Chicago Sinfonietta’s 2025-26 Season: Ignite
The orchestra — fueled by a mission to make classical music more accessible and diverse — will share five programs between October and May.
Don't Miss a Beat
John Prine Dies, Rich Warren Pays Tribute
John Prine, who began his career in Chicago, exhibited the ability to wring every possible meaning from a word to expose the joy, sorrow, frailty, and strength of the human condition.
Edgar Allan Poe, Leonard Slatkin, Vincent Price Team Up for an Orchestral Take on ‘The Raven’
As an outsized figure in literature and poetry, Poe has inspired composers like Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Philip Glass, and composer-conductor Leonard Slatkin, who set Poe's "The Raven" to music in 1971.
We Want to Hear From YOU!
While we may not be able to gather in our communities, we’re still using music to bring our community together. Please send us your suggestions for pieces we can play for our listeners around the world.
Video: Some Infectiously Fun and Incredibly Fast Music on a Wurlitzer Organ
The organ is a polarizing instrument, but one organist is doing his best to appeal to a wide audience with these infectiously fun, utterly virtuosic, rather tongue-in-cheek, and thoroughly entertaining performances.
6 Hours, 12 Countries, 250 Performers: ‘The Lunar Opera’ Gets the Virtual Treatment
A marathon 6-hour performance will be held in an unexpected (but increasingly familiar) place: Zoom! The video conferencing platform will provide the proscenium for a performance of Pauline Oliveros’ postmodern masterpiece 'The Lunar Opera.'
Beethoven Said It First: ‘Oh what joy, in the open air!’
Getting through winter in Chicago is tough enough, but when it’s immediately followed by a global pandemic and social distancing, it’s a real double-whammy. We're reminded of the Prisoners' Chorus from Beethoven's 'Fidelio.'
E-Thereal: Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir Performs ‘Lux Aurumque’
While isolating ourselves in our homes, many of us have been keeping our social connections through technology. Though the deep need for this technology may feel new, the popular choral composer Eric Whitacre pioneered the concept of a “virtual choir” over a decade ago.
WFMT and CSO Partner for New Broadcast and Streaming Series Amidst COVID-19 Crisis
Today, WFMT and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra announce the launch of an exciting new broadcast and streaming series: From the CSO’s Archives: Maestro’s Choice—For All Music Lovers in These Difficult Times.
With Opera Houses Closed, Soprano Sings for Her Alpacas
An audience is an audience, no matter who (or what species) is in it. Case in point: Erin G. McCarthy recently gave a quick recital in her barn to an audience of three alpacas.
Son: Jazz great Ellis Marsalis Jr. dead at 85; fought virus
Marsalis was born in New Orleans, son of the operator of a hotel where he met touring Black musicians who couldn't stay at the segregated downtown hotels where they performed.
