Music of the Baroque announces exciting new season plus a new partnership

2022-2023 will be an ambitious and exciting season for Music of the Baroque, the ensemble’s 52^nd.  The season marks the 20th anniversary of the appointments of Music Director Dame Jane Glover and Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer and features the St. Matthew Passion, the monumental work the ensemble planned as the highlight of its 50th-anniversary celebration during the 2020-21 season.

The lineup also includes spectacular guest artists such as renowned countertenor Reginald Mobley, pianist Gabriela Montero, and guest conductor Patrick Dupré Quigley. Music of the Baroque will continue its collaboration with Chicago Sinfonietta’s Project Inclusion and the Merit School of Music. The ensemble will also embark upon a new artistic venture with South Chicago Dance Theatre in October.

Dame Jane Glover directs two major dramatic works, including the season opener, Handel’s Jephtha (Sept. 18-19), and Bach’s Passion According to St. Matthew (April 2-3). In January, she will conduct Montero Plays Mozart, featuring renowned classical pianist Gabriela Montero in her MOB debut. Glover rounds out the season with Circle of Friends (May 7-8), showcasing six of the ensemble’s extraordinary musicians as soloists.

Says Glover, “I am thrilled to open our exciting new season conducting with one of Handel's superlative dramatic oratorios, Jephtha, which we have been longing to perform for years. I am especially excited about the St. Matthew Passion, the monumental pinnacle of Baroque music whose demands and proportions are such that we can rarely program it. We planned it for our Covid-delayed 50th season and can at last present it now, with a stellar cast. I always love the concerts where our brilliant musicians step up as soloists. Our final program, Circles of Friends, features concertos written by a group of Viennese composers performed by Music of the Baroque’s principal musicians. But I look forward to all our programs—including those I shall not be conducting!”

Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer conducts Reginald Mobley Sings (Nov. 20-21) featuring countertenor Mobley, last seen with Music of the Baroque in 2019, in a program of works by Bach, Croft, Handel and Purcell. He returns for London Calling (Feb. 26- 27), a lively program of music with the city as the point of intersection. The concert includes the ensemble’s first performances of music by Boyce; Mozart’s first symphony, which was written during a stay in London; Handel’s first Water Music Suite; and Haydn’s Clock Symphony.

Kraemer remarked, “The world changed for everyone after 2001, and for me, a whole new world opened with my introduction to MOB. Right from the ‘audition’ concert in November 2001, I knew this was an exceptional collection of musicians that were passionate about making music. From then on, I found a very special atmosphere which grew more intense as we all got to know each other. For me, there is a buzz of anticipation every time I’m in Chicago with MOB and a sadness every time I leave. What a privilege it has been (and continues to be!).”

In October, guest conductor Patrick Dupré Quigley opens Baroque Heroes (Oct. 9 & 11) with a special addition: a new dance work choreographed by Kia Smith, the founder and artistic director of South Chicago Dance Theatre.

Declan McGovern, executive director of Music of the Baroque, commented, “We have been enjoying the meteoric rise of one of Chicago’s most dynamic performing arts organizations in recent months, including their recent debut at the Harris Theater. It was clear from our first conversations with founder and artistic director Kia Smith that she is a big fan of Baroque music. She jumped at the opportunity to bring to life, quite literally, a suite of dances from 17th-century composer Michael Praetorius’s iconic collection Terpsichore. We are so thrilled to share this special collaborative treat during the City of Chicago's Year of Dance in 2022 with our audience, and also to partner with South Chicago Dance Theatre for a special community performance in Englewood in the run-up to our concerts.”

The theme of new relationships continues in December, as Music of the Baroque’s new chorus director, Andrew Megill, directs the annual Holiday Brass & Choral Concerts (Dec. 15-18), one of Chicago’s most beloved seasonal traditions. Megill's appointment was previously announced in May 2022.

Music of the Baroque’s 2022-23 season opens on September 18, 2022, and runs through May 8, 2023. Seven of the programs will be performed at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in downtown Chicago and the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. The annual Holiday Brass & Choral Concerts occur at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, St. Michael Church in Old Town, Saints Faith, Hope, & Charity Catholic Church in Winnetka and Alice Millar Chapel in Evanston.

Ticket prices range from $25-$105 and will be available starting at 10 AM on August 1 at baroque.org and by phone at (312) 551-1414. Music of the Baroque also announced soloist changes for the St. Matthew Passion (April 2-3) due to scheduling conflicts. Previously assigned to tenor James Gilchrist, the role of the Evangelist will be sung by tenor Gwilym Bowen in his Music of the Baroque debut. Baritone Brandon Cedel will replace Tyler Duncan as Christus, and mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó replaces Elizabeth DeShong.

(For all info, please visit: https://www.baroque.org/)