The Five Cities Baroque Foundation & Festival bring together the best Baroque musicians from the five cities of Central Illinois to deliver accessible, world-class performances of 17th- and 18th-century music and educational events to the communities outside the major urban centers of the Midwest.

You don’t need to visit Chicago to hear brilliant performances of Baroque music. The Five Cities Baroque Festival gathers stellar artists from Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, and Decatur in accessible settings to serve the communities between Chicago and St. Louis with classical music events close to home.

The Festival also builds bridges between the musical and educational institutions of our region. Our artists appear with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra, Peoria Symphony Orchestra, Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, Concerto Urbano, Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana, Springfield Choral Society, and withonevoice. They can also be found teaching or studying at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, Illinois Wesleyan University, Millikin University, Eastern Illinois University, the University of Illinois Springfield, Bradley University, and Illinois State University.

The Second Festival, the followup offering to our successful Inaugural Festival, will take place June 16th-22nd, 2024 in Decatur and Champaign. See the Schedule page for details.