MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE Preview- A Look at the 2018-2019 Season

MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE Chorus and Orchestra in ensemble; photo by Elliot Mandel
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MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE Chorus & Orchestra, long recognized as one of the Midwest’s top classical groups, will present a preview of its 48th season with Baroque in the Parkthe organization’s first free-to-the-public Millennium Park concert debut, on Wednesday, September 12 at 6:30 p.m at The Jay Pritzker Pavillion, 201 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago.

Program highlights include excerpts from Mozart’s Requiemmade legendary in the movie and stage play Amadeus, along with Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks, two masterpieces specifically written for outdoor performance by Handel.

Later in the week, MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE will open its 2018/2019 season with Mozart’s full Requiem and three of Handel’s Coronation Anthems, on Saturday, September 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago in a program to be repeated Sunday, September 16 at 3:00 p.m. at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie.

Declan McGovern, Executive Director, MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE

 INTERVIEW WITH DECLAN MCGOVERN:

On the eve of the Millenium Park opener, this reviewer had the opportunity to interview Declan McGovern, Executive Director, MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE, now embarking on his second season with the group and the first for which he’s had a role in shaping content. McGovern is a congenial man whose unbounded enthusiasm equaled his musical knowledge; his remarks are paraphrased below:

‘My first season was nothing but a positive experience”, he said. “I inherited the season, in the sense that the concerts had been already planned. We exceeded all expectations in terms of both ticket sales and monies raised at our gala and through donations.”

About Chicago itself, McGovern noted, “Chicago is so rich in terms of appreciation for the arts and the generosity of the citizens’ support for the arts; even before I came to America from Ireland I knew it was one of the leading music cities in the universe!”

He went on to state, “You are only as good as the people around you and MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE is a fine organization; its dedicated staff has great expertise. Jane Glover, CBE, a British-born highly acclaimed conductor and musicologist and MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE’S Music Director since 2002, has been the original/vanguard female conductor since the 1970’s.”

As to the choices of music in the upcoming 2018-2019 season, McGovern advised me, “We were very keen to program a popular season filled with the most outstanding Baroque masterpieces ever written. While Bach, Handel, Mozart and Haydn are the ‘4 stars’ of every MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE season, we are stretching our definition of Baroque. We will incorporate some works that came after the 18th century that grew out of the bedrock of the Baroque period.”

McGovern mentioned a concert planned for March, 2019, called The Grand Tour, named for the 17th and 18th century custom of a traditional trip to Europe, mainly undertaken by “upper-class” men as a sort of “finishing” to their education, a cultural rite of passage. “This concert will take listeners on a magic carpet ride through great music”, he said.

He concluded by musing, “Before electricity and technology it was music that made the journey through time. A lot of what MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE performs is uplifting, life affirming and joyous; it has meant too much to the human spirit to be discarded”.

Violinist Gina DiBello

MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE 2018-2019 SEASON OPENING CONCERTS:

1) Baroque in the Park (season preview)

Wednesday, September 12, 6:30 p.m.  Jay Pritzker Pavilion, 201 E Randolph St, Chicago (FREE)

MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE Chorus and Orchestra

Jane Gloverconductor

Gina DiBelloviolin

Carl Grapentinehost

 The Program:

Excerpts from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, Handel’s Water MusicMozart’s Requiem and much more!

2) The Mozart Requiem (season opener)

Saturday, September 15, 7:30 p.m. ●Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago

Sunday, September 16, 3:00 p.m. ●North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie

$25-$78

MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE Chorus and Orchestra

Jane Gloverconductor

Amanda Majeskisoprano

Daniela Mackmezzo-soprano

Jonas Hackertenor

Eric Owens, bass-baritone

The Program:

MOZART Requiem, K. 626 (Süssmayr completion)

HANDEL Coronation Anthem No. 1, HWV 258 (“Zadok the Priest”)

HANDEL Coronation Anthem No. 4, HWV 261 (“My heart is indicting”)

HANDEL Coronation Anthem No. 3,HWV 260 (“The King shall rejoice”)

Soprano Amanda Majeski

MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE Chorus & Orchestra is devoted to the performance of eighteenth-century music. Led by Music Director Jane Glover, the chorus and orchestra has premiered many early masterpieces, drawing particular praise for its performances of the major choral and orchestral works of Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Haydn.

MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE draws audiences from across the Chicago metropolitan area, performing at the Harris Theater in Chicago’s Millennium Park and at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie as well as churches in Chicago and the suburbs. Listeners also enjoy the ensemble through its recordings and broadcasts on 98.7WFMT Radio.

MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE conducts an arts education program, Strong Voices, designed to support and enhance music education programs at Chicago public high schools.

Tickets, which range in price from $25-78, are available at baroque.org or by calling (312) 551-1414. Discounts for groups, students, and seniors are available.

The full MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE 2018/2019 season announcement may be read HERE.

 

Maestra Jane Glover, Music Director and Conductor, MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE

All photos courtesy of MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE unless otherwise noted

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