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Performing new music is a fundamental responsibility of professional musicians, but repeating new music is the true act of advocacy.

Wednesday night, Robert Page and the Mendelssohn Choir brought Nancy Galbraith’s "Missa Mysteriorum" back to the stage of Carnegie Music Hall, where it was a smashing success at its world premiere in the fall of 1999. They were to perform it there a third time on Thursday for the first evening concert of the Eastern Division of the American Choral Directors’ Association conference, and also will record it.

Galbraith is a Pittsburgh native who teaches composition at Carnegie Mellon University and is organist and music director of Christ Lutheran Church. She has broken free of the thorny harmonic problems of 20th-century music, and also has moved far beyond the limitations of minimalism.

"Missa Mysteriorum" (Mass of Mysteries) is boldly conceived in detail and its overall shape. Her composition, which uses chant to open and close the "Credo" section, emphasizes the millenium-long tradition she continues so rewardingly.

The Mass opens with a lyrical introduction played by the symphonic wind ensemble, and softly sung close choral harmony gives a gentle edge to the prayer for mercy ("Kyrie eleison"), which dominates this movement more than most Masses. The "Christe eleison," often an extended middle section, is unusually brief but builds to a big climax.

Galbraith’s design was shaped by the emphasis she sought for the final movement, and the second movement, "Gloria," is relatively brief. Its energetic opening fills the room with celebration, and makes a sharp contrast for the invocation of peace that follows. But much of "Gloria's" text is musically undifferentiated at words other composers have made crucial.

The setting of the Crucifixion in the "Credo" is marked by awful ringing percussion, like a hammer hitting a nail, but the ensuing music for the Resurrection is at first spiritual rather than dramatic.

Galbraith uses rhythmic energy and bright instrumental sonorities to emphasize the joyousness of the "Sanctus."

The final section of "Missa Mysteriorum" is a transcendent setting of the "Agnus Dei," a prayer for expiation of sin and peace. Unlike the "Kyrie," there is no fear here. Instead, Galbraith’s music expands on the spirit of the "Resurrection" section of the "Credo" to conclude in a state of extended serenity.

Page led a fervent, well-paced performance that would have benefited from additional rehearsal. But apart from rough spots in chorus and orchestra, the entire dynamic range was too loud. Soft passages would have been more affecting if even softer, and the loud singing often pushed the singers beyond their limits into raucousness.

The concert opened with an impressively polished performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s "Gloria" performed by the high school students of the Junior Mendelssohn and members of the CMU Philharmonic. The Children’s Festival Concert was to be the first half of Thursday’s concert.

Carrot Top show

Fans of vegetable-oriented humor and television commercials, rejoice.

Carrot Top, star of phone company ads and comedy clubs everywhere, will come to Pittsburgh on March 16 for a 7:30 p.m. show at the A.J. Palumbo Theatre, Uptown. Tickets for the all-ages show go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday at www.cc.com and at all Ticketmaster outlets including Kaufmann's and Giant Eagle stores. Tickets are $28.75 and $25.

Details: (412) 323-1919.

SHC performance

Seton Hill College will present, "Twelfth Night" 8 p.m. today, Saturday, Thursday, Feb. 22 and 23; 2 p.m. Sunday and Feb. 23; and 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Feb. 22 in Reeves Theatre on the campus, Greensburg. Tickets are $10. Details: 724-838-4241.

Auditions slated

Greensburg Civic Theatre's Greasepaint Players will hold auditions for "Princess & The Pea," 6-9 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center, 951 Old Salem Road. Anyone age 14 and older can audition. Production dates are April 12-14. The group will also hold auditions for "The Day They Kidnapped The Pope," 7-9 p.m. Feb. 26 at the center. There are two roles for a teen male and female (age 15-18), and at least six adult roles. Production dates are May 3-5. Detais: 724-836-7529.

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