First Impression: May Day Holiday
May Day is Labor Day for many other countries, and we’re going to pretend it’s the reason this didn’t go up on May 1st (sorry, folks). Here is your allotment of new music performances for this month, and as always, if I am missing anything, let me know!
BSO NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL
This of course doesn’t start until June, but it is certainly worth mentioning. More details in this space next month; until then, check out what they have in store.
MIND ON FIRE + DANAH BELLA
New music cooperative Mind on Fire teams up with Danah Bella, chair of Peabody‘s BFA Dance program and founder of DanceWorks, for a concert at Church on the Square in Canton as part of their Music on the Square First Fridays series; music by Cat Lamb, Anthony Green, Giacinto Scelsi, and Moondog. The show is tomorrow (5/3) at 8:00.
IN THE STACKS: PART 5
Not necessarily a new music event this time, but underrepresented demographics abound in this program which often only has standing room. The latest installment of Thursday evening concerts at the George Peabody Library (5/9, 6:30 PM) will feature Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, as well as works by George Walker (first black composer to win the Pulitzer) and Cécile Chaminade.
CAPTIVITY TO LIBERTY
Baltimore Choral Arts has been performing quite a bit of new music this year, and on their next concert they will present the U.S. premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Monster and the Maze. The concert will also feature Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht. Sunday 5/12, 3 PM at Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College.
AFRO HOUSE CONCERT NO. 8
This isn’t a classical performance, but you may have seen beatboxer extraordinaire and Peabody dance faculty member Shodekeh at events with Classical Revolution Baltimore and Pique Collective (among others), as well as MCing events at the BSO New Music Festival. Together with artists Scott Patterson, Max Bent, and Black Root, the four (who have never before collaborated) will give a performance that will bend, bounce, and bust wide open everything you think you know about sound. Saturday 5/18 at 7; the location (this is a house show) is given upon ticket purchase.
THE BRIDGE ENSEMBLE: HORIZONS
One of Baltimore’s finest choirs presents a free concert (free-will donation) at Church of the Redeemer on North Charles Street. The program features works of Ted Hearne and James MacMillan, as well as a world premiere by Jenny Olivia Johnson, paired with Renaissance works from Mexico and Central America. Sunday 5/19 at 4.
THIS MONTH IN OUTCALLS
Baltimore’s classical indie pop experts Outcalls have quite a few shows coming up; check them out!
A NEW TAKE ON HANDEL
The music isn’t new, but the concept certainly is. D.C.-based opera company The In Series (check out their new logo!) bring The Tale of Serse to Baltimore Theatre Project, along with their new orchestra Innovatio. The music is Handel’s Serse, and director/conductor Tim Nelson adds narration by Persian poet Rumi, to expand on this legend of ancient Persia and return the opera to its Iranian roots. Performances run June 14th to the 16th.
