About

In summing up Chicago’s most noteworthy events of 2007, Chicago Tribune Music Critic John von Rhein wrote, “ local audiences were blessed with an abundance of high quality performances this year by musicians and organizations as good as any in the country, so any retrospective can only skim a bit of the cream off the top” (Chicago Tribune, December 2007).

Among the top ten were the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the city’s newcomer, Baroque Band.  “Hail Baroque Band” said the Chicago Tribune. “The area’s increasingly dynamic early music scene got more dynamic with the debut in May of Baroque Band, an orchestra committed to historically informed performances played on period instruments.  The goal of Garry Clarke, Baroque Band’s founder, leader, and concertmaster, is to make the group a nexus of ‘authentic’ pre-classical performance in the Midwest. An ambitious undertaking, but Clarke and friends are off to an auspicious start.”

Baroque Band debuted in Chicago in May 2007. The Chicago Tribune hailed the performance as, “…a tremendous debut,” stating: “This group has all the right stuff…an abundance of style, a crisp esprit de corps, and a palpable affection for its repertoire” (Chicago Tribune, May 2007).

Baroque Band went on to launch its inaugural season in October 2007 and once again caught the attention of the public and critics, who praised the Band as “a stylish and exciting period-instrument ensemble” (Chicago Tribune, October 2007)

Founded by British baroque violinist Garry Clarke, Baroque Band present s each of its programs in three venues: downtown at Chicago’s prestigious Symphony Center, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; in Evanston, just north of the City at The Music Institute of Chicago, where the Band is also Ensemble-in-Residence; and south of the city at The University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, where the Band is the newly appointed Artistic Partner. Working as educational partners with the Music Institute of Chicago, Baroque Band has already established programs for students of all ages and backgrounds, including free, city-wide musical events, and a weekend Baroque Academy in June 2008. 

In its first season, Baroque Band has given more than 30 performances throughout the city and shared its passion for Baroque music with a diverse and ever-increasing audience. In addition, in the summer of 2008 Baroque Band will make its debut at the Madison Early Music Festival in Wisconsin and in the summer of 2009 the Band has been invited to give a concert at the Ravinia Festival.