Yo Yo Ma

It's not unusual for an important soloist to contribute his services free of charge to an important orchestra's pension fund concert. But it's remarkable when three star soloists show up, each to play a single concerted work and then join forces after intermission to perform a piece of music as unglamorous as Beethoven's Concerto in C Major for violin, cello and piano.But last night's pension fund concert for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was not an ordinary occasion -- and that is why three celebrated soloists (cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Emanuel Ax and violinist Pamela Frank)

Taipei, Taiwan -- Anne Akiko Meyers' presence in a restaurant proves more interesting than the food.Some people stare at her. Others introduce themselves, saying they've met her on occasions that Meyers politely struggles to recall. Still others say hello to her luncheon companion as a pretext for being introduced to her.Meyers attracts such attention partly because she is, as one writer put it, an "almost hopelessly beautiful young woman." But most admire her for being what one young man stammered in awe upon hearing her name -- "the famous violinist?"

Period concert -- Musica Antiqua of Maryland will perform its annual concert at 2 p.m. today at Liriodendron Mansion, 502 W. Gordon St., Bel Air. The concert will feature performers in period costumes using period instruments to play light classics, show tunes, ragtime, Irving Berlin, traditional Irish and Scottish music, and a Yo-Yo Ma piece, Gabriel's Oboe. Free. 410-529-0791.

She's been on stage with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra and the London Symphony, but this Sunday, cellist Sharon Robinson will perform a free concert at Har Sinai Congregation in Northwest Baltimore. The cellist, who has accompanied such artists as Rudolf Serkin, Isaac Stern and Yo-Yo Ma, will perform, among other works, Rachmaninoff's Sonata in G minor, Debussy's "Sonata 1915," as well as "With Love," an award-winning composition by Baltimorean Vivian Adelberg Rudow.

In recognition of his contributions to cultural and artistic life in Maryland and Baltimore, Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke have proclaimed today "David Zinman Day" in honor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's music director.Zinman, whose 13-season tenure as BSO conductor concludes at the end of the season, this evening will lead the symphony in a one-performance-only tribute concert. Among the works included in the program is Beethoven's "Triple Concerto," featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax and Pamela Frank performing together.

Downloaded singles 1.Irreplaceable, Beyonce 2.Say It Right, Nelly Furtado 3.Push It to the Limit (soundtrack version), Corbin Bleu 4.How to Save a Life, The Fray 5.Fergalicious, Fergie [ITunes] Downloaded albums 1.Jump In, Various artists 2.Wincing the Night Away, The Shins 3.Daughtry (bonus track), Daughtry 4.Appassionato, Yo-Yo Ma 5.Dreamgirls soundtrack, Various artists [ITunes] Downloaded TV episodes 1.Traveling Salesmen, The Office 2.Six Days, Part 1, Grey's Anatomy 3.Back From Vacation, The Office 4.Not While I'm Around, Desperate Housewives 5.My Friend With Money, Scrubs [ITunes]

The following are Music Critic Stephen Wigler's picks of five don't-miss concerts on next season's Baltimore Symphony Orchestra schedule:* Mahler's Symphony No. 9. David Zinman, conductor. Sept. 17, 18 and 19* Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. Yuri Temirkanov, conductor. Dec. 17, 18 and 19* John Corigliano's Fantasia on an Ostinato and Vaughan Williams' "A Sea Symphony." Leonard Slatkin, conductor. Jan. 7, 8 and 9* Bartok's Cello Concerto, Bloch's Schelomo and Stephen Albert's Cello concerto.

David Zinman, conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, will conduct and perform in the nationally televised "Live From Lincoln Center" program Sunday at 3 p.m. on Maryland Public Television, channels 22 and 67.Zinman will conduct the Orchestra of St. Luke's and will accompany featured cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Jeffrey Kahane and cellist Carter Brey.The program of orchestral and chamber music will include the Sonata for Two Cellos by the baroque composer Barriere, the Rachmaninoff Sonata for Cello and Piano, the Faure "Elegie" and Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme."

Denis Shapovalov, 21, the first-place winner of the cello contest in Moscow's Tchaikovsky Competition, received a special prize from Towson State University. Shapovalov was invited to perform and participate in the World Cello Congress III, which the university will sponsor May 29 through June 4, 2000.The World Cello Congress, which is held every three years, is the most prestigious gathering of cellists, cello aficionados and music lovers of its kind. World Cello Congress II, which Towson also sponsored and which took place last summer in St. Petersburg, honored Mstislav Rostropovich.

The British composer John Tavener's conversion in 1977 to the Russian Orthodox Church had profound consequences for his music, which began to take on altogether more transcendental and austere qualities. Although Tavener is Western-trained, in some respects he now most resembles such Eastern European "minimalists" as Henryk Gorecki and Alfred Schnittke.His best-known work, "The Protecting Veil," was composed in 1987 at the suggestion of the brilliant, young British cellist Steven Isserlis that Tavener write a piece for cello and strings.