Baroque Fest Mixes Old, New

The 16th annual Baroque Music Festival in Corona del Mar this year offers works both old and new, and from Near to Fasch.

The June 16 opening concert of the series features a concerto by Baroque composer Johann Friedrich Fasch, prepared from unpublished manuscripts from the Archducal Library in Darmstadt, Germany. The next night, organist Daniel Kerr presents “Triptych and Fugue” by contemporary American composer Gerald Near.

Those two concerts feature other neo-Baroque 20th century music as well: the world premiere of a concerto for organ and orchestra by Southern California composer James Hopkins (commissioned by a festival patron) for the first night, and Benjamin Britten’s Prelude and Fugue for the second.

“Music in the Gardens” concerts June 19 and 21 feature, respectively, vocal and instrumental chamber music.

The festival concludes June 23 with a Bach cantata and works by Czech composers Ceslav Vanura and Ludovicus Poppe; the latter’s 18th century compositions were discovered in September in Prague by festival director Burton Karson.

Orchestral and choral works will be conducted by Karson. Instrumental soloists will include flutist Stephen Schultz, oboist Gonzalo Ruiz, harpsichordist Yuko Tanaka and cellist Cecilia Tsan.

Concerts will be held at St. Michael & All Angels Church (3233 Pacific View Drive) and at Sherman Library & Gardens (2645 E. Coast Highway). Tickets: $10-$35 for individual concerts; $70 for the series. Information: (714) 760-7887.

The 1996 schedule:

* June 16 at 4 p.m.: Burton Karson conducts concertos by Bach, Fasch and James Hopkins. St. Michael & All Angels Church.

* June 17 at 8 p.m.: Organist Daniel Kerr performs works by Bach, Britten and Gerald Near. St. Michael & All Angels Church.

* June 19 at 8 p.m.: Amusing and virtuosic vocal and instrumental chamber music. Sherman Library & Gardens.

* June 21 at 8 p.m.: Solo and trio sonatas by Bach and Albinoni. Sherman Library & Gardens.

* June 23 at 4 p.m.: Karson conducts Festival Singers and Orchestra in works by Handel, Mouret, Ceslav Vanura, Ludovicus Poppe and Bach. St. Michael & All Angels Church.