Calendar Highlights

Early Music Series opens Nov. 10 with Tafelmusik Canada's Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, widely considered the finest period-instrument orchestra in the world, returns to Mandel Hall to open the three-concert 1995-96 Howard Mayer Brown International Early Music Series at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10.

Under the musical direction of violinist Jeanne Lamon, the ensemble will offer a program consisting of Purcell's Suite from The Fairy Queen; Vivaldi's Concerto for two violoncellos; Handel's Concerto Grosso in B-flat Major, Op. 3, No. 2; Telemann's Concerto for three violins in F Major from Tafelmusik II; and Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 1 for two oboes, bassoon and strings in C Major, BWV 1066.

Founded in 1979 and led by its music director and concertmaster Jeanne Lamon since 1981, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra has achieved international recognition for its concerts and recordings. The ensemble, based in Toronto, has 16 permanent members, all of whom are specialists in historical performance practice. Their collaboration results in performances renowned for their refinement and vitality.

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra last performed in Mandel Hall to a capacity audience in autumn 1993. The orchestra performs concerts around the world, with regular tours throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. Tafelmusik also performs 30 to 40 concerts annually at its home base, a historic church in central Toronto, and records exclusively for the Sony Classical label.

Tickets are $20, $8 for students. For tickets and subscription information, call the University Concert Office at 702-8068. Additional details about the concert program, Tafelmusik and upcoming performances at the University are available through the Professional Concert Series home page on the World Wide Web (http://tuna.uchicago.edu/humanities/concerts/mainhome.html).

Tribune's Kathy O'Malley first in discussion series at Court Issues of women and adventure will highlight the post-show discussions in conjunction with Court Theatre's production of On the Verge, or The Geography of Yearning, Eric Overmyer's comedic time-travel adventure.

Previews of the play, directed by Susan Booth, continue through Sunday, Nov. 12. Regular performances begin Monday, Nov. 13, and run through Sunday, Dec. 10. Booth, who makes her Court Theatre debut with On the Verge, is the literary manager at Goodman Theatre.

On the Verge features Linda Kimbrough, Ora Jones and Jenny Bacon as three intrepid Victorian ladies who unintentionally travel through time, encountering such mysterious new deities as Mr. Coffee, such unusual native foods as Cool Whip and a primitive tribal custom called "rock 'n' roll."

Overmyer's writing is widely known to television audiences of the critically acclaimed "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" and "St. Elsewhere." On the Verge opened in 1985 to tremendous critical acclaim and in the two years following was performed at more than two dozen theaters across the country and abroad, including in France, where it won the Comte de Nouy playwright award.

Post-show group discussions, offered as part of Court's adult-education programs, are funded by the John Nuveen Company. Discussions with guest leaders are as follows:

_ Wednesday, Nov. 15: Kathy O'Malley, Chicago Tribune writer and co-host of "The Kathy and Judy Show" on WGN radio

_ Thursday, Nov. 16: Mary Sue Glosser, curator, lecturer and producer at the Art Institute of Chicago

_ Sunday, Nov. 19 (2:30 p.m.): David Bevington, the Phyllis Fay Horton Professor in the Humanities

_ Sunday, Nov. 19 (7:30 p.m.): Elaine Hadley, Assistant Professor in English Language & Literature

_ Tuesday, Nov. 21: John Larson, Archivist at the Oriental Institute

_ Wednesday, Nov. 22: Catherine Slade, professor at Columbia College and the School of the Art Institute.

For more information, see Continuing.