I got a perfect midweek lift last night from the BSO Musicians Series at the University of Baltimore, in the form of the Piano Trio by Charles Ives. Too bad more people weren't there to be similarly jolted; UB's visually pleasant (seen at left), acoustically underwhelming Performing Arts Theater was depressingly short of listeners. (If you ask me, there's just an over-supply of music in this town, given all indications for the actual demand, but don't let that get around. I wouldn't want anyone to start questioning the need for moi.)

Anyway, whenever BSO players get together to make chamber music, the results are almost always impressive, which is why the chamber series at Second Presbyterian Church has built up such a good following (the free admission policy there doesn't hurt). The UB series, started last year, enjoys the astute influence of violist Peter Minkler, who serves as program coordinator. Funding issues will apparently close down the series after this season, a pity given the potential.

Wednesday's strong mix of repertoire, selected by pianist Lura Johnson, balanced the quirky, often just plain astonishing Ives trio between great works by Beethoven and Dvorak. (I was only able to stay for the first half of the concert.) There could never be enough Ives performed around here. America has produced no one more audacious, more fascinating -- or more down-to-the-marrow American, for that matter. This Trio, written roughly around 1910, still sounds modern. The composer's irrepressible habit of quoting popular tunes runs rampant here, especially in the second movement, a melodic and rhythmic free-for-all titled TSIAJ (an abbreviation for ''this scherzo is a joke'').  You just have to smile, and I did as Johnson, violinist Ken Goldstein and cellist Ilya Finkelshteyn dug spiritedly into the notes. The riveting finale, with its Brahmsian lyricism and haunting references to "Rock of Ages," was played in particularly powerful fashion.

I wish the persistent, electronic hum in the UB theater could be eliminated; I hear that action will finally be taken -- in June, after the concert season. Other tweaking might produce warmer, richer acoustics. That said, it's still worth visiting to catch the BSO Musicians Series, which offers its next concert May 21. That program will include music for horn and piano by Poulenc and a premiere of a work for horn, piano and percussion by the BSO's Brian Prechtl (this one will also have a visual component).     

Photo courtesy of University of Baltimore