We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
When your metropolitan region has not one but two chamber ensembles devoted to Bach, that’s called market saturation. Both the older Washington Bach Consort and Silver Spring’s Bach Sinfonia realize there’s a limited audience for even a family as prolific as J.S., W.F., and C.P.E., and so neither stick entirely to their namesake repertory. Yet it’s hard to stray too far from the Baroque era, especially if, like Sinfonia, you play on period instruments. A novel solution is to switch up geography, if not epoch. For Cinco de Mayo, soprano Jennifer Ellis Kampani and guitarist Richard Savino turn to composers from colonial-era Latin America, both migrant and native-born. There’s Brazil’s Roque Jacinto de Cavarria, Mexico’s Manuel de Sumaya, Guatemala’s Rafael Castellanos, and a whole bunch of other people you’ve never heard of, but who were apparently all busy creating an appropriately Old World liturgical soundtrack to the ongoing civilizing activities of forced conversions, gold extraction, and encomiendas. 3 p.m. $15–$30.