Demarre McGill (Photo: Denver Rispel)
Music of the Baroque has announced its 2025-26 season, its “Emerald” 55th anniversary year, with a flotilla of Baroque and early music gems on the horizon.
The season sets sail in September, with the return of the company’s innovative Chicago Water Music program. Having first embarked in 2024, Chicago Water Music is held aboard Shoreline Sightseeing’s boat Bright Star as instrumentalists and audiences cruise down the Chicago River. The evening is built around Handel’s indispensable Water Music and features other on-theme selections.
Opening the season in earnest on September 14 and 15 is a program led by music director Dame Jane Glover in an MOB first: Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, with countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen and soprano Heidi Stober in the title roles.
In October, MOB principal guest conductor Nicholas Kraemer leads performances of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1-4 and 6.
On November 30 and December 1, Glover leads Handel’s Messiah with a cast featuring mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and Will Liverman in their MOB debuts. Glover and the MOB chorus will head to New York City’s Lincoln Center the following week to take part in Messiah with the New York Philharmonic.
December brings the return of the ensemble’s perennial Holiday Brass & Choral Concerts, in performances in Chicago, Evanston, River Forest, and Winnetka. This year’s installment will be the first time the program is conducted by Nicholas Kraemer.
January 2026 rings in the appearance of Chicago-born flutist Demarre McGill, the principal flute of the Seattle Symphony. He’ll perform two flute concertos to anchor the program — Fathers & Sons — which showcases works by multiple musical generations: Mozarts (Leopold and Wolfgang Amadeus) and Bachs (J.S. and C.P.E.).
In March, MOB welcomes Richard Egarr to conduct Baroque Blockbusters — featuring cherished works by Handel, and Purcell, and Bach (the fifth Brandenburg to completing the cycle begun in October).
And in April, Fabio Biondi will join the ensemble to lead virtuosic, showstopping Italian Baroque selections in Vivaldi and Friends.
Fabio Biondi (Photo: Emile Ashley)
Finally, chorus director Andrew Megill takes the podium to close out the season in May. Celestial Voices features ethereal and luminous vocal works by Bach, Byrd, Monteverdi, Tallis, and more.
All programs will receive at least two performances, with one taking place in Chicago. For ticketing and information, visit baroque.org.
