Tempesta in morning, sailor’s warning; Tempesta at noon, music’s boon.

On today’s Noontime Concert, Tempesta di Mare – Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra will present a program titled “Fantaisie – Character, Allegory and Imagination.”

Composers will include Johann Sigismund Kusser, George Frideric Handel, François Couperin, and Georg Philipp Telemann.

The program will open with a grasshopper, and end with – the Eagles. If that piques your curiosity, I hope you will tune in and see what these bestial bookends are all about.

Tempesta di Mare takes its name from a concerto by Antonio Vivaldi, which translates as “Storm at Sea.” The group has made 10 stunning recordings of mostly underexposed repertoire for the Chandos label. In particular, it has done much to restore the reputation of Johann Friedrich Fasch.

To learn more about the ensemble and its upcoming concerts in Philadelphia and Chestnut Hill, this Saturday and Sunday – which will include Bach’s Concerto for 2 Violins and yet another Fasch discovery – visit Tempesta’s website at tempestadimare.org.

Following today’s concert broadcast, we’ll mark Women’s History Month with an afternoon of music by female composers, beginning with Philadelphia-based Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon. We’ll trip back and forth across the centuries for worthwhile contributions from undervalued musicians of earlier times to works by more widely acknowledged – and even celebrated – artists of the present.

Speaking of Bach: there are only two days left until our Bach birthday bash. Help cancel fundraising on Thursday by becoming one of the “Bach 500” today. 500 listener contributions IN ANY AMOUNT will ensure that we can pull out all the stops to celebrate Bach’s genius as he deserves – with just his music, no fundraising! But in order to make that a reality, 500 noble folk need to step up and toss some bills into the kitty. Please join us today in helping to make this Elysian ideal a reality by visiting wwfm.org and clicking on “Donate.”

Then join me for an example of the kind of programming generous listeners just like you have made possible for the past 37 years, today from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Thank you for doing your part to help keep great music on the radio!