Steve Goodman would have been 75 this year. Until we lost him age 36 in 1984, Chicago Shorty was the reigned supreme over the Chicago folk scene. To keep his memory fresh, we present an all-Steve Goodman hootenanny and sing-along with Jon Williams and John Abbey as the house band supporting James Curley, Jenny & Robin Bienemann, Naomi Ashley, Dennis …

The sisterly harmonies of Missouri-born Leela & Ellie Grace performed live at WFMT at the time of their debut in 2003.

Internationally acclaimed keyboard artist and conductor Kristian Bezuidenhout leads works by Henry Purcell and George Frideric Handel.

The Cello Concerto No. 1 was Heitor Villa-Lobos’s first major orchestral work. Filled with youthful energy and displaying an eclectic style, it is the sound of the composer finding his voice. Three decades later and with his reputation at its height, the inspired melodies and flowing style of the Fantasia sees Villa-Lobos giving free rein to his vivid imagination. Composed …

Packed with musical passion for 50 years, we celebrate Magpie – Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino –  with a concert performed at WFMT in 2011.

Seth Boustead and producer, Sarah Zwinklis are travelling to Knoxville, Tennessee. Regarded as one of the most unique, boundary-defying and eagerly anticipated cultural gatherings in the world – “a music festival with a rare vision” (The New York Times) – Big Ears Festival returns in 2018 with perhaps its most multi-faceted and diverse line up to date. Spanning four days …

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Jon Vickers and Gre Brouwenstijn reprise their 1960 Lyric Opera debut roles in Act I of Die Walkure which coincides with this second opera of Wagner’s Ring Cycle currently being presented by Lyric.

2013 Banff winners and Northwestern University Bienen School of Music’s quartet-in-residence joins us for an evening of live music from the Levin Studio at WFMT. Dover Quartet Joel Link Bryan Lee Melina Pajaro-Van De Stadt Camden Shaw  

The recital this week features Ryan Opera Center members soprano Diana Newman, contralto Lauren Decker, and baritone Emmett O’Hanlon.  Ms. Newman will be performing four songs by Felix Mendelssohn and a group of songs that she has titled “Lullaby.”  Ms. Decker will be singing Brahms’ celebrated Gypsy Songs and will perform a lively and intoxicating tune from Gershwin’s musical Song of the Flame, …

We air a program recorded with the the Cavatina Duo on January 25, 2016, featuring the following repertoire: Fernando Sor: Variations on “O Cara armonia” from Mozart’s the Magic Flute (arr. Allan Thomas) Joseph V. Williams II: Isabel Benjamin Britten: Nocturnal Op. 70 after John Dowland J.S. Bach: Sonata in E minor for flute and continuo BWV 1034 Alan Thomas: …

Chinese born pianist Weiwen Ma returns to the WFMT airwaves with a live performance under the Tiffany glass dome of Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center for this Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert broadcast.

To commemorate Bernstein on his birthday, we’re celebrating his most performative moments in a postmodern way – gifs!