peabody conservatory

Betty G. Bertaux, a composer and music educator who founded the Children's Chorus of Maryland, died Oct. 10 at her Naples, Fla., home of pancreatic cancer. She was 75.

The Columbia Orchestra gets its 37th season off to an ambitious start with major works by two 19th-century German composers on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m., at the Jim Rouse Theatre at Wilde Lake.

Leon Fleisher's latest CD, released by Bridge Records, finds the 86-year-old pianist in eloquent form playing diverse assortment of works for left-hand alone.

Works by Vivaldi, Boccherini and others are featured in Pro Musica Rara's 40th season-opener with guest lutenist/guitarist Richard Stone.

Berean E. "Bill" Talbert, founder of a Baltimore County landscaping company who fought in Europe during World War II, died Tuesday at Stella Maris Hospice. He was 93.

Dr. Garfield D. Kington, an inner city physician who was a familiar and comforting presence to his West Baltimore patients for decades, died Aug. 3 of multiple myeloma at his Northwest Baltimore home. He was 91.

German conductor Markus Stenz begins a three-year stint as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's principal guest conductor in the 2015-2016 season; BSO also names assistant conductors.

As the Young Victorian Theatre Company prepares to open Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers, Young Vic is worried that it is not drawing young audiences to its shows. G&S troupes around the country are concerned too. One of the biggest, Lamplighters in San Francisco is sponsoring a symposium in August, on that very issue and Young Vic will have a representative there.

Remarks by pianist Katherine Harris Rick about her friend and Russian Trio colleague, cellist Dmitry Volkov, delivered at a memorial at Peabody Conservatory.

Anthony McGill, newly appointed principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic, performed a recital with pianist Christopher Shih for Music in the Valley.

Daniel Heifetz, president & founder of the Heifetz International Music Institute, pays tribute to cellist Dmitry Volkov, who died this month at the age of 26.

Dmitry Volkov, a promising Russian-born cellist who received an Artist Diploma from Peabody Conservatory last year, died over the weekend at the age 26. The cause of death has not been determined.

Anthony McGill, co-principal clarinetist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and a Peabody Conservatory faculty member, is headed to top spot at New York Philharmonic.

Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker donate $1 million to establish scholarship fund for students to study with eminent pianist Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory.

LaVerne Kelly, a retired public schools music counselor, died of a lung ailment April 22 at her son's Baltimore home. The Columbia resident was 83.

The 40th anniversary season of Music in the Great Hall closed with a colorful recital for flute and piano; next season to feature another diverse mix of soloists and chamber ensembles.

East Columbia 50+ Center offers educational opportunities relating to finances for seniors.

Peabody Trio performed works by Beethoven, Dvorak and Shulamit Ran for Music in the Great Hall.

Pnina Wilkins, an interior designer who was a past president of Hadassah, died Feb. 22 of heart failure at Seasons Hospice in Randallstown. She was 90.

Anthony McGill, principal clarinetist of Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, gives radiant account of Mozart concerto with Baltimore Symphony and conductor Marin Alsop.

Arthur V. D'Orazio, a retired Bethlehem Steel Corp. worker and musician, died Sunday of a heart attack at Stella Maris Hospice. He was 93.

'House of Cards,' 'Veep' sites scattered throughout the area

Howard County datebook

Four months after taking over the old Village Flower Mart in Hampden and renaming it The Modest Florist, owner Libby Francis Baxter is preparing for the floral industry's biggest day of the year and trying an unusual promotion: Valentine's Day without roses. Baxter wants people to buy flowers that are locally grown, rather than roses that probably come from South America.

Marin Alsop led the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in a program featuring the premiere of Jonathan Leshnoff's appealing Guitar Concerto and a return to Dvorak's "New World" Symphony.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra commissioned concerto by Towson University faculty member Jonathan Leshnoff, who dedicated it to classical guitarist and Peabody faculty member Manuel Barrueco.

A city-wide festival, like the one launched a decade ago, would make a great venture for Baltimore's music, theater, art and history organizations.

Baltimore School for the Arts alum Andrew Grams will lead 'Nutcracker' production by his alma mater, while Peabody-trained Lee Mills conducts Moscow Ballet's staging.

Last weekend before Christmas in Baltimore includes large-scale productions of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" from Moscow Ballet, Baltimore School for the Arts.

Award-winning Aeolus Quartet, presented by Music in the Great Hall, performs program of Beethoven, Berg and Ravel with technical and interpretive flair.

Holiday party tips

The sound of 150 children playing instruments — the violin, the trumpet, the oboe, the harp — spills out of every classroom, filling the air and remarkably transforming this elementary school in a raggedy neighborhood of West Baltimore into a music conservatory.

Second annual presentation as part of Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative features three 20-minute works, including on by Baltimore-based composer and librettist.

Peabody Opera Theatre's production of Poulenc's haunting opera 'Dialogues of the Carmelites' features some admirable singing, orchestral playing and conducting.

From its humble origins on the shores of the Patapsco River in industrial and rail-clogged South Baltimore, Charles Street transforms itself during its 10.9-mile journey through the heart of the city as it progresses north through the fashionable and wealthy tenderloin neighborhoods of Guilford, Homeland, Woodbrook, Murray Hill and into Baltimore County.

Masterpiece by Francis Poulenc, returning to the stage of the Lyric Opera House for first time in nearly 30 years, tells story of nuns condemned to death during French Revolution.

Delphine S. Kelly, a music teacher and former Eastern Shore social worker, died Oct. 27 of a stroke at the Chester River Hospital Center in Chestertown. She was 90.

Leith Symington Griswold, matriarch of the Symington and Griswold families who was an accomplished equestrienne, died of heart failure Tuesday at her Monkton home. She was 97.

Concert Artists of Baltimore opened 2013-14 season with mix of Austrian and Russian music, while Baltimore Choral Arts Society entered the season with masterwork by Bach.