For immediate release
August 26, 2024
Media inquiries: Rachel Tanenblatt rachel@baltimorechoralarts.org
Media kit available here

 

BALTIMORE CHORAL ARTS ANNOUNCES ITS 59th SEASON: CONNECTIONS

Baltimore Choral Arts Society is pleased to announce their 2024-25 concert season: Connections. Known for their emotionally evocative performances and powerful collaborations with other esteemed performing arts organizations, Choral Arts will perform three subscription concerts, two free community singing events, and can be found collaborating with a number of other orchestras in the region this season.

Choral Arts is also thrilled to announce a new intiative this season to welcome younger audiences into the concert halls: children ages 12 and under are free at all three subscription concerts this season. Music Director Anthony Blake Clark and the entire chorus is excited to make choral music more accesible to young families in the Baltimore region with this new model.

The season begins with an event that truly embodies the spirit of connection: Baltimore's Big Sing, taking place on Saturday, September 21st at University Baptist Church. This free event was originally scheduled to take place as part of Artscape and had to be rescheduled due to inclement weather. The new date in September will be a welcome opportunity for singers of all levels and abilities to join Baltimore Choral Arts in song! With an impressive lineup of guest conductors from Camerata Baltimore, Handel Choir of Baltimore, and the new Charm City Sings, this event will feature music from throughout the 80s: the 1780s, 1880s, and 1980s.

Choral Arts' first subscription concert of the season will be Sacred Heritage, taking place at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on Sunday, November 3rd at 3pm. Music Director Anthony Blake Clark will hold a pre-concert lecture before the performance to discuss the monumental repertoire he has selected for this season opener. The concert will pair the Duruflé Requiem, a beloved choral standard, with a selection of works that are lesser-known by Benjamin Britten and Reena Esmail. These new pieces will surprise and delight audiences, along with a special performance by CoroLAB, Choral Arts' high school choir program in partnership with Overlea and Eastern Technical High Schools.

A 40 year tradition continues as Baltimore Choral Arts returns to the Baltimore Basilica at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, December 3 for the annual Christmas with Choral Arts concert! The Baltimore Choral Arts chorus, led by Music Director Anthony Blake Clark, will perform a lively selection of Christmas songs, traditional carols, and festive sing-alongs. In the spirit of collaboration, the chorus will be joined by the Morgan State University Choir, led by director Eric Conway, and Tom Hall, Music Director Emeritus, will reunite with the chorus to serve as narrator for this concert. 

This year, Baltimore Choral Arts is partnering with the Kennedy Krieger Institute to hold a Christmas toy drive at the concert. Guests are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy or make a monetary donation to suppoort Kennedy Krieger's mission to transform the lives of children with disorders of the brain through groundbreaking research, innovative treatments and life-changing education. Learn more about the toy drive here.

The theme of connections continues in late April 2025 as Choral Arts hosts Beethoven's 9th Come-and-Sing at the Peabody Institute, where experienced singers are invited to join the choir! This special event will be led by Baltimore's own internationally-renowned conductor Marin Alsop, who will be leading the Peabody Orchestra and graduate conducting students. Interested singers should fill out the application form at BaltimoreChoralArts.org for the chance to be one of hundreds performing this transcendent piece in the audience choir.

Baltimore Choral Arts' final subscription concert of the season, Sing for Joy! will connect two massive, joyful pieces of music for choir and orchestra: the finale from Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Mendelssohn's Lobgesang. This effervescent and thrilling program will take place at 3pm on Sunday, May 18th 2025 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. The chorus will be taking this music on tour later in the summer, performing the Mendellsohn again as part of the ChoralSpace music festival in Berlin in June 2025.

Audiences will also have numerous opportunities to connect with Baltimore Choral Arts Society throughout the season, as the chorus collaborates with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for their Holiday Spectacular in December 2024 and again for Holst's The Planets in January 2025. Also in December 2024, Choral Arts will join the National Philharmonic Orchestra as Anthony Blake Clark conducts Handel's Messiah, the beloved holiday classic. Later in the season, Choral Arts can be found performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Maryland Symphony Orchestra in May 2025.

Tickets and more information about each performance can be found at BaltimoreChoralArts.org or by calling 410-523-7070