Concert

The sounds of Christmas will ring with the St. James Brass Quintet and the Haven Lutheran Church Senior Choir Saturday at 5 p.m. at Haven Lutheran Church, 1035 Haven Road. The yearly concert is a must, featuring Christmas carols and old-time favorites. As attendees leave the concert, they will be treated to the warm glow of the luminarias at Rest Haven Cemetery next door. The concert is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served following the concert. For more information, call 301-733-5056.

Of all the ways to usher in the holiday season, music ranks near the top. A visit from Santa Claus is a close second, and the reading of “The Night Before Christmas” isn't far behind. So, when you have all three on the same stage, you've hit the holly jolly jackpot. It will be an afternoon of family entertainment when the Hagerstown Municipal Band presents its annual Christmas show at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16, at The Capitol Theatre in downtown Chambersburg, Pa. This is the third year the band has presented a holiday program at the historic theatre, said director Lynn Lerew.

Growing up in war-torn Germany shortly after World War II, Rolf Depre said his family often made a Christmas tree because they couldn't afford to buy one. Despite the hardships that his family faced while he was young, Depre said Christmas still holds a warm place in his heart. “It's always a special time of the year as I remember as a child,” Depre said. “That was the high time when you grew up.” Depre, who said he has lived off and on in the United States for the past 40 years, was one of several hundred people who attended the annual Christmas concert that was held Saturday afternoon at Trinity Lutheran Church on Randolph Avenue in Hagerstown.

How do you balance the expectations of tradition and the demands of contemporary audiences when planning music for a centuries-old, world-famous musical group? Conductor Kerem Sezen said it's important to include both old and new. "Times change, and also the audience changes," Sezen said. "So in 1750, when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was living, he was the Michael Jackson or Eminem of his time, (and we sang his music). Now we have 250 more years of musical history, and when you want to get a younger audience, you must change something.

The sounds of the Christmas season will ring out with the St. James Brass Quintet and the Haven Lutheran Church Senior Choir on Saturday, Dec. 15, beginning at 5 p.m. The yearly concert will include Christmas carols and old-time favorites. As attendees leave the concert, they will be treated to the warm glow of the luminarias at Rest Haven Cemetery next door. The concert is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served following the concert. Haven Lutheran is at 1035 Haven Road in Hagerstown.

Washington County Free Library's Noteworthy Sundays at Your Library Concert on Dec. 9 features the singing-songwriting duo Aca-Perco. The free concert starts at 3 p.m. at the Clear Spring Leonard P. Snyder Memorial Branch Library  at 12624 Broadfording Road, Clear Spring. To reserve seats, call 301-842-2730. Jennie Avila, singer songwriter, and Stephen Wright, drum maker are the duo, Aca-Perco. Avila and Wright coined the word, Aca-Perco, to describe the energizing collaboration of Avila's vocal talents, a cappella, and Wright's rhythmic infusions of percussion.

The Maryland Symphony Orchestra enhanced the experience for concertgoers over the weekend by adding visual elements to its musical performances. For its masterworks concerts over the weekend at The Maryland Theatre, the orchestra wanted to bring local students into the process by having them create artwork to illustrate the music. MSO Music Director Elizabeth Schulze talked to Barbara Ingram School for the Arts students about the music of composers Antonio Vivaldi and Astor Piazzolla, whose works were featured in “A Soloist for All Seasons” concert Saturday and Sunday at the theater.

Don't let the smaller number of musicians fool you. “A Soloist for All Seasons,” the second masterworks concert in the Maryland Symphony Orchestra's 31st season, will pack a multimedia punch that promises to stimulate more than just the audience members' sense of hearing. This weekend's performances will feature a chamber ensemble - six first violins, five second violins, four violas, four cellos and two basses. Violinist Tim Fain, who performed with the MSO in 2007, will return as solo guest artist to join the MSO players in performance of Antonio Vivaldi's “Le Quatro Staggioni” (“The Four Seasons”)

The Irish Session Lads will be in concert Friday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m. at Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church. Cleek Schrey anchors the band with fiddle and piano accompaniment, Sean McComiskey drives the rhythm with the button accordion and Stuart Jackson plays the Irish uilleann pipes. Tickets cost $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, $12 for members and $8 for children/students. Shepherd University students get in free with their Rambler ID.   For more information, call 304-263-2531 or go to http://smad.us/concerts .