Pacific Chorale Announces Season : Music: The group plans 3 concerts for 1992-93, including performance of ‘Elijah’ with Metropolitan Opera’s Sherrill Milnes.

The premiere of a work by James Hopkins of USC and a performance of Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” with Metropolitan Opera baritone Sherrill Milnes in the title role will highlight the Pacific Chorale’s three-concert, 1992-93 season, which was announced Monday.

Hopkins’ “How Beautiful It Is” was commissioned by the Orange County Philharmonic Society to commemorate the season--the chorale’s 25th--and will premiere on April 25, 1993. “Elijah” will open the season Nov. 1.

Dropped from the Pacific’s roster this season is Handel’s “Messiah,” which the chorale has performed every year since 1988. “The demand wasn’t as great last year as in previous seasons,” executive director Bonnie McClain explained. A holiday program will be given Dec. 20.

Music director John Alexander will conduct all three concerts, to take place at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. Programs will begin at 7:30 p.m.

The season:

* Nov. 1, 1992: Mendelssohn’s “Elijah”: baritone Sherrill Milnes, soprano Angelique Burzynski, mezzo-soprano Jacalyn Bower, tenor Jonathan Mack; Pacific Chorale Children’s Chorus; Pacific Symphony.

* Dec. 20: Holiday Concert: Works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Dominick Argento, Max Seeley, Randall Stroope, others; Pacific Chorale Children’s Chorus; Pacific Symphony Brass.

* April 25, 1993: James Hopkins’ “How Beautiful It Is,” Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms,” West Coast premiere of Dominick Argento’s Te Deum.

Season tickets: $34 to $112. Tickets to individual concerts: $15 to $40. Information: (714) 252-1234.