Music of the Baroque is a professional chorus and orchestra based in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 that specializes in the performance of eighteenth-century works.

History

Music of the Baroque was founded by Thomas S. Wikman in 1972 as a program of the choir of the Church of St. Paul and the Redeemer in Hyde Park. It was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1975, and achieved critical acclaim early in its history. As the Chicago Sun-Times put it, “Lyric Opera of Chicago

Lyric Opera of Chicago

Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...

 and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...

 may be the big guys on the local classical music scene, but in terms of sheer quality of performance…Music of the Baroque inhabits the same stratosphere.” Many Music of the Baroque musicians also perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and with Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Conductor Jane Glover

Jane Glover

Jane Glover CBE is a British-born conductor and music scholar.-Early life:Glover attended Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. Her father, Robert Finlay Glover MA TD,was headmaster of Monmouth School and it was through this connection that she was able to meet Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears...

 was named Music Director in September 2002. Nicholas Kraemer

Nicholas Kraemer

Nicholas Kraemer is a British harpsichordist and conductor. Kraemer began his career as a harpsichordist...

 is the ensemble’s Principal Guest Conductor. Karen Fishman has served as the organization's executive director since 1999.

Over nearly four decades, Music of the Baroque has presented premiere and revival performances of many early masterpieces—among them Claudio Monteverdi

Claudio Monteverdi

Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...

’s operas and 1610 Vespers, Georg Philipp Telemann

Georg Philipp Telemann

Georg Philipp Telemann was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually...

’s Day of Judgement, Mozart’s Idomeneo, and numerous Handel

HANDEL

HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....

 operas and oratorios. The ensemble has drawn particular praise throughout its history for its performances of the major choral works of J. S. Bach and Handel. In recent seasons, Music of the Baroque has given modern premieres of several works by Telemann, including the cantatas, "Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft," "Dich rühmen die Welten," and "Siehe, das ist Gottes Lamm."

Music of the Baroque was the first professional chorus in America to have its own regularly scheduled nationwide broadcast series, and its performances are aired around the country. Music of the Baroque concerts are currently heard on WFMT

WFMT

WFMT is an FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of fine arts, classical music programming, and shows exploring such genres as folk and jazz). The station is managed by Window To The World Communications, Inc., owner of WTTW, one of Chicago's two Public Broadcasting Service ...

 Radio. Their Emmy-nominated holiday special, "A Renaissance Christmas," made in conjunction with WTTW

WTTW

WTTW channel 11 is one of three Public Broadcasting Service member public television stations serving the Chicago, Illinois market; the others are WYCC and WYIN. WTTW began broadcasting on September 6, 1955 and it is owned and operated by Window to the World Communications, Inc., a not-for-profit...

, has been broadcast on public television stations across the United States.

Current season

Music of the Baroque performs primarily in the Harris Theater

Harris Theater

The Harris Theater is a landmark building at 809 Liberty Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Cultural District.Built as Art Cinema, it was the first Pittsburgh venue to show only "art movies". In the 1960s, however, it featured pornographic films at a time when Liberty Avenue was a...

 in Millennium Park

Millennium Park

Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, USA and originally intended to celebrate the millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously...

 in downtown Chicago and First United Methodist Church in Evanston, as well as in other neighborhood churches chosen for acoustics and architectural interest. Running from September through May, the ensemble presents eight programs for a total of 19 concerts per year. Music of the Baroque's 2011-12 season includes Bach's Mass in B Minor, Beethoven's Choral Fantasy with pianist Imogen Cooper

Imogen Cooper

Imogen Cooper, CBE is an English pianist.Born in London, she is the daughter of the musicologist Martin Cooper. She studied piano in London with Kathleen Long, in Paris with Jacques Février and Yvonne Lefébure, and in Vienna with Alfred Brendel, Jörg Demus and Paul Badura-Skoda...

, Handel's L'Allegro, il penseroso ed il moderato with Elizabeth Futral

Elizabeth Futral

Elizabeth Futral is an American coloratura soprano who has won acclaim throughout the United States as well as in Europe, South America, and Japan....

, Bach's Double Violin Concerto, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major for Violin and Viola, and their annual Holiday Brass and Choral Concerts.

Recordings

Music of the Baroque's recordings include Haydn's The Creation, Telemann's Day of Judgement, Renaissance Christmas (two volumes), and four discs featuring performances of Concertmaster Emeritus Elliot Golub.

Educational outreach

Music of the Baroque conducts educational outreach to support and enhance music education programs at Chicago public high schools.
Combining individual and group vocal instruction by Music of the Baroque chorus members with exposure to high-quality musical performances, the program currently includes Hubbard High School, Kelly High School, Kelvyn Park High School, Lake View High School, and Lane Technical High School.