Conductor Jim Durham leads the Maui Pops Orchestra. The Orchestra will perform Aug. 24 at St. Anthony Church. Photo courtesy Lorne Direnfeld

Showcasing the brilliance of five iconic composers, the Maui Pops Orchestra will present “An Afternoon of Classical Chamber Music” on Aug. 24 at St. Anthony Church.

The concert will feature Haydn’s “Symphony No. 104 (London),” Dvorák’s “Serenade in E for Strings,” Bach’s “Little Fugue in G Minor,” Raff’s “Sinfonietta Op. 188,” and Bizet’s “Selections from Carmen.”

“We’re trying to find out what a potential Maui audience for classical music wants to hear,” explained Pops’ conductor Jim Durham about the program that spans the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods. “We’re trying to involve as many local players as we can, so I decided to do some smaller groups. We’re doing a string orchestra piece, the Dvorak serenade, a wonderful piece. Then we’re doing a piece just for our woodwind players by a composer named Raff. We’re doing an entertaining brass quintet, Bizet’s ‘Carmen,’ and also a little Bach. The second half will be the full chamber orchestra with the Haydn ‘London Symphony,’ and that will be our 40-piece group.”

Europe’s leading composer in the late 1700s, Joseph Haydn was commissioned by impresario Johann Peter Salomon to compose some symphonies in England. He was treated like royalty when he first arrived in London in 1791.

His last marvelous “London” symphony was Haydn’s farewell concert. It was a success, and he wrote in his diary, “I took in this evening 4,000 gulden. One can make as much as this only in England.” Eighteenth Century music critic Dr. Charles Burney described Haydn’s final six symphonies of 1795 to be “such as were never heard before, of any mortal’s production; of what Apollo and the Muses compose or perform we can only judge by such productions as these.”

Composed in just 12 days in May 1875, Dvorák’s sublime “Serenade” is one of the composer’s most popular orchestral works. It has been described as filled with shimmering melodies and the infectious rhythms of Czech folk music. Radiant joy blends with an underlying sense of wistful nostalgia. It closes with a final exhilarating flash of energy.

Bach’s “Fugue in G minor, BWV 578,” popularly known as the Little Fugue, is a remarkable piece of organ music written by the great composer. A complex masterpiece, one of Bach’s best known fugues, it has been arranged for other voices, including an orchestral version by Leopold Stokowski. A popular piece bursting with enjoyment, around 100 years after his death, it was published four times in rapid succession.

Swiss composer Joachim Raff was admired by Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Liszt. He was the first composer to use the name “Sinfonietta” for an orchestral work in several movements similar to a symphony, but shorter and lighter in content. It was unique and popular in its time. Written for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and French horns, it was intended by Raff to be regarded as something greater than the wind serenades, which had been popular since Mozart’s time.

Georges Bizet’s Spanish-inflected “Carmen” is one of the most popular operas ever composed. A dramatic tale of love, jealousy and tragedy, it was his final composition before he died tragically of a heart attack midway through one of its opening performances. A timeless masterpiece, various selections have been arranged for orchestras.

Durham calls the program a sampler of chamber music. “What do people want to hear? he wondered. “What will they buy a ticket to come and listen to? Would they prefer to have a full orchestra? Do they like this kind of variety? When the Pops started, the focus was to make a group that our local players, as many as possible, can be involved in, and that’s what we’re trying to do here. So we’re just trying to take one baby step.”

The Maui Pops will present “An Afternoon of Classical Chamber Music” on Aug. 24 at St. Anthony Church. Tickets are available at mauipops.org or by phone through the Maui Pops Orchestra office 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. If space is still available on concert day, tickets may also be purchased at the door. General admission is $30. Tickets for students 18 and under are $15. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. and the concert will begin at 2.