Philharmonia Baroque to return

Good news for baroque-music lovers. The prestigious Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra will be returning to the Southland to play at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts in March 2004.

The San Francisco-based period instrument group, under the direction of Nicholas McGegan, canceled a series of three concerts last season at the Irvine Barclay Theatre because of the economic downturn in the Bay Area. The group had played in Orange County annually since 1998, and before that had made frequent appearances in Los Angeles. Discussions for more concerts in the Southland are underway, says executive director Robert A. Birman.

The Cerritos performance will be guest-conducted by Bernard Labadie, founding artistic director of the Quebec chamber ensemble Les Violons du Roy. Not surprisingly, Labadie has chosen a program of French music: De Lalande’s “Symphonies pour les Soupers du Roi” (Symphonies for the King’s Suppers, the king, in this case, being Louis XIV), Leclair’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in D with soloist Katherine Kyme, and Rebel’s “Les Elemens.”

-- Chris Pasles