Music Of The Baroque Announces 2022-23 Season

Music of the Baroque today announced plans for the 2022-23 season, the ensemble's 52nd. The season marks the 20th anniversary of the appointments of Music Director Dame Jane Glover and Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer and includes 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 also continue its participation in Project Inclusion.

"When I came to Music of the Baroque five years ago, a major part of the attraction was that Jane Glover was Music Director," says Executive Director Declan McGovern. "I had worked with Jane when I was a music producer with the BBC, and I was aware of her exceptional work with Music of the Baroque in Chicago. I was also familiar with Nicholas Kraemer's impressive track
record as a Baroque specialist. Their friendship and artistry have permeated Music of the Baroque over the past 20 years, maintaining the unique sound that comes from historically informed performances on modern instruments and fashioning a chorus that is second to none in its sound and sensibility. To celebrate their 20th anniversary, we have programmed our most ambitious season in recent history."

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 headed by James Gilchrist as the Evangelist. 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.

Says Kraemer, "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!)."

Music of the Baroque's new chorus director will direct the annual Holiday Brass & Choral
Concerts (Dec. 15-18). The ensemble expects to make this appointment in the spring of 2022.

Music of the Baroque's 2022-23 season opens on Sept. 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.

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