How do you speak about the unspeakable? That was the creative challenge composer Aaron Jay Kernis faced in 1995 when he searched for the right musical language for Lament and Prayer, a piece marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust.

It's one of two Kernis pieces the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, led by music director Marin Alsop, will perform this week. Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 is also on the program.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Performs at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Music Center at Strathmore. Tickets are $15-$84. 410-783-8000 or baltimoresymphony.org. Aaron Jay Kernis will be at a Composers in Conversation program at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St. Tickets are $10. 410-752-8558 or theatreproject.org