Camerata Chicago

Founded in 2003 by conductor Drostan Hall, Camerata Chicago is a chamber orchestra equally at home in intimate settings and in larger music venues, performing the rich tapestry of diverse chamber orchestra repertoire, including newly commissioned works. Pilatus, a chamber symphony by Mischa Zupko, is the ensemble’s most recent premiere. It was commissioned jointly by Camerata Chicago and the Buonacorsi Foundation specially for the orchestra’s 2013 European tour.

Now firmly established as a significant chamber orchestra on the world stage, Camerata Chicago has performed frequently on WFMT radio and at well-known local concert venues including the Art Institute of Chicago, Harris Theater, Chicago Cultural Center, Northeastern Illinois University, St. James Cathedral, and North Park University; and in College Church and St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Wheaton, Illinois. Within a year of its debut, the ensemble won its first record contract with Centaur Records to record music by Johann and Carl Stamitz.

The orchestra has enjoyed collaborating with distinguished artists such as Wendy Warner, Yi-Jia Susanne Hou, Peter Van De Graaf, the International Beethoven Project Trio, Michelle Areyzaga, and Caroline Goulding. Camerata Chicago has had a particularly close relationship with the internationally acclaimed

Vermeer String Quartet, collaborating with the quartet’s leader Shmuel Ashkenasi who performed and re-corded Mozart’s 5th violin concerto.

Mr. Ashkenasi subsequently became Artistic Advisor to the orchestra in 2006. In 2008, Mathias Tacke, the Vermeer’s second violinist, was appointed concertmaster and has performed and recorded Bach’s concertos with Camerata Chicago. Vermeer cellist Marc Johnson performed Haydn’s D major Cello Concerto in 2008.

In June 2013, Camerata Chicago and Drostan Hall undertook a European tour to Prague, Milan, Paris, and other cities with cellist Wendy Warner as soloist.