It's not too early to start thinking about the 2000-2001 music season. Here's a preview of what some organizations have in store for audiences come fall:
The Handel Choir of Baltimore, led by T. Herbert Dimmock, will launch its 66th season in October with the "Chandos Anthems" by the group's namesake. In November, Carl Orff's ever-popular "Carmina Burana" will be presented, followed by the choir's 66th annual performance of Handel's "Messiah" and an additional program of holiday music. Another great Handel oratorio, "Israel in Egypt," is slated for March; this Passover-related event will feature six Baltimore-area cantors in the choir's first-ever presentation at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. (The rest of the season's concerts will be held at various churches and auditoriums).
Completing the line-up are Bach's Mass in B minor, the annual "Music for a Great Space" program (this time featuring two brass choirs, two pipe organs and three choruses all at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen) and a celebration of "Handel's Greatest Hits."
For more information, call 410-366-6544.
The Baltimore Choral Arts Society, directed by Tom Hall, opens its 35th season in November at Goucher College with one of Bach's most controversial works, the "St. John Passion," which has been viewed as anti-Semitic. Facing that issue head-on, the society will host a symposium in advance of the performance: "When Words Hurt: The Gospel of St. John, Bach's Music and Religious Intolerance."
The society's annual Christmas program at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen will include an appearance by Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and members of O'Malley's March.
In March, there will be a salute to jazz great Dave Brubeck's 80th birthday. Brubeck, who has composed several large-scale works on religious themes, will be on hand for a performance of "The Gates of Justice" for brass ensemble, jazz quartet and chorus at the Meyerhoff.
Back at the cathedral, the society will look at death and life in May through Gabriel Faure's "Requiem" and Morten Lauridsen's "Lux Aeterna."
For more information, call 410-523-7070 or 1-800-750-0875.
The Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and music director Anne Harrigan will pay homage to the late Charles Schulz when it opens its 18th season at Goucher College in October. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's "A Peanuts Gallery" will be performed on a program with music by Schroeder's favorite composer, Beethoven, the "Emperor" Concerto (with Christopher O'Riley) and Symphony No. 8.
Following a family program also in October and a holiday program at St. Mary's Seminary in December, the orchestra will return to the college in February to perform works by French composers, including Maurice Ravel, Darius Milhaud and Henri Tomasi (The Trombone Concerto, with Chris Dudley as soloist). In April, guest conductor Kirk Trevor will lead the ensemble in works by Haydn, Mozart and Richard Strauss. Harrigan will be back on the podium in May for Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 (with Chee Yun), Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" and other works.
For more information, call 410-998-1022.
You don't have to wait until fall to catch the Concert Artists of Baltimore in action. Artistic director Edward Polochick will lead members of the ensemble in Stravinsky's "A Soldier's Tale" as part of a free program that also includes a solo violin work by Bach at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Strathmore Arts Center, 10701 Rockville Pike, Rockville. For more information, call 301-530-0540.
The Concert Artists, a choral and orchestral group, will open its 14th season in October at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland with Schubert's Mass in E-flat. The program also offers Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 2 with Inna Faliks as soloist. A November event promises Schumann's Symphony No. 2, Alfred Schnittke's "Moz-Art a la Haydn" for two violins, two string ensembles and double bass, and Richard Strauss' Oboe Concerto, with Vladimir Lande.
A December holiday program at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion and an all-Mozart evening of vocal and instrumental works back at the college in February are on the schedule. In March, a family program will be held at the Gordon Center for the Performing Arts. The season will close in April at the college with Copland's "Appalachian Spring" and "Old American Songs," as well as Joaquin Rodrigo's "Concierto Andaluz" for four guitars and Spanish choral works.
For more information, call 410-625-3525.