Performance Report 1 (Chicago Chamber Orchestra)

The event I attended was a concert performed by the Chicago Chamber Orchestra on March 21st. It was a free concert held in the Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center in celebration of Bach and Mendelssohn’s birthdays. The orchestra plays in the Preston Bradley Hall often and never charge admission. This makes for a unique setting with a type of audience that I had not experienced before.

The program consisted of Cantata No. 51 and O Mensch, Bewein Dein’ Sunde Gross by Johann Sebastian Bach, Gregorian Chant by Paul Creston, and Symphony No. 9 in C Major by Felix Mendelssohn. A soprano vocalist and a trumpet soloist were featured in the first song, but it was difficult to understand the soprano because of the echo in the building. However, the instruments from the rest of the orchestra were very clear. To counter the echo, the programs were printed with the lyrics so the audience could follow along.

The orchestra was small, only ranging from twenty to thirty members. The performers played instruments that would be typically found in an orchestra, such as a violin or a cello. There were no instruments or performers that seemed out of the ordinary or different from a traditional orchestra. All of the performers looked to be in their 30’s up to senior age, but the majority of them looked like they were middle aged. The director and conductor looked to be much younger than the members of the orchestra. They were all dressed in professional concert attire, which consists of tuxedos and black dresses. As mentioned before, two soloists were featured in this concert. They are not actually members of the orchestra, but members of different groups in Chicago and universities around the state of Illinois. They are very well known around the city for their performance skills as well as being published composers.

The audience was interesting because it was very unique and made the experience different from any orchestra performance that I have ever attended. Because the concert was free, anybody was allowed to attend. It didn’t matter whether somebody was rich or poor. Nobody was denied entrance to this concert, and I mean nobody. When I first arrived to the concert the majority of the audience consisted of older people that were middle-aged to senior. Students from local universities and young adults made up the minority of the audience. Most of the people were very attentive and focused on the performance. Surprisingly however, there were several people that were asleep through the concert that may have just attended because it was free. There were a few parents that dragged their young children to the concert, and they made no attempt to stop their children from walking around and bumping into people. The most interesting audience members were in the back near the entrance of the hall. The back audience had people dressed as hippies and had homeless people. One of the audience members stood behind everybody and conducted along with the music. This was not subtle at all because that person was waving her arms all over the place. I found myself watching the audience more than the orchestra at times.

The concert took place in the Chicago Cultural Center, which was an old library that was built in the 19^th century. The architecture came from the Civil War era, but looked like a cathedral. The concert hall had a very elaborate dome with stained glass and tile everywhere. Even though the room was very dimly lit and had an echo, it was a very appropriate setting for and orchestra concert.

Overall, this was one of the most unique concerts I had ever been to. Even though the performers and the music were very traditional, the audience and the setting were very unique. By watching this concert I learned that classical music fans can come in all shapes and sizes.