Last modified: Friday, February 9, 2007
The Windy City hosts early music performance from the Jacobs School
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 12, 2007
The Pro Arte Singers and Classical Orchestra at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- As part of its ongoing commitment to present performances in the region, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music will deliver a concert of choral works at the St. James Cathedral in Chicago on Feb. 18 at 4 p.m. Led by world-renowned Jacobs School faculty member John Poole, the school's Pro Arte Singers and Classical Orchestra, directed by Stanley Ritchie, will perform W. A. Mozart's Kyrie in D Minor, Joseph Haydn's Der Sturm and Haydn's moving Mass in B-Flat Major "Harmonie Messe," which features an unusually large array of woodwind instruments.
The performance can also be heard for free in the Jacobs School of Music's Auer Hall in Bloomington on Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. (See https://www.music.indiana.edu/apps/prelude/new/index.php?id=3459 for details.)
"This is a very exciting project for our students because it gives them an opportunity to perform the works in a church that sounds similar to the places they would originally have been heard," said Poole. "They love the idea of going to a big city and leading the way in early music performance practice." To his knowledge, the IU Jacobs School of Music is the only program of its kind that offers an opportunity for students to perform in a period Classical orchestra.
The concert will be hosted by the St. James Cathedral Concert Series, directed by organist and music director Bruce J. Barber. Barber is well aware of the role the Jacobs School's Early Music Institute plays in the world of early music in North America.
"It gives us much joy to know that we're able to present a concert of such quality and substance here in Chicago," he said.
For more information on the upcoming concert at St. James Cathedral, visit https://www.saintjamescathedral.org/concerts0607.asp.
The Early Music Institute at the IU Jacobs School of Music
The Early Music Institute at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, directed by bassoonist Michael McCraw, is the largest and most vital early music program in North America. Offering a comprehensive study of historical performance on original instruments of music from the Medieval through the Classical eras, including rare instruments such as cornetto and early clarinet, its program supplements performance with research and theoretical studies, leading to degrees at both the graduate and the undergraduate level. The recent expansion to include literature of the Classical period makes the program offered unique in North America. The EMI is fortunate in enjoying university-wide academic support from disciplines as diverse as musicology, computer studies, literature, medieval studies and fine arts. The institute's student body includes about 50 graduate students and a smaller number of undergraduate students from North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. All activities of the EMI are also available to the approximately 1,600 students of the Jacobs School of Music, including courses designed for non-early music majors. Early music at the Jacobs School of Music is represented world-wide by its many distinguished alumni. Many play leading roles in performance and education in the growing world of Early Music.
About the Concert Series
St. James Cathedral Concert Series presents an exciting series of concerts in the cathedral on the third Sunday of each month. Programs include performances by local and international musicians of chamber, choral and orchestral music, and organ recitals on the Great Organ of the Cathedral, one of Chicago's largest and most historic instruments.
About St. James Cathedral
St. James Cathedral is Chicago's oldest Episcopal parish, located at its present site since 1857. Today, St. James serves as the Cathedral of the Diocese of Chicago, providing pastoral, spiritual and social services to Chicago residents and visitors of all denominations. Architecturally, the church is significant: its bell tower was the only structure north of the river, other than the city's Water Tower, to survive the Great Chicago Fire, and the church's restoration of century-old artwork provides what one expert called "the best example of Victorian stencil work in the world."
