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Music of the Baroque

Chicago, Illinois

Cause Description:
MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE – ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY Long recognized as one of Chicago’s top classical music groups and approaching its thirty-fifth anniversary concert season, Music of the Baroque (MOB) occupies a special place in the city’s rich cultural life. Drawing its musicians from the ranks of the area’s best professional singers and players, the ensemble specializes in the performance of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century works for chorus and orchestra – repertoire that is often neglected by larger music organizations. Music of the Baroque’s artistic mission has been the same throughout its history: to present concert performances at the highest level of artistry and to increase audience knowledge and appreciation of early works for chorus and orchestra. Over the past 35 years, the ensemble has brought Chicago audiences their first and in some cases only performances of many early masterpieces including Telemann’s Day of Judgment, Mozart’s Idomeneo, the Monteverdi 1610 Vespers of the Blessed Virgin and the composer’s concerted madrigals and surviving operas, and numerous Handel operas and oratorios. In presenting these works, MOB has played an important role in ensuring the richness and diversity of musical life here. Focusing much-deserved attention on a unique and significant period in music history, we have encouraged and enabled audiences to hear and musicians to study and perform countless challenging and beautiful works that they might otherwise never experience in live performance. Music of the Baroque was first established in 1972 by its founding Music Director, Thomas S. Wikman, as a program of the choir of the Church of St. Paul and the Redeemer in Hyde Park. It was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1975. The ensemble achieved critical acclaim early in its history and during its second decade significantly expanded the number of performances offered annually. From its earliest years, Music of the Baroque has drawn audiences from across the metropolitan area, performing mostly in the intimate settings of neighborhood churches chosen for architectural interest and acoustic excellence. The number of venues has increased over the years; this year, MOB is performing in downtown Chicago at the new Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park as well as in churches on the city’s near north side and in the north and west suburbs. The ensemble is a founding member company of the Harris Theater, and hopes to continue to expand its use of that venue, particularly for large-scale works and genres (e.g., piano concertos) that our neighborhood church venues to not easily accommodate. In the upcoming season, MOB will perform regularly at the Harris Theater as well as at St. Paul’s Church in Chicago, First United Methodist Church in Evanston, and Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest. Holiday concerts are also presented at Divine Word Chapel in Techny and at St. Michael’s Church in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood. The ensemble rehearses at the United Church of Hyde Park. Music of the Baroque’s chorus and orchestra are comprised of some 60 professional musicians. Chorus members have active operatic, recital, and teaching careers, and several perform with leading companies here and abroad. Many of the instrumentalists are also members of the Chicago Symphony or Lyric Opera Orchestras. The core of the group has worked together for many years, allowing the total ensemble to reach a very high level of performance. In 2001, founding Music Director Thomas S. Wikman stepped down from the podium after a 30-year tenure. The acclaimed British conductor and early music specialist Jane Glover was named Music Director following a two-year international search. Ms. Glover has been strongly received by MOB’s musicians and audiences – as well as by Chicago critics. Nicholas Kraemer is Principal Guest Conductor. In articulating her artistic vision for Music of the Baroque, Jane Glover stresses her interest in building on the ensemble’s strengths as an exceptional chamber orchestra and chorus. Under her leadership, the ensemble has maintained its longstanding focus on the core Baroque and classical repertoire (especially the music of Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Haydn) while expanding its horizons to offer works by twentieth-century masters inspired by earlier musical eras.

Type: Hunger/Homelessness
Listed on iGive since: February 2006
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Website: www.baroque.org

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