Show Run Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes, including intermission.
The animal kingdom comes alive through charming works for orchestra under the direction of Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer. Dogs bark in Vivaldi’s “Spring” Concerto from the famous Four Seasons. Crickets chirp in Telemann’s unusually scored Cricket Symphony, while frogs ribbit in his virtuosic concerto for violin. Delight in the “clucking” and “scratching” in Haydn’s Hen Symphony, which closes the program on a wonderfully humorous note.
FULL PROGRAM VIVALDI | Violin Concerto in E Major (Spring) TELEMANN | Cricket Symphony VIVALDI | Flute Concerto in D Major (The Goldfinch) TELEMANN | Violin Concerto in A Major (The Frogs) HAYDN | Symphony No. 83 in G Minor (The Hen)
Long recognized as one of the region’s top classical groups, Music of the Baroque’s professional chorus and orchestra is one of the leading ensembles in the country devoted to the performance of eighteenth-century works. The 2023-2024 marks the 21st anniversaries of Music Director Dame Jane Glover and Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer. Andrew Megill was named Chorus Director in April 2022.
Over the past four decades, Music of the Baroque has presented premiere performances of many early masterpieces, including Monteverdi’s operas and 1610 Vespers, Georg Philipp Telemann’s Day of Judgment, Mozart’s Idomeneo, and numerous Handel operas and oratorios. The ensemble has drawn particular praise throughout its history for its performances of the major choral and orchestral works of J. S. Bach and Handel, Mozart, and Haydn.
Opera News calls Music of the Baroque “one of Chicago’s musical glories” and the Chicago Sun-Times writes, “Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra 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.”
Music of the Baroque draws audiences from across the Chicago metropolitan area, performing regularly at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park in downtown Chicago and the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, as well as at intimate Chicago and suburban churches.
Listeners across the country enjoy the work of Music of the Baroque through radio broadcasts and recordings on 98.7WFMT Radio.
Music of the Baroque's available recordings include “Messiah—Live in Chicago” recorded live during the 2021-2022 season; “Bach’s Mass in B Minor” recorded live during the 2019-2020 season; and “On This Night,” recorded live during the ensemble’s 2017 and 2014 holiday concerts and conducted by William Jon Gray.
Through its “Strong Voices” program, Music of the Baroque conducts arts education to support and enhance music education programs at Chicago public high schools.
