WFMT now gives you a daily connection to the amazing wealth and variety of classical music in the Chicago region. Music in Chicago is heard weekdays at noon, featuring recordings and live performances by area soloists and ensembles and visiting artists. This Monday, we’re sharing music from the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. On Tuesday, we’ll hear a past WFMT Facebook Live with soprano Tamara Wilson and pianist Justina Lee. On Wednesday, we’ll take you downtown for a live Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert with violinist Tara Lynn Ramsey. On Thursday, we’ll bring you a performance by young cellist Ifetayo Ali-Landing, and Friday features selections from the Bach + Beethoven Experience‘s recent album An Appalachian Summer.
Teddy, Abrams, conductor
Monday, July 22 — Elgin Symphony Orchestra
In March 2019, conductor Teddy Abrams led the Elgin Symphony Orchestra in works by Smetana, Villa-Lobos, Corigliano, and Tchaikovsky. Bedřich Smetana was determined to become the first composer to create a Czech musical identity. He achieved this through his collection of tone poems Má Vlast (My Homeland), of which The Moldau is the best known.
Music
The Moldau from Má vlast by Bedřich Smetana
James Kallembach, composer
Tuesday, July 23 — Tamara Wilson and Justina Lee
When soprano Tamara Wilson came to WFMT in February 2019, she performed Weightless Dreams, a song cycle James Kallembach wrote especially for her. Inspiration for the texts came from a group Wilson very much admires – some of the American women who traveled to space as NASA astronauts. Pianist Justina Lee joined Wilson for this Facebook Live performance.
Music
III. Sally Ride from Weightless Dreams by James Kallembach
IV. Sunita Williams from Weightless Dreams by James Kallembach
Tara Lynn Ramsey, violinist
Wednesday, July 24 — Tara Lynn Ramsey and Daniel Pesca
Tara Lynn Ramsey enjoys a varied career as a chamber musician, new music interpreter, orchestral musician, and teacher. She performs as violinist and violist with the Chicago-based contemporary music ensemble Dal Niente and is a violin Fellow with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida.
Music
Violin Sonata in E Minor, K. 304 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100 by Johannes Brahms
Three Preludes by George Gershwin, transcr. Jascha Heifetz
Ifetayo Ali-Landing, cellist
Thursday, July 25 — Ifetayo Ali-Landing
16-year-old cellist Ifetayo Ali-Landing of Chicago performed on WFMT’s Introductions last year when she was 15-years-old. This summer, she’ll make her Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut at the Ravinia Festival in a program called “Leonard Bernstein: Man for All Music.” Today, we feature a highlight from Ali-Landing’s 2018 Introductions performance in celebration of this achievement!
Music
Cello Concerto in D minor, Finale by Édouard Lalo
An Appalachian Summer by Bach + Beethoven Experience
Friday, July 26 — Bach + Beethoven Experience
The Bach + Beethoven Experience was founded in 2009, bringing artists from different traditions together to collaborate on cross-genre, multidisciplinary projects. “An Appalachian Summer” offers a collection of songs and tunes that found their way from the Old World to Appalachia, some becoming synonymous with specific families and others becoming staples of music circles stretching from New England to Texas.
Music
Roger of Coverly, Traditional
Bonnie George Campbell/Cumberland Gap, Traditional
Virginia Reel, Traditional