Conducted by Glenn Quader and featuring the Lyric Brass, violinist Amy Beth Horman and saxophonist Gary Thomas, the free performance will be at 5 p.m. Saturday at MICA's BBox at the Gateway, 1601 W. Mount Royal Ave. Call 410-777-8835 or go to americanstudioorchestra.com.
David Brown at Segal Gallery
Earlier this season, the Thomas Segal Gallery featured the work of two Baltimore artists in a show alongside major landscape artist Wolf Kahn. That departure from the tradition of focusing on "blue-chip artists" is being followed by the gallery's first-ever solo exhibit for a Baltimore artist.
David Brown, a Maryland native and UMBC alum whose art has been exhibited in New York and Dallas, has worked for the Segal Gallery for more than a decade designing installations. A striking element in his minimalist works is the use of a small eye motif repeated innumerable times to create geometric shapes and contemplative, mandala-like circles against a strong solid color.
The exhibit runs Wednesday through Jan. 15, by appointment only, at the Thomas Segal Gallery, 4 W. University Pkwy. Call 410-235-1500 or go to thomassegalgallery.com.
Weekend review roundup
Pianist Murray Perahia's focus on the 18th and 19th centuries for repertoire has only intensified, never calcified, his artistry. His recital for the Washington Performing Arts Society Saturday at the Kennedy Center found Perahia in typically compelling form.
He gave a crystalline, yet richly poetic, account of the E minor Partita by Bach; offered rich layers of expression in Beethoven's Op. 109; took an unsentimental, but enchanting, approach to Schumann's "Kinderszenen" (the last two movements emerged with sublime subtlety); brought terrific virtuosity and elegant nuance to a group of Chopin pieces (as if to prove he's human after all, Perahia had one tiny little slip in the "Aeolian Harp" Etude).
The Baltimore Chamber Orchestra opened its season Sunday afternoon at Kraushaar Auditorium with a trifle, the "Toy Symphony" usually attributed to Leopold Mozart. Soloists included the Walters Art Museum's Gary Vikan on rattle, the BSO's Paul Meecham carrying on with the birdcall toy, and the Handel Choir's Melinda O'Neal playing a drum. Conductor Markand Thakar brought out the slight, pretty music beneath the cute racket.
Two sacred pieces by Mendelssohn found the BCO and Handel Choir collaborating smoothly, eloquently. And, once past a bland approach to the opening movement, Thakar led his mostly polished orchestra in a strongly etched, involving performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
Sunday evening's season-opener for the Shriver Hall Concert Series introduced Baltimore to England's sensational Belcea Quartet, with its radiant string playing, uncanny intercommunication and rare depth of feeling.
Haydn's delightfully unpredictable Op. 20, No. 2, emerged with a warming glow. The players explored the spacious, eventful world of Beethoven's Op. 59, No. 1, to riveting effect, giving as much attention to the bursts of high-spirited energy as to dark introspection; dynamic contrasts were articulated with particular care and expressive import. The group also drew out the profound beauty of Shostakovich's autumnal Quartet No. 14, creating an intimate, mesmerizing experience.
Speaking of the Shriver Hall Concert Series: Mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena has canceled her Feb. 21 recital with pianist Yefim Bronfman due to "personal reasons." Bronfman will give a solo recital instead, playing works by Beethoven, Schumann, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev.
