Sundays at 6:00 pm
Hear live performances by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra every week
The Chicago Symphony presents a full range of orchestral works under the seasoned baton of music director emeritus for life Riccardo Muti. The top-tier soloists and guest conductors complete the series with artists like Yo-Yo Ma, Hilary Hahn, and Daniil Trifonov; as well as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mitsuko Uchida, and Bernard Haitink. The two-hour Chicago Symphony Orchestra broadcasts include dynamic and innovative commentary which takes the listener behind the scenes and into the music.
News: Meet the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's New Music Director
CSO Names Klaus Mäkelä as Music Director
Keegan Morris | April 2, 2024
Boulez Conducts Mahler, Bartók & Stravinsky
June 14, 2026, 6:00 pm
Principal Guest Conductor Pierre Boulez leads the CSO in Stravinsky’s The Firebird. Opening the broadcast is Mahler’s Totenfeier. In between, we hear Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.
Celebrating Frederick Stock
June 7, 2026
This broadcast celebrates Frederick Stock! The CSO’s second music director opens the program with the ensemble’s first commercial recording —Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream—and closes with his own arrangement of Paganini’s Moto perpetuo. The other works included all received their U.S. premieres under Stock’s baton: Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto, Elgar’s Violin Concerto, and Scriabin’s Prometheus, in recordings ...
Szeps-Znaider & Carpenter
May 31, 2026
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider leads Poulenc’s Concerto in G Minor for Organ, Strings, and Timpani and SaintSaëns’s Symphony No. 3, featuring organ soloist Cameron Carpenter. The broadcast opens with Dukas’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice and rounds out with Daniel Barenboim leading Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe and Boléro.
Mäkelä Conducts Mahler 3
May 24, 2026
This week, Zell Music Designate Klaus Mäkelä leads the orchestra in Mahler’s third symphony, featuring vocal soloist Wiebke Lehmkuhl, the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and Uniting Voices Chicago.
Beethoven, Mozart & Tchaikovsky
May 17, 2026
This week, Julian Rachlin showcases his singular versatility as a violinist, violist, and conductor. He joins Associate Concertmaster Stephanie Jeong in Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante before leading a performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Meditation” from Souvenir d’un lieu cher. Taking the podium, Rachlin bookends the program by conducting works by Mozart.
Hrůša Conducts Shostakovich 11
May 10, 2026
On this week’s episode, Jakub Hrůša leads the CSO in Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony and Rachmaninoff’s First Piano Concerto, featuring Simon Trpčeski. To open, Jean Martinon conducts Lalo’s Overture to Le Roi d’Ys.
Mälkki, Liebermann & Mahler 4
May 3, 2026
This week, guest conductor Susanna Mälkki leads the world premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s Flute Concerto No. 2, a CSO-commissioned work featuring Principal Flute Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson. Opening the program is the Prelude to Act I of Wagner’s Lohengrin, and closing it is Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 featuring soprano Ying Fang.
Blomstedt Conducts Dvořák 8
April 26, 2026
This week, Herbert Blomstedt leads Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 and Cello Concerto, featuring Romanian cellist Andrei Ioniţă. Plus, hear vintage RCA recordings of Respighi’s Fountains of Rome and Johann Strauss, Jr.’s Thunder and Lightning Polka, conducted by Fritz Reiner.
Rakitina, Weilerstein, & Tchaikovsky
April 19, 2026
Anna Rakitina makes her debut with the CSO leading an all-Tchaikovsky program. Bookending the concert are Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio italien and a suite from the Nutcracker ballet, while cellist Alisa Weilerstein is featured in the Rococo Variations and Pezzo capriccioso. Closing the broadcast, Sir Georg Solti conducts Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms showcasing the Chicago Symphony Chorus.
Hrůša Conducts Mahler 9
April 12, 2026
This week, Jakub Hrůša conducts Mahler’s Ninth Symphony. The broadcast opens with Shaw’s Boris Kerner, performed by Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Percussion Cynthia Yeh and Assistant Principal Cello Kenneth Olsen, and Hailstork’s Arabesques, also performed by Yeh with CSO Flute Emma Gerstein.
The Song of the Earth
April 5, 2026
The CSO celebrates the spring with music by Schumann, Goldmark and Mahler. Opening the program, Daniel Barenboim conducts Schumann’s “Spring Symphony”, followed by Carl Goldmark’s In Springtime led by Frederick Stock. Rounding out the broadcast is Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde—with Maureen Forrester and Richard Lewis—under Fritz Reiner’s baton.
Muti Conducts Hindemith & Dvořák
March 29, 2026
On this week’s episode, Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti leads the CSO in Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler and Dvořák’s New World Symphony. Next, Fritz Reiner conducts three pieces by Isaac Albéniz from a vintage RCA release. To open the broadcast, Maestro Muti leads the Overture to Der Zigeunerbaron by Johann Strauss, Jr.
Muti & Batallán
March 22, 2026
This week, Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti leads concertos by Telemann and Michael Haydn—featuring Principal Trumpet Esteban Batallán in his CSO solo debut—along with Schubert’s Fourth Symphony. The program also includes historic RCA recordings of Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé Suite and R. Strauss’s Der Bürger als Edelmann under the baton of sixth music director Fritz Reiner.
Hrůša Conducts Má vlast
March 15, 2026
This week, we hear Jakub Hrůša’s CSO debut concert program, Smetana’s Má vlast. Opening the broadcast is Pierre Boulez conducting Mahler’s Totenfeier from a 1996 Deautsche Grammophon recording.
Mäkelä Conducts Symphonie fantastique
March 8, 2026
This week, Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä returns to Symphony Center with Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Harold in Italy with viola soloist Antoine Tamestit. The broadcast concludes with a London recording of Berlioz’s Les-francs-juges Overture led by eighth music director Sir Georg Solti.
Shani and Rana
March 1, 2026
Lahav Shani makes his CSO debut in Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. Included in the program is Prokofiev’s Symphony No.1 and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini featuring Beatrice Rana. Rounding out the program, Daniel Barenboim leads the CSO in Wagner’s The Ride of The Valkyries, Forest Murmurs, and Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March.
Mäkelä and Trifonov
February 22, 2026
This week, Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä leads the CSO in Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony and Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto featuring Daniil Trifonov. Two historic RCA recordings open the broadcast: Dvořák’s Carnival Overture and Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess, both under sixth music director Fritz Reiner.
Haitink Conducts Mahler 2
February 15, 2026
Bernard Haitink leads the CSO in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, featuring vocalists Miah Persson and Christianne Stotijin, alongside the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Opening the broadcast, Pierre Boulez leads Scriabin’s The Poem of Ecstasy.
Solti Conducts Beethoven and Liszt
February 8, 2026
This week, we hear two Grammy Award-winning recordings of Sir Georg Solti and the CSO. Opening the broadcast is Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring Vladimir Ashkenazy. Next, we hear Liszt’s A Faust Symphony, featuring vocal soloist Siegfried Jerusalem and the Chicago Symphony Chorus.
Salonen and Apkalna
February 1, 2026
This week, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts his own composition, Sinfonia Concertante for Organ and Orchestra, with soloist Iveta Apkalna. The program also includes Richard Strauss’s Don Juan and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. Opening the broadcast, Pierre Boulez leads Stravinsky’s Four Studies for Orchestra.
Contemporary American Composers
January 25, 2026
We celebrate CSO Resound’s Grammy-winning recording, Contemporary American Composers. The broadcast features works by Jessie Montgomery, Max Raimi, and Philip Glass.
