Choral composer Eric Whitacre [Mark Royce]

IF you ever thought that choirmasters were fusty, routine and unglamorous, you clearly needed to meet Suzi Digby – one of the chief mover/shakers on the choral circuit who 10 years ago created the dynamically adventurous and super-smart vocal ensemble Ora.
Driven by its founder’s daunting energy, Ora does more than sing a concert here and there. It generates new works on an industrial scale. It mentors young composers and runs courses to develop their abilities. It makes superb recordings. It tours fascinating programmes.
And as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, Ora is at St Martin in the Fields, May 15, with an event called Spirit of Place that explores, through music, how time, memory and place shape who we are. Digby’s mantra is that we are currently in a new Golden Age of choral singing, which may well be true. And either way, she’s building it a whole new repertoire. stmartin-in-the-fields.org

• By coincidence another guru of contemporary choral music, the Grammy-winning Eric Whitacre, is at Smith Square on May 16, appearing with his own Singers in a programme of his own music – which, if you don’t know it, inhabits a world of softly unresolved dissonances, rich and luminous and not unlike the sound-equivalent of soaking in a warm bath. It’s not challenging, but neither is it vacuous. And for myself I find it hauntingly evocative. As an added incentive, perhaps, May 16 offers the audience a chance to join in. sinfoniasmithsq.org.uk

• Two very difference choral experiences: May 16 at St Cyprian, Clarence Gate brings a rare outing for the Mass in D by Ethel Smyth, that most formidable of pioneering female composers whose reputation sometimes outclasses the quality of her writing – though this Mass setting is a strong piece, sung here by Six Centuries Chamber Choir. the 6ccc.co.uk
Then, May 29, the always fabulous Gabrieli ensemble conjure up the pageantry and spectacle that would have accompanied the coronation of a 16th-century Doge in Venice. With male voices and period instruments conducted by Paul McCreesh in the boom­ing resonance of the Temple Church, expect it to be gaudy, grand, impressive. templemusic.org

• Also coming up in a more intimate concert at Temple Church, Raphael Wallfisch plays some of Bach’s unaccompanied cello suites, May 22. templemusic.org
And cello-fans will want to know that Alisa Weilerstein is in residence at the Purcell Room, May 17, with two concerts that connect the Bach suites with a conveyor-belt of short works by living composers. southbankcentre.co.uk

• For a lesson in keyboard contrasts, harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani is at Wigmore Hall, May 18, playing Frescobaldi and Scarlatti; while pianist Sir Stephen Hough is at the same venue May 19, tempering some potentially medicinal Beethoven and Schubert with spoonfuls of sugar from his own arrangement of the Mary Poppins songbook. Guaranteed to bring the house down. wigmore-hall.org.uk
Alternatively, catch rising talent at the magical Leighton House, Holland Park, May 19 when Magdalene Ho (winner of the Clara Haskil competition, Switzerland) plays Schumann and Beethoven. lisa@lisapeacock.co.uk

• Finally, two big orchestral dates: Simon Rattle conducts the LSO in Mahler’s 4th Symphony at the Barbican, May 20 & 21; and at the same venue, May 22, the BBCSO pair Bartók’s magnificent Concerto for Orchestra with Korngold’s cheesy but loveable Violin Concerto. Soloist Maria Duenas. barbican.org.uk