This Saturday evening, take a trip back through time.

Presented free of charge to the University and Athens community, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra (ABO) will perform at Hodgson Concert Hall in the University’s Performing Arts center.

In the fall of 1997, the orchestra was formed, giving the Southeast bragging rights to one of the best orchestras of its kind in the nation. It gave its first concert in the winter of 1998, and since then its success has skyrocketed.

True to its name, the ABO aims to recreate the European classical stylings of the Baroque period, which flourished from about the year 1600 until 1750.

“What makes the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra unique is they are actually using 17th and 18th centuries instruments,” said Bobby Tyler, marketing and media relations director at the University, who helped plan the event. “It feels more authentic hearing it the way it was, like when Bach himself composed it,” he said.

Whereas most orchestras employ modern musical pieces, the ABO believes in using strictly surviving instruments and reproductions from the Baroque period. They claim the original instruments – including the violin, oboe, flute, harpsichord and cello – better suit the detailed sound of the musical era.

The ABO was the first in Atlanta to use period instruments for J.S. Bach’s “Passion according to St. John” and Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.”

In addition, it has performed several operas and cantatas – a musical term for vocals accompanied by instruments – throughout the Southeast, as well as performing regularly on college campuses such as Kennesaw State, Emory and the University.

The performance Saturday is presented by the Franklin College Chamber Music Series, which Tyler said is the University’s gift to the community.

For 29 years, the series has brought the highest-praised chamber music and musicians to the Athens community for free, an added plus for students on a budget.

For those who are skeptical of whether or not they will enjoy classical music, it would be wise to give it a chance.

“You’ll never know until you try,” said Caroline Anderson, a junior from Snellville and music theory major. “Classical music is a universal language. It’s something that almost everyone can understand.”