A Weekend of Song

It will be a big weekend for choral music in Ventura County, as both the Ventura County Master Chorale and the Ojai Camerata kick off their seasons Saturday night.

This will be the Master Chorale’s first public appearance in its home county after performing in Poland last summer.

Following the chorale’s established pattern of performing in various locations around the county, Saturday’s concert will take place at the Bill Esty Center, 3701 E. Los Posas Road in Camarillo. The following Sunday, Nov. 22, at 4 and 8 p.m., the same program will be repeated at the San Buenaventura Mission.

Under the title of “California Garden Party,” the program assembled by Master Chorale director Burns Taft will include music by Rossini, Schubert, Brahms and a song by Santa Barbara composer Emma Lou Diemer.

Tickets are $15. For tickets or more information, call 653-7282.

The Ojai Camerata, a vocal ensemble founded last year, will open its second season, also on Saturday night at 8 p.m., at the Ojai Presbyterian church at 304 N. Foothill Road.

For the program, director Charles McDermott will focus on an obscure gem from the 1930s by German composer Hugo Distler called “A Little Advent Music.” Also on the program are Monteverdi’s “Magnificat” and John Rutter’s “When Icicles Hang.”

Tickets are $8, $6 senior citizens and students. For more information, call 646-5030.