Madrigal

The Western Maryland College Madrigal Singers will present an evening of Renaissance vocal music, lute songs and a recent piece at 7 p.m. today in Baker Chapel. The one-hour performance is free.The 12 students who make up the madrigal group will perform several selections from the Renaissance, when composers set nonreligious poetry to choral music called madrigals. These works were among the most popular of their day, and along with opera are considered to be among the most important cultural developments of the period.

Pinkies up! St. Stephen's Traditional Episcopal Church in Timonium is hosting its 12th annual British Garden Party and Fete on Saturday, May 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, even though it costs St. Stephen's nearly  $4,000 each year to present this "bit of Jolly Olde England," as the church bills it. "It's really a gift to the community," the Rev. Guy Hawtin said. "It's not really a money-making venture - the goal is to break even. One year we cleared $50 profit.

Even music lovers who don't know beans about singing will respond to the artistry of I Fagiolini, the English vocal ensemble that will perform saucy sets of Elizabethan madrigals and 20th-century selections by Benjamin Britten and Francis Poulenc at St. John's College tomorrow evening. That's because the group -- whose odd yet humorous name means the "String Beans" in Italian -- is one of the most interesting and accomplished ensembles on the international concert circuit. Founded in 1986 while the singers were students at England's Oxford University, I Fagiolini gained notice among the cognoscenti by winning Britain's Early Music Network's Young Artists Competition.

As she was setting love poems from different eras to music, Paula Diesel Farina kept one thing in mind: Never end a concert on a mournful note. A music teacher, singer and amateur composer, Farina had written music for a pair of contrasting pieces of poetry, one about first love and the other about the torment love can bring. "In the second one, 'Love is a Sickness,' the left hand plays this thumping heartbeat that you desperately wish would stop," she said, referring to the elegiac piano accompaniment.

Wilde Lake High School's drama department is presenting the 1936 comedy You Can't Take It With You, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, at 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow at Jim Rouse Theatre for the Performing Arts. "Before there were the Osbournes and the Tannenbaums, there were the Sycamores ... a wacky family," said drama teacher Sally Livingston, who directs the play. Tracy Adler, who also teaches drama at the school, is the producer. More than 40 students are in the cast and support staff, working on sound, sets, props, costumes, hair and makeup.

Theatre Project. "After Life." 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Feb. 6 and Feb. 7 at 45 W. Preston St. Needed are two women ages 19 to late 20s and three men ages 20, 22 and 45. Production dates are March 31 to April 2. Call 410-243-6114. The Bach Society of Baltimore. Coming programs include J.S. Bach's "Magnificat" and Madrigal holiday feast. 7: 30 p.m. Feb. 7 and Feb. 14 at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, Wilkens Avenue and Courtney Road, Catonsville. Needed are all voice parts. Bring two copies of a short prepared piece and be ready to sight read.

The Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville is open weekends between 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. through Oct. 18.Special events are planned, such as the Scottish Celebration, Sept. 19 and 20, featuring Highland Games, pipe bands, music and dance; Senior Citizen's Day Sept. 26, when people 62 and older are admitted free; and Deaf Awareness Day on Oct. 3, with stage shows interpreted for the hearing impaired. The Columbus and the New World Celebration is scheduled for Oct. 10 and 11, followed on Oct. 17 by the High School Madrigal Competition.

Robert GreinerSchool: Hammond High SchoolHometown: LaurelAge: 17His accomplishments: He's vice president of the senior class and had the lead play in the spring play, "The Pajama Game." He's also the student conductor for a madrigal singing group and was captain of the cross country team. He runs outdoor track. He is a member of the National Honor Society and the Drama Honors Society. Outside of school, he belongs to the youth choir and youth group at Mount Zion United Methodist Church in Highland.

While Enid Bagnold's "The Chalk Garden" is, on one level, about the challenge of raising a precocious and troubled teen-ager, on a deeper level it is about the part of a plant that lies hidden under ground -- the roots.The 1955 script -- receiving an able production under Suzanne Pratt's direction at Theatre Hopkins -- is itself an example of something that turns out to be different from what appears on the surface. From the beautifully detailed conservatory set to the cultured tones of the actors portraying the cast of upper-class characters and their servants, everything about the show suggests a drawing room comedy.

Los Angeles -- "Tales of the City" is controversial, ground-breaking, wise and touching. It's also more fun than many viewers will remember having had while watching public television.The controversial six-hour miniseries starts tonight at 10 on Maryland Public Television, Channel 22.The furor over "Tales of the City" is mainly about drugs, homosexuality, frank language and bare breasts, and while there are ample quantities of each, it is justified in virtually all cases by the way the filmmakers use the material to speak larger truths about the human heart.

Wilde Lake High School's drama department is presenting the 1936 comedy You Can't Take It With You, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, at 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow at Jim Rouse Theatre for the Performing Arts. "Before there were the Osbournes and the Tannenbaums, there were the Sycamores ... a wacky family," said drama teacher Sally Livingston, who directs the play. Tracy Adler, who also teaches drama at the school, is the producer. More than 40 students are in the cast and support staff, working on sound, sets, props, costumes, hair and makeup.

Even music lovers who don't know beans about singing will respond to the artistry of I Fagiolini, the English vocal ensemble that will perform saucy sets of Elizabethan madrigals and 20th-century selections by Benjamin Britten and Francis Poulenc at St. John's College tomorrow evening. That's because the group -- whose odd yet humorous name means the "String Beans" in Italian -- is one of the most interesting and accomplished ensembles on the international concert circuit. Founded in 1986 while the singers were students at England's Oxford University, I Fagiolini gained notice among the cognoscenti by winning Britain's Early Music Network's Young Artists Competition.

The North Harford A Cappella Choir and Madrigal Group sang their farewells last week at the school as they prepared to depart for the International Eisteddfod at Llangollen, Wales. Four choirs from North America have been invited to the competition. North Harford's is the only one from Maryland. The A Cappella Choir has never competed at the Llangollen festival, but it did perform nearby in the town square for a Fringe Festival in 1998. Patriotic songs The choir's repertoire will include "Maryland, My Maryland," "God Bless America" and several spirituals.

Imagine prom night - circa 1600. The girls are dressed in Renaissance-style gowns of blue, red and gold velvet. The boys are in tunics, tights and feathered velvet caps. Their costumes may look like something out of Romeo and Juliet, but they help set the tone at a madrigals performance. Eight county high schools attended a madrigals festival at Wilde Lake High's Rouse Theatre this month. It kicked off an eight-week season of adjudicated music festivals for Howard County middle and high school groups.

THE GLENELG High School Choir and Orchestra traveled to Orlando, Fla., to perform in the All-Star Music Festival during spring break. Nearly 200 students, chaperons and parents made the 17-hour bus ride. Choral director Nancy Buckel called it their "big trip of the year." "The bus trip was really, really long, but it was still fun," sophomore Jaimie Fleming said. This was Jaimie's second spring trip with the choral group. Previous destinations have been the Bahamas, Virginia Beach, Va., and Myrtle Beach, S.C. The group left Howard County on a Thursday and was able to catch some sleep during the ride.

"The horn, the horn, the lusty horn, is not a thing to laugh, to scorn," wrote Shakespeare in "As You Like It." As usual, the Bard got it right, especially when those horns are being blown by the American Brass Quintet. Since 1960, members of this group have performed on concert stages all over the world, achieving top-rank status as leaders among brass chamber musicians. At 8 p.m. tomorrow, Raymond Mase and Kevin Cobb, trumpets; David Wakefield, horn; and Michael Powell and John Rojak, trombones, will perform at Jim Rouse Theatre for Performing Arts in Columbia under the auspices of the Candlelight Concert Society.

JUDGES AT the Fiesta-Val Competition and Adjudication in Williamsburg, Va., were stunned to discover that students in River Hill High School's Concert Choir, Madrigals, Orchestra, Symphonic Band, and Jazz Band had played together for only six months.When they realized that there were no seniors in the ensembles from the school in Clarksville, they were speechless.Eighty-nine students from the fledgling school took to the road last weekend and returned to campus with a spate of trophies and plaques.

Attention parents of Stevens Forest Elementary School students: please note the revised schedule for elementary class dismissal this week because of teacher conferences.There will not be adult supervision for students after 1:30 p.m. and students must leave the school grounds, so parents must make arrangements for them to be picked up promptly at 1:30 p.m. every school day this week.Today, morning kindergarten will have regular hours and afternoon classes are canceled. Tomorrow, morning kindergarten classes are canceled and afternoon sessions will be held in the morning.

Theatre Project. "After Life." 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Feb. 6 and Feb. 7 at 45 W. Preston St. Needed are two women ages 19 to late 20s and three men ages 20, 22 and 45. Production dates are March 31 to April 2. Call 410-243-6114. The Bach Society of Baltimore. Coming programs include J.S. Bach's "Magnificat" and Madrigal holiday feast. 7: 30 p.m. Feb. 7 and Feb. 14 at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, Wilkens Avenue and Courtney Road, Catonsville. Needed are all voice parts. Bring two copies of a short prepared piece and be ready to sight read.

JUDGES AT the Fiesta-Val Competition and Adjudication in Williamsburg, Va., were stunned to discover that students in River Hill High School's Concert Choir, Madrigals, Orchestra, Symphonic Band, and Jazz Band had played together for only six months.When they realized that there were no seniors in the ensembles from the school in Clarksville, they were speechless.Eighty-nine students from the fledgling school took to the road last weekend and returned to campus with a spate of trophies and plaques.