Music of the Baroque, Third Coast Percussion plan to fill the void with free livestreaming

Thu Mar 19, 2020 at 3:26 pm

By Lawrence A. Johnson

Michigan Avenue, Tuesday 10 a.m. Photo: L. Johnson

UPDATE: Music of the Baroque’s planned April 5 streaming event has been cancelled due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and Illinois shutdown.

As bustling city streets empty out and all live concerts are cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two Chicago-based ensembles will attempt to fill the musical void with livestreamed performances.

Third Coast Percussion will present a free livestream event 7:30 p.m. Friday. The event will be the first in the group’s new streaming venture, Digital TCP. The program includes Steve Reich’s Mallet Quartet, Gemma Peacocke’s Death Wish, and TCP member David Skidmore’s Don’t Eat Your Young, Take Anything You Want, and Torched and Wrecked. The livestream can be accessed at thirdcoastpercussion.com.

Music of the Baroque’s two April concerts have been cancelled due to the prohibition on large public gatherings. Yet MOB hopes to present its April 5 matinee program in a free livestream performance from the North Shore Performing Arts Center in Skokie.

“During this period of forced isolation and disconnection from daily routines, music provides an opportunity to unify and console us all,” said MOB executive director Declan McGovern in a released statement. “Music of the Baroque is determined to share this concert, which features uplifting and lively instrumental music from the French Baroque, with our patrons and the public at large, as comfort and solace during this trying time.”

The program includes music of Bach, Purcell, Rebel and Rameau and will be conducted by Patrick Dupré Quigley, who also led MOB’s holiday concerts in December. The livestream can be accessed 3 p.m. April 5 at MOB’s website, baroque.org. The event will also be simulcast on WFMT 98.7 FM.

Posted in News


Leave a Comment