Video Premiere: Exciting Brass Ensemble The Westerlies Plays ‘This is Water’

How a speech by David Foster Wallace inspired a new triptych for brass quartet.

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Hear the Mass Some Believe Saved Church Music

You may not be familiar with his music, but we all benefit from his work. Italian Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is often called the "Savior of Church Music."

The Secrets to Heavenly Singing from Peter Phillips, Conductor and Founder of the Tallis Scholars

"A choir is like any instrument. But because it's people, a choir is an instrument that varies far more than a string orchestra would vary, for example, or an organ."

Help Us Decide if Chopin’s ‘Marche Funèbre’ Played Backwards Is More Morose Than the Original

The third movement of Frédéric Chopin’s Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Minor, Op. 35 – better known as his “Marche funèbre,” or funeral march – is one of the most iconic pieces of music ever written about death. Historians believe this somber movement was inspired, at least in part, by the November Uprising, a Polish rebellion against the Russian ...

9 New Concert Halls That Should Be on Every Traveler’s Bucket List

Concert halls today are so architecturally innovative that the buildings themselves draw visitors. The venues on this list are so spectacular, they’ll be sure to have you checking to see just how many more vacation days you have left.

Chicago Celebrates 50 Years of ‘Everyone’s Picasso’ with Music and More

For 50 years, the sculpture, known simply as the Chicago Picasso, has delighted and baffled passersby. The artist never revealed his inspiration.

Video: After Coming Out as Gay, This Russian Violinist Can’t Return Home. This Is How Music Helped Him Find Acceptance.

For violinist Artem Kolesov, leaving his home country didn’t just offer the opportunity for professional advancement, it was also a chance to escape a life of constant fear and persecution.

Quiz: Can You Guess Who Composed the Music Just by Looking at the Score?

Put your musical knowledge to the test: can you guess the piece of music just by looking at an excerpt of the score?

Listening to This Bach Fantasia Arranged for Marimbas Is Like Giving Your Brain a Massage

J.S. Bach is one of the most celebrated figures in the history of music. American composer John Knowles Paine declared that Bach’s music “cannot grow antiquated,” and many modern musicians have arranged his compositions for instruments that had not yet been invented during Bach’s lifetime. Wendy Carlos changed music when she arranged Bach’s works for Moog synthesizers and helped popularize ...

Maestro Muti’s Most Memorable Chicago Moments

Since Riccardo Muti became the CSO's music director in 2010, Chicagoans have enjoyed many magical moments with the maestro.

10 Composers Who Surprised Us With Their Hidden Talents

Though we tend to remember our favorite composers for their music first and foremost, many of them were virtuosic in more ways than one.

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