One of the Seacoast’s hidden musical corners is the Concerts on the Hill series at St. John’s Episcopal Church. Their 2006-2007 series offers an intimate setting for classical music that’s rarely performed anywhere else in the area. In October, Capella Alamire featured an eight-voice ensemble, accompanied by viols, brayed harp, cornetto and lute, performing work from Franco-Flemish composers dating to 1500.

Coming up on Friday, Nov. 10, the Portland String Quartet, considered to be one of New England’s finest string ensembles and whose performances have been described as “a dialogue of the highest musical level” by the Washington Post, will perform two works with American themes: Quartet No. 1 “The Revival Meeting” by Charles Ives and String Quartet in F Major “American” by Antonin Dvorak. The program will also feature the String Quartet in G Major by Mozart. The performance begins at 8 p.m., and a donation of $15 per person, or $10 for students and seniors, is requested.

The season offers three more performances in 2007. On Sunday, Feb. 11, organ soloist Douglas Major will perform his composition “Cape Ann Portraits,” which is accompanied by projected images of the Cape Ann landscape. The resident of Rockport, Mass., was organist and choirmaster of the Washington National Cathedral from 1988 to 2002. His solo career has taken him across the United States, France, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines, and he’s also played with many of the world’s finest musicians, including the Empire Brass Quintet, Ravi Shankar, Leonard Bernstein, Aretha Franklin and Dave Brubeck.

On Thursday, March 15, Musicians of the Old Post Road, described as “one of the discoveries” of the 2001 early music festival in Regensburg, Germany, will present chamber works with a gypsy flair by Haydn, Mozart and their Bohemian contemporaries. The group specializes in music from the Baroque, Classical and early Romantic periods, and their programs often include “rediscovered” works that have been lost to audiences for centuries.

England’s largest Junior Church Choir, made up of singers ages 7-18, will stop in Portsmouth on April 7 during their tour of the eastern United States. For their first performance in northern New England, they’ll feature selections from a wide range of traditional English choral repertoire.

St. John’s Episcopal Church is located at 101 Chapel St., Portsmouth. For more information on the series, call 603-436-8283 or visit www.stjohnsnh.org.