Music of the season is being performed in every nook and cranny of the region, providing welcome distraction from holiday stress, alarming news headlines and any meteorological unpleasantness. Here's a chronological sampling of attractions over the next couple of weeks that caught my eye - and should catch your ear.
It may be tough getting a ticket at this late date, but tonight's annual "Christmas with Choral Arts" concert offers director Tom Hall leading the chorus and orchestra of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society in a typically broad mix of musical styles. This year, count on Handel, Haydn, Vaughan Williams, jazz (courtesy of the Jones Falls Express) and Celtic fare (featuring Greenfire and fiddler Laura Risk).
The concert is at 7:30 tonight at the Basilica of the Assumption, Cathedral and Mulberry streets. Tickets are $25. Call 410-523-7070. If you miss the performance, there will be another chance to see and hear it - the concert is being filmed by WMAR (Channel 2) for subsequent broadcasts during Christmas week.
At the Peabody Institute this week, you can first take a breather from all the seasonal music when Harlan Parker leads the Peabody Chamber Winds in Mozart's Serenade No. 12, along with pieces by Paul Hindemith and Samuel Adler. This program will be at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in Peabody's Griswold Hall, 1 E. Mount Vernon Place. Tickets are $16, $8 for seniors, $5 for students. Call 410-659-8100, Ext. 2.
The next night, move over to the institute's Friedberg Hall for a performance that brings together the Peabody Concert Orchestra, Chamber Singers, Concert Singers and Hopkins Chorus. Conductor Edward Polochick has come up with a very December program. There will be excerpts from Handel's oratorio Judas Maccabeus, which tells the biblical story of Hanukkah, and a complete presentation of Tchaikovsky's infrequently heard Symphony No. 1, which bears the title "Winter Dreams."
This concert is at 8 p.m. Friday at Peabody. Tickets are $16, $8 for seniors, $5 for students. Call 410-659-8100, Ext. 2.
Incidentally, Polochick, director of Peabody's choral program and founding artistic director of the Concert Artists of Baltimore, will receive the Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni Award during Friday's event.
Friends of Chamber Music will present the Municipal Opera Company of Baltimore in a production of Menotti's Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the organization's home base, 1430 Francke Ave., Lutherville. Admission is free. For more information, call 410-321-0553.
(Speaking of Amahl and the Night Visitors, it's not too early to think about Opera Vivente's second annual holiday production of the piece. It will be presented at 8 p.m. Jan. 3, 2 p.m. Jan. 4 and 5, at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 811 Cathedral St. Tickets are $20, $15 for students and seniors, $8 for children 12 and under. Call 410-547-7997.)
Randall Mullin will lead his St. David's Singers and Boys' and Girls' Choirs in Bach's Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio (abridged) at 7 p.m. Sunday at St. David's Church, 4700 Roland Ave. For ticket information, call 410-467-0476.
Bach's Christmas Oratorio will also be performed by the University of Maryland Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Singers at 7 p.m. Sunday. Kenneth Slowik will conduct; soloists include soprano Linda Mabbs and mezzo Delores Ziegler. Tickets are $20, $18 for seniors, $5 for students. Call 301-405-2787.
The Baltimore Chamber Orchestra's annual holiday program is bringing back a hit from last year's - a musical dramatization of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The music is by Carl Davis; actor Tim Marrone will take on all the parts in the story.
The program also includes music by Albinoni and Menotti, as well as Baltimore composer Ray Sprenkle. Anne Harrigan will conduct the concert at 8 p.m. Dec. 18 and 3 p.m. Dec. 22 at Second Presbyterian Church, 4200 St. Paul St. Tickets are $26, $20 for seniors and students, $8 for children 12 and under. Call 410-426-0157.
Finally, there's the usual abundant presence of Handel's Messiah.
The Handel Choir of Baltimore, led by T. Herbert Dim- mock, offers the note-complete oratorio at 7 p.m. Dec. 22 at Kraushaar Auditorium, Goucher College. An abridged version will be given in that auditorium at 8 p.m. Dec. 21 and also at Christ Lutheran Church, 701 S. Charles St. at 8 p.m. Dec. 20. Tickets are $15 to $25. Call 410-366-6544.
Edward Polochick leads members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Concert Artists of Baltimore Symphonic Chorale and members of the former BSO Chorus in two complete performances of Messiah - 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20 and 21 at Meyerhoff Hall, 1212 Cathedral St. Soloists include soprano Janice Chandler and mezzo Marietta Simpson. Tickets are $22 to $44. Call 410-783-8000.
And the Annapolis Chorale continues its 30th anniversary season with a complete performance of Messiah at 8 p.m. Dec. 21 at St. Anne's Episcopal Church, 199 Duke of Gloucester St., Annapolis. J. Earnest Green conducts chorus, orchestra and soloists in a presentation that will attempt the kind of performance audiences would have heard in 1750.
At 3 p.m. Dec. 22, also at St. Anne's, the Chorale will repeat the first part of Messiah, followed by traditional carols. Tickets are $25, $13 for students. Call 410-263-1906.