Baltimore Choral Arts Society Performs Baltimore Premiere of Organ Arrangement in Finale of 60^th Anniversary Season

April 26 at Grace United Methodist Church

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

Baltimore Choral Arts Society (BCAS), led by Music Director Anthony Blake Clark, will perform Maher’s 8^th Symphony at 3 pm on Sunday, April 26, 2026 at Grace United Methodist Church. The chorus will be joined for this performance by the Deer Creek Children’s Chorus and soloists from the Peabody Opera Program. Nicknamed the “Symphony of a Thousand,” this monumental work has not been performed in Baltimore in over thirty years.

“One of the main reasons why this piece is not frequently programmed is because of the sheer number of musicians required - at its 1911 premiere, Mahler’s 8th Symphony had some 400 singers in the choral stalls! The piece calls for massive double choir, children’s choirs, eight soloists, large orchestra, and organ” Says Clark. “In our version, the orchestra parts have been expertly arranged for organ by David Briggs, along with a full battery of percussion instruments. With this brilliant organ reduction, you will be able to hear all the instrumental lines, while at the same time allowing the intense vocal lines to truly soar. I can’t wait to bring this version to Baltimore!”

Mahler’s 8^th Symphony is a massive undertaking, utilizing text in both Latin and German, including a retelling of the final scene of Goethe’s Faust. In a letter to music historian Richard Specht, Mahler himself called the symphony “something quite different in both content and style from all my other works, and certainly the biggest thing that I have ever done.”

Baltimore Choral Arts Society performing Mahler 8 with the City of
Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, January 2020.
Photo by Andrew Fox for The Guardian UK.

 

For most singers, performing the Mahler 8 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. However, many of the experienced singers in Baltimore Choral Arts Society recently had the chance to perform it in Birmingham, England, with the prestigious City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. This performance was the cornerstone of Choral Arts’ successful January 2020 tour of England, and the last major work performed by the symphonic chorus before travel and performances were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to the upcoming Baltimore performance, Maestro Clark is simultaneously preparing the Mahler in Dallas, Texas. Many Baltimore Choral Arts singers will be travelling to Dallas in May to join in this performance, making this the first-ever collaboration between BCAS and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO). Clark is both the Music Director for BCAS and the Chorus Director of the DSO, where he prepares the DSO Chorus for all symphonic and pops performances, including their upcoming performance of Mahler 8 in May 2026.

This Baltimore Choral Arts performance on April 26 is the final concert in the organization’s 60^th anniversary season. More information about the upcoming 2026-27 concert season will be available in late Spring 2026.

Tickets to the Baltimore performance of Mahler 8 start at $25 and are available at BaltimoreChoralArts.org.

Children 12 and under are free; discounted tickets are available for seniors and veterans.

Mahler Symphony No. 8
Baltimore Choral Arts Society
Anthony Blake Clark, Music Director and Conductor
Leo Wanenchak, Associate Conductor

The Deer Creek Youth Choir
Julie Culotta, Artistic Director

 

Yingying Zong, soprano

Sara Nealley, soprano

Sarah Berger, soprano

Anja Tuominen, mezzo soprano

Montserrat Martinez-Buganza, mezzo soprano

Josua Kim, tenor

Holden Turner, baritone

Jorge Padilla, bass

 

3 PM Sunday, April 26, 2026
Grace United Methodist Church
5407 N Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201