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A Season of Community and Collaboration
The BBE is thrilled to announce our 2025 season, featuring new projects and updates to our most popular programs:
• Educate the Next Generation: After winning Early Music America's Engagement Award, the BBE is excited to announce a unique residency with The Peoples Music School in Chicago. BBE musicians will work with the School's talented SLAM students to prepare them for a public performance under the baton of world-renowned conductor Nicholas Kraemer. During the residency, students will experience playing on period instruments and learning the intricacies of Baroque style including improvisation. The residency runs from April to May, culminating in a final performance on May 31, 2025.
• A "Folk but Baroque" Spanish Summer: Chicago's Ad-Hoc ensemble, led by Jose Luis Posada and Francy Acosta, joins the BBE for a fun summer program of Spanish folk songs from Spain and New Spain. Come tap your feet, click your castanets, and enjoy a sangria to celebrate the sounds of Spanish musical heritage at various Chicago bars and clubs in Summer 2025.
• Celebrate Our First Nations: After stunning performances at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, the Old Town School of Folk Music, and the Indianapolis and Bloomington Early Music festivals, the Story of Pa I Sha continues as the BBE aims to bring this unique program back to where it all began - the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations in Fall 2025.
• Funny Man: J.S. Bach: He was one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time, but do you know the stories behind his music? In collaboration with Emmy award-winning writer Anne Marie Saviano, the BBE is developing a comedic musical play to tell the humorously touching tales of the man behind the music in Fall 2025.
• More Carols! The BBE will continue its holiday program, showcasing carols from around the world and the games and traditions that accompany them. Help us continue to spread the cheer throughout Chicagoland in December 2025!
Your donation will enable us to continue building community through our non-traditional performance experiences and making world-class music accessible to the Chicagoland area and beyond.