Choral Arts' MPT Premiere

Composer and vocalist Jasmine Arielle Barnes is a multifaceted musician who has performed and has had her compositions performed throughout the world. Barnes was commissioned by Baltimore Choral Arts to compose a Baltimore-centric piece that would pair with the Mozart Requiem for chorus and orchestra. In May of 2022, her four-movement work "Portraits: Douglass & Tubman" premiered in a Choral Arts event, Mozart Requiem Reframed, conducted by music director Anthony Blake Clark. 

The work pulls inspiration from the Mozart Requiem to reflect on Baltimore today with texts by Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Maryland Public Television (MPT) will spotlight this commission as a part of its Artworks series. The episode, titled Dreamer, premieres December 16 at 9 p.m. on MPT-HD, with encore broadcasts on December 19 at 9 p.m. on MPT2, and December 26 at 9 p.m. on MPT-HD.

12 .16.2022 at 9 pm EST on MPT-HD

12.19.2022 at 9pm EST on MPT2

12.26.2022 at 9 pm EST on MPT-HD

The Baltimore Choral Arts Society is one of Maryland's premier cultural institutions. Our Symphonic Chorus, Chorus, and Chamber Singers can be seen performing throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Europe. Most frequented venues include those in Baltimore, Washington D.C., and New York City. In addition to performing, The Baltimore Choral Arts Society provides several thoughtful and impactful music education programs that serve youth in and around Baltimore. These programs include CoroLAB, a partnership with Baltimore City College’s and Overlea High School’s choral music programs; Vocal Fellows, an expanded professional development program for early-career singers; Student Composer Project, a competition for high-school and college composers; and our annual Christmas for Kids concert. Through these four primary educational programs, Choral Arts serves the very young to early-career adult musicians.

Currently embarking on his sixth season as Music Director of the nationally acclaimed and Emmy Award-winning Baltimore Choral Arts Society, conductor and composer Anthony Blake Clark enjoys a reputation as one of the freshest young voices in classical music. Anthony Blake Clark is at home in front of orchestras and choirs alike and has worked with professional and amateur ensembles in the USA and Europe, coming from the tutelage of world-renowned teachers such as Simon Halsey and Marin Alsop. During his tenure with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Anthony Blake Clark has consistently received rave reviews, both for work on the podium in his subscription concerts and his preparation of choruses for performances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Maryland Symphony Orchestra, and the Peabody Preparatory Orchestra. Winner of the 2019-2020 American Prize in choral conducting, Clark’s leadership of Baltimore Choral Arts has also been acknowledged with another nomination for the American Prize for best choral performance, as well as the reception of the prestigious 2020 Chorus America/ASCAP Alice Parker Award. Recently, he led the ensemble on an enthusiastically received tour of the United Kingdom, culminating in a collaboration on Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.