Violinist and 3Arts awardee Brandi Berry Benson, whose "four-string acrobatics" and "indispensable skill" (TimeOut Chicago) have been praised as "alert [and] outstanding" (Chicago Classical Review), as her "riffs.. powered by a flashing blur of bow arm, [as they] rolled out with irresistible glee" (Washington Post). As Artistic Director of the Bach & Beethoven Experience (BBE), Brandi has co-directed and co-produced such season highlights as the (re)premiere of Scotland’s first opera, The Gentle Shepherd, an annual new music for period instruments project called Chicago Stories, a collaboration with Artemisa vocal trio, Heidi Joosten, and Leslé Honoré called Pandemic Woman, a Baroque dance program and collaboration with world-renowned dancer Paige Whitley-Baugess, as well as the release of three albums: A Gaelic Summer, An Appalachian Summer, and Chicago Stories. The BBE Carols album will be released in December 2023.
She has appeared with numerous ensembles including, but not limited to, Newberry Consort, Kings Noyse, Ars Lyrica Houston, Ensemble Phoenix Munich, Apollo's Fire, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra; as soloist/concertmaster of Chicago Arts Orchestra, Soli Deo Gloria Orchestra (viola d’amore), Mountainside Baroque, Bloomington Early Music Festival Opera Orchestra, and St. Louis's Kingsbury Ensemble. Brandi has also performed throughout North America, including at the Library of Congress, Festival de Musica Virreinal de Durango, Mexico City’s UNAM, Early Music Festivals (Boston, Berkeley, Indianapolis, and Madison), Early Music Now, and others. On air, she has appeared on WFMT, WGN-AM, WNUR, and Wisconsin Public Radio.
Brandi serves on the faculty of Northwestern and DePaul Universities, where she works with the Baroque Music Ensemble and teaches Baroque Performance Practice and Ornamentation, respectively. For more information about the Bach & Beethoven Experience, visit bbexperience.org.
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Brandi Berry Benson has crowd-funded a project with 3AP
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The Gentle Shepherd is the first Scottish “folk opera” ever written, published in 1725 by the poet Allan Ramsay. I first happened upon this work by accident while sifting through a bunch of Scottish folk music. As a baroque violinist …
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- $5,153 raised of $5,000 goal
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Chicago Stories is a music project featuring newly commissioned works by Chicago composers inspired by the stories and experiences of fellow Chicagoans and their communities. It all started with a conversation I had with my Bach & Beethoven Experience (BBE) …
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- $7,100 raised of $6,000 goal
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The Story of Pa I Sha is a musical work I am composing based on the stories from my Chickasaw heritage beginning with my great-great-great-grandmother, Pa I Sha. With members of my ensemble, the Bach & Beethoven Experience, I plan …
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