Basically Baroque, a classical chamber quartet specializing in music of the Baroque era and made up of various Iowa college faculty and a former ISU student, will present a concert in the Memorial Union on Sunday.

Two of Basically Baroque’s members, Kevin Shilling (baroque oboe) and Lynn Zeigler (harpsichord) are ISU music department faculty. Rebecca Stuhr, librarian at Grinnell College, will be playing the baroque oboe and Mary Pshonik, former ISU student and current member of the Des Moines Symphony, will be playing the baroque cello.

Zeigler and Shilling have been performing Baroque music together for more than 25 years. But a few years ago, the duo decided to expand and include Stuhr and Pshonik in what would become Basically Baroque.

“We were interested in doing music from the period the right way,” Shilling said.

Mahlon Darlington, professor of music, acknowledged the work the group has put into making sure this happens.

“They’re doing historical performances,” he said. “I know they’ve done extensive research into how the music was performed at the time it was written.”

The Baroque era refers to the period from 1600-1750, but the concert will mainly feature pieces from 1700-1750 by such composers as Bach, Handel and Vivaldi.

Not only are the songs from the Baroque era, but they will also be performed on replica instruments modeled after Baroque cellos, harpsichords, oboes and flutes. The musicians will be playing modern instruments copied to look and sound exactly like typical instruments from the period.

Basically Baroque has played a concert on the ISU campus every semester for the last five years. Last September’s concert had an attendance around 80, a feat the group hopes to surpass.

“We’re going to try to pack a hundred in there,” Shilling said.

While most concerts of this nature are held in the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall in the Music Building, Sunday’s show will occur in the Oak Room of the Memorial Union. The choice of locale was intentional for the quartet. Shilling feels the room helps communicate the intimacy of chamber music the way it was originally performed.

“The instruments are really delicate compared to modern instruments. They’re very expressive, but in gentle ways. The music really was performed in small rooms, like for private parties or in people’s homes. This room lends itself to that,” he said.

“You hear a lot more of the harpsichord in a small room, which makes the sound fuller, because you hear more of the harmony there.”

Another part of the concert will be a sonata from Pshonik on the modern cello accompanied by Zeigler on harpsichord and Shilling on modern bassoon. This piece is intended to showcase how Baroque-period music can be adapted to modern instruments.

Basically Baroque will play at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the Oak Room of the Memorial Union. Admission is free.