Mendelssohn Club

Sat., Nov. 3, 8 p.m., $25, Girard College Chapel, 2101 College Ave., 215-893-1999, www.mcchorus.org.

by Peter Burwasser

classical

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One of the great, venerable musical organizations in town is the Mendelssohn Club, the choral group founded in 1847, and a regular collaborator with the Philadelphia Orchestra. This vibrant chorus has been under the wise and firm direction of Alan Harler for almost 20 years. The season opener features a typically thoughtful and intriguing program from Harler, including the local premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning work John Adams wrote to commemorate the first anniversary of 9/11, On the Transmigration of Souls. For this large-scale work, the Mendelssohn Club will be augmented by a children's chorus. A solemn, even grieving mood pervades the balance of the program, including a Stabat Mater setting by the great Polish composer Szymanowski, and a newly commissioned piece by Penn composer James Primosch based on Vietnam War-era poetry by Denise Levertov. The magnificent Girard College Chapel setting should only enhance the gravity of the concert.

Sat., Nov. 3, 8 p.m., $25, Girard College Chapel, 2101 College Ave., 215-893-1999, www.mcchorus.org.