The Vega String Quartet meets the celestial star Vega in an Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta season-opening concert at the Emory Planetarium. The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra bows with a concert of music from the time of Vermeer, perfect for the High Museum of Art, which is hosting the late, great painter’s “Girl With a Pearl Earring.” And the Michael O’Neal Singers launches its silver anniversary season.
These are some of the highlights of late-breaking 2013-14 season announcements from five of Atlanta’s favorite classical music and vocal ensembles. Here is a look at the lineups:
Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta
ECMSA received a $1 million challenge grant last year from the Abraham J. and Phyllis Katz Foundation, with the goal of keeping a string quartet as artists in residence at Emory for perpetuity.
The good news is that the society, which has three years to match the grant, is already halfway to the goal. As with last year, ECMSA will present its entire 20-concert season for free while asking for donations to the fund that will keep the Vega String Quartet, in residence at Emory since 2006, here long term.
The quartet opens the 21st season performing “Musical Stars at the Emory Planetarium” at 7 p.m. Sept. 6. Along with the music, physicist and planetarium director Richard Williamon will trace the history of Vega, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra.
ECMSA offers a trio of concert series exploring the chamber repertoire. Highlights include:
- Emerson Series (at Schwartz Center for Performing Arts)
Oct. 5: "Schubertiad," celebrating the music of Franz Schubert. Includes the Emory debut of pianist Julie Coucheron.
March 1, 2014: Vega String Quartet in the world premiere of a string quartet by Emory faculty member-composer Richard Prior.
- Noontime Series (Michael C. Carlos Museum)
Sept. 27: "Twentieth-Century String Quartet Masterpieces," Ravel, Bartok, Shostakovich and Philip Glass' Quartet No. 5 performed by Vega String Quartet.
March 21, 2014: Pianist Philip Thomson joins William Ransom for a 20-fingered rendition of Beethoven's 5th Symphony.
- Family Series (Carlos Museum)
Dec. 15: "Santa's Favorite Chamber Music," in which Old Saint Nick introduces his favorite classical works.
April 27, 2014: "Musical Animals," featuring Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" and Saint-Saens' "The Carnival of the Animals," with narration.
404-727-5050, www.arts.emory.edu/ecmsa
Atlanta Baroque Orchestra
Under artistic director Julie Andrijeski, the ABO views its role as breathing new life into “music all but relegated to a museum.” So how fitting that the first weekend of its 15th anniversary season will include its first music-making at the High Museum of Art.
After performing the program “Irregular Pearls: Music From the Time of Vermeer” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 7 at its usual home, Roswell Presbyterian Church, the ensemble moves to the High for two programs on Sept. 8: “Gigue in the Galleries” (noon-2 p.m.) and a “If It’s Not Baroque” family concert (3 p.m).
Music at the Roswell concert (with the orchestra’s founder and director emeritus Lyle Nordstrom on lute) and High events will feature “pearls” by 17th-century European masters such as Samuel Scheidt, Jacob Van Eyck, Heinrich Scheidemann and William Brade.
Also on the schedule:
Jan. 12, 2014: "Collaborations From Within: A Special Anniversary Retrospective," featuring music from the ABO's first season (including works by Telemann, Vivaldi, Muffat). Roswell Presbyterian.
March 22, 2014: "Bach Birthday Bash" with the Georgia Boy Choir, at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. Also March 23, 2014, at Roswell Presbyterian.
850-264-9293, www.atlantabaroque.org
Michael O’Neal Singers
Celebrating its 25th season, MOS comprises a symphonic chorus of more than 140 auditioned voices and, drawn from it, the 30-voice Kaleidoscope ensemble. Ranging in experience from dedicated amateurs to polished professionals, the singers perform everything from classical masterworks to pop standards.
The season (at Roswell United Methodist Church) includes:
Oct. 27: "An Afternoon With Mack Wilberg: The Man and His Music" featuring MOS with the Roswell UMC Sanctuary Choir; Mormon Tabernacle Choir music director Wilberg, guest conductor.
Dec. 8: "A Classy, Brassy Christmas" featuring MOS with the Atlanta Symphony Brass Quintet.
Dec. 22: "Messiah Sing-Along."
March 14, 2014: "The Music of Ireland: A Saint Patrick's Day Concert" featuring MOS with the Mulligan School of Irish Dance.
May 16, 2014: "In Praise of Music" (25th anniversary celebration).
770-594-7974, www.mosingers.com
Capitol City Opera Company
Formed in 1983 to provide performance opportunities for classically trained metro singers, CCOC seeks to inspire and educate audiences through fully staged productions, a monthly restaurant series, school tours and more.
Sept. 6-8: "La boheme" at Conant Center for the Performing Arts, Oglethorpe University.
678-301-8013, www.ccityopera.org
DeKalb Symphony Orchestra
The community orchestra founded in 1964 features 85 players under the baton of musical director Fyodor Cherniavsky.
Sept. 24: The DSO kicks off its seven-concert season with violinist Justin Bruns, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra assistant concertmaster, performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concert. Fine Arts Building's Marvin Cole Auditorium, Georgia Perimeter College, Clarkston campus.
678-891-3565, www.dekalbsymphony.org
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