Jeanine De Bique and Concerto Köln

Internationally renowned soprano Jeanine De Bique makes her Zankel Hall debut alongside opera and early music ensemble Concerto Köln.

The Third Coast Baroque Festival

The period instrument ensemble announces its inaugural festival which will features Aldo López-Gavilán & Ilmar Gavilán, Third Coast Percussion, and a performance of Bach’s B Minor Mass.

Caccini, Hasse, Scarlatti: Haymarket Shares ’23 Season

The performance lineup features three mainstage operas; all three titles are rare and represent Chicago premieres.

Playlist: The Best Classical Christmas Albums of 2022

Christmas is the most musical time of the year, and each December, we look forward to sharing a new assortment of festive holiday albums.

9 Things To Know About Monteverdi’s Vespers

Even though his compositions were well known across Europe during his time, one of Claudio Monteverdi‘s most enduring works was likely not performed (in its entirety, at least) in his lifetime!

Argentina and Roots of European Baroque with Rubén Dubrovsky

Rubén Dubrovsky traces the popular dances of the European Baroque back to Latin American and African roots.

Bach’s Top 10 Works

Bach wrote a lot of music! Here’s where to start…

Early Music, New Era: Veteran Newberry Consort Directors to Retire After Upcoming Concerts

Approaching the end of a long tenure, the artistic, administrative, and life partners reflect and look ahead.

Bach and Handel Highlights in Music of the Baroque’s ’22-23 Season

The lineup represents the “most ambitious season in recent history,” according to executive director Declan McGovern.

Video: Hear Rare, Baroque-Era Mexican Christmas Carols

The Christmas season is one replete with great Baroque music: think Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and more! But what about music from other parts of the world?

Jeanne Lamon, Former Music Director of Tafelmusik, Dead at 71

Jeanne Lamon, the violinist and former music director of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, died on June 20 at age 71. She succumbed to cancer, which she had been diagnosed with a few months prior.

Finding Hope in Handel

Little known fact: Handel ranked ‘Theodora’ — not ‘Messiah’ — as his best oratorio. You’ll see why in a rapturous performance by Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.

Music of the Baroque Announces 2020-21 season

On February 21, Music of the Baroque announced its 2020-2021 season, the ensemble’s 50th.

Video: Music of the Baroque Shares a Louis XIV-Era Take on the Christmas Antiphon

As part of an Impromptu of secular and devotional holiday music from around the world, conductor Patrick Dupré Quigley led Music of the Baroque and organist Stephen Alltop in a performance of this lesser-known French Baroque Christmas song, ‘Hodie Christus natus est’ by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault.

How a Modern Orchestra Plays a Period-Perfect ‘Messiah’

Handel’s oratorio Messiah is everywhere this time of year. Here in Chicago in the four weeks leading up to Christmas, we’ll have large-scale performances of Messiah, period instrument chamber performances of Messiah, Do-It-Yourself Messiahs, sing-along Messiahs, not to mention the jazz/gospel versions of Messiah.

Be a fly on the wall for a Third Coast Baroque rehearsal

Behind every great performance or recording is untold hours of practice. Don’t get us wrong, we love the final product, but it’s also illuminating to go behind the scenes and witness musicians preparing.

Purcell opera performed in cemetery catacombs

NEW YORK (AP) — “When I am laid in earth,” the heroine sings just before she dies at the end of Henry Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas.” Rarely will the aria be heard in a more fittingly sepulchral setting than when the hour-long opera, composed in the 1680s, is performed this week in the catacombs of Brooklyn’s historic Green-Wood Cemetery. The …

How To Land 300-Year-Old Jokes: Tackling Telemann’s Pimpinone

“With this kind of comedy, there is no fourth wall. We’re very aware of the audience; we’re not pretending they’re not there.”

11 New Chicago Ensembles You Should Know

For naysayers who think classical music is on the decline, these Chicago-based performing groups offer the perfect response. All founded in the past three years, they’re offering fresh takes on repertoire familiar and unfamiliar, expanding the musical canon and enlivening the musical life of our city.

How to Make a Baroque Opera Work in the 21st Century

How does an opera written in 1735 hold up today? Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of George Frideric Handel’s Ariodante presents a contemporary perspective on the nearly 300-year-old Baroque opera, with updated gender and sexual politics to boot.

Learn to play harpsichord repertoire on piano with Jory Vinikour

Grammy-nominated Jory Vinikour shares his advice for how to capture the magic of the harpsichord on the piano.

Paul Taylor, giant of modern dance, dead at 88 in New York

Taylor kept working well into his 80s, venturing into his company’s Manhattan studios from his Long Island home to choreograph two new pieces a year.

Playlist: 14 Fantastic French Composers You Might Not Know (But You Should!)

Here are just a few of our many favorite French composers, from medieval to modern, that might be new to you.

Video: Mezzo-Soprano Vivica Genaux Shares Her Secrets to Singing Coloratura

Have you ever wondered how opera singers are able to sing so many notes so easily? Mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux shares her secrets to singing coloratura.

Video: Hear Third Coast Baroque, Chicago’s Newest Early Music Ensemble

Watch Rubén Dubrovsky and Third Coast Baroque perform the virtuosic music of Vivaldi in the beautiful Trinity United Methodist Church in Wilmette, Illinois.