and Gatti. 6pm, £12 (online advance £10), students £5 (door only, with ID), Heath St Baptist Church, NW3 1DN, www.baroquestock.com
• Viola virtuoso Timothy Ridout plays sonatas by Glinka, Shostakovich, Franck. 6.30pm, £13, 8-25s free, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, WC1R 4RL, 020 7405 1818, conwayhall.org.uk

MONDAY OCTOBER 28

• Back for the umpteenth time, Jonathan Miller’s classic staging of The Mikado returns to English National Opera with a lot of its now-veteran cast – Richard Suart, Andrew Shore et al – but one significant newcomer: Sir John Tomlinson in the title role. 7pm, £25+, London Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4ES. Runs to November 30. 020 7845 9300, www.eno.org
• Jazz vibraphone-playing of virtuoso calibre from Lewis Wright with his trio. 8.30pm, £8, £5 musicians, Oxford Tavern, 256 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2AA, 020 7485 3521, www.jazzattheoxfordtavern.com

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30

• Purcell’s semi-opera King Arthur – a piece that’s magical in every sense, with a score that includes hit numbers like Fairest Isle and the Frost Scene – performed by the Gabrieli Ensemble with a superb cast. 7.30pm, £25-£35, St Johns Smith Square, SW1P 3HA, 020 7222 1061, www.sjss.org.uk

THURSDAY OCTOBER 31

• Star pianist Daniil Trifonov plays Scriabin, Beethoven, Prokofiev. 7.30pm, £15+, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX, 020 3879 9555, www.southbankcentre.co.uk