Message from the directors
March 2012:
Church of Beethoven - Oak Park is back! We've grown out of our wonderful space at Trattoria 225 and have moved to Open Door repertory Theater, 905 S. Ridgeland, Oak Park.
The new space has excellent acoustics and sightlines, comfortably seats 75 and is completely handicap-accessible. Also there's free parking across the street.
We're so looking forward to a fantastic new season of "Fourth Sundays" featuring excellent classical music, poetry and coffee.
July 2011:
We've seen classical performances in Oak Park that have taken our breath away. We have so many fabulous musicians who live in the area and so many opportunities to see them, from the Oak Park River Forest Symphony, the Heritage Chorale, Handel Week Festival, the Oak Park Concert Chorale, Chicago Sinfonietta -- and all of the performances at Dominican and Concordia Universities. We even briefly had our own Verismo Opera Club -- which we all hope will overcome its setbacks and return.
Does Oak Park need another classical venue? We believe that Church of Beethoven can enrich the classical environment of Oak Park by offering something a little different. Church of Beethoven performances are meant to be short, family-friendly and non-intimidating. Leave your pearls at home! Many Oak Parkers, especially parents of teenagers and youngsters-- are looking to expand their musical tastes from the radio-driven pop and rock of college years, but don’t know where to start. Lots of Oak Parkers listen to classical radio. But as anyone who attended Riccardo Muti’s Grant Park concert last year knows: live music just sounds different--and so much better! The Church of Beethoven concept is a “gateway drug” to the world of live classical music -- it will build an audience from which all local classical music organizations can benefit.
Jean Lotus & Tracy Brade, co-directors