Weekend Concert Calendar, 9/18/08

I'm a summer person, so although I enjoy fall, I'm always sad when the air gets a bit nippy, as it has today. But to make me feel better, the musical season has begun, and the summer dry spell of choral concerts in the city has ended.

First off, remember that there is still time to join a chorus. There is a partial list of upcoming open rehearsals on this page, and you can probably call any chorus you're interested in and inquire about whether you could still join them. (As usual, if you are a good tenor, you probably have a free pass.)

And for performances, this week you get quality over quantity.

Friday:

The most exciting event going on all this weekend is the Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music. It's a who's-who of new music groups in Boston, including BMOP, Dinosaur Annex, Boston Musica Viva, and others. And on Friday at 8 pm, the Cantata Singers will join with the Collage New Music to present works by Sur, Rakowski, Warshaw and Fine. This will be at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. This is a hot ticket, people! Not something to miss!

It's not exactly choral, but it's kind of neat, so I'm going to mention it. If you would like to participate in some Renaissance dance, a group called Renaissonics is obliging you with an event called Renaissance Dance for Everyone. It will be at the First Church Congregational at 11 Garden St. in Harvard Square at 7:30 pm. You can call (617) 661-3353 for more information, and the entry fee is $8. Their website appears to have absolutely no information, but here it is anyways.

Saturday:

I have nothing specifically choral going on, but since you will still be enjoying the Ditson Contemporary Music Festival at the ICA, you'll be just fine anyways. (How can you pass up the chance to hear an ensemble named the Callithumpian Consort?)

Sunday:

Check out Riversing! On the banks of the Charles River, many singers will gather to have a giant community sing. It's free, and there will also be many neat performers. Festivities start at 6 pm.

And I know I don't usually try to cover the many operatic events in the area, but Guerilla Opera returns to the Boston Conservatory through Sunday, and the Threepenny Opera is at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Friday and Saturday.

Did I miss anything? Please leave it in the comments! (You are welcome to post information about any performances, not just choral concerts.)