Concert Artists of Baltimore (CAB)
Founded by Edward Polochick 31 years ago, Concert Artists of Baltimore (CAB) consists of a professional chamber orchestra and a professional chamber chorus. The mission of CAB is to present classical music performances of wellknown and lesser-known composers by an elite professional chorus and chamber orchestra. In 2015 CAB was one of 20 Baltimore arts organisations chosen by the DeVos Institute to participate in Capacity Building Baltimore. In 2015 CAB produced a groundbreaking collaboration with the Baltimore Rock Opera Society at 2640 Space, a partnership that continued into 2016 at the Light City Baltimore festival. The full ensembles are featured in The Maestro Series, with performances in venues throughout the Baltimore area. CAB also offers chamber music, The Mansion Series, with performances at The Engineers Club at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion. When larger forces are needed, such as for this recording of Messiah with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the chorus expands to the Concert Artists of Baltimore Symphonic Chorale.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO)
For over a century, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has been recognised as one of America’s leading orchestras and one of Maryland’s most significant cultural institutions. Under the direction of music director Marin Alsop, the orchestra is internationally renowned and locally admired for its innovation, performances and recordings, and educational outreach initiatives including OrchKids. Launched by Marin Alsop and the BSO in 2008, OrchKids provides children with educational resources and fosters social change through the power of music in some of Baltimore’s most underserved communities. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performs annually for more than 350,000 people throughout the State of Maryland. Since 1982, the BSO has performed at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. In 2005, with the opening of The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD, the BSO became the nation’s first orchestra with year-round venues in two metropolitan areas.

Edward Polochick
Since winning the Leopold Stokowski Conducting Award, Edward Polochick has attracted international attention as an orchestral, operatic, and choral conductor. His appearances have included the Baltimore, Houston, Chautauqua, Omaha and Jacksonville symphony orchestras, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, the Daejeon Philharmonic in Korea, the St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra in Russia, and the Mexico State Symphony Orchestra. Polochick has been the artistic director of Concert Artists of Baltimore since 1987. He is also in his 20th season as music director of Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra in Nebraska. From 1979 to 1999 he was on the staff of the Baltimore Symphony as director of the Symphony Chorus, and since 1979 he has been at the Peabody Conservatory as associate conductor of the orchestra, director of choral ensembles, and opera conductor. An accomplished pianist and harpsichordist, he has appeared as piano soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and is the harpsichordist on this recording.