The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra isn't the only local ensemble to have made a splash in New York this fall (the BSO earned glowing notices for its production of Leonard Bernstein's Mass in The Times and other outlets the week before). Today's New York Times carries a decidedly favorable review and a couple of pictures of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra's appearance there over the weekend -- technically they were in Brooklyn, home of Bargemusic, the remarkable chamber music venue on the river.

My colleague, Steve Smith (no relation, except for the excellent taste), writes that BCO "produced a rich, finely blended sound" in the new Trombone Concerto by Baltimore-based composer Jonathan Leshnoff "and in solid accounts" of adagios by Mozart and Bruckner. The program, which will be performed tomorrow night at Goucher College, also included a new work by Matthew Qualye performed once by the Fauxharmonic (the electronic "orchestra" developed by Paul Henry Smith and once by the BCO.

To my ears, the BCO has been improving steadily over the past few years since music director Markand Thakar arrived and since the recent appointment of concertmaster Madeline Adkins. I thought the playing in the season-opener a couple weeks ago sounded particularly impressive. So it was nice to read a validation of that progress from Steve, who also had good things to say about Leshnoff, a compose I greatly admire (never mind that I wasn't entirely persuaded by his Requiem for the Fallen last season; this guy is a genuinely gifted composer). I look forward to hearing tomorrow what Steve described as Leshnoff's "handsomely wrought, lyrical Trombone Concerto."