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
Guests in the House
June 28, 2026, 6:00 pm
Opening the broadcast is Khachaturian’s Third Symphony led by Leopold Stokowski, followed by John Williams’ Suite from Memoirs of a Geisha for Cello and Orchestra with Yo-Yo Ma under the baton of Williams himself. Next, Neeme Järvi conducts Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, and closing the broadcast, Pierre Monteux leads Franck’s Symphony in D minor.
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.
Great Guest Soloists
January 18, 2026
This week, we celebrate some of the guest soloists who have appeared alongside the Chicago Symphony Orchestra over the years. The program begins with Sibelius’s Violin Concerto led by Walter Hendl and featuring Jascha Heifetz, followed by Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer led by Sir Georg Solti and sung by Yvonne Minton. Next, hear Strauss’s Burleske in D Minor, led ...
Canellakis and Gerstein
January 11, 2026
This week, Karina Canellakis makes her CSO debut in Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben. Opening the program is Augusta Read Thomas’s Brio, followed by Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, featuring Kirill Gerstein.
Sokhiev and Avdeeva
January 4, 2026
This week, guest conductor Tugan Sokhiev conducts the CSO in Tchaikovsky’s Winter Dreams Symphony. Opening the program is Panufnik’s Heroic Overture, followed by Chopin’s First Piano Concerto, featuring Yulianna Avdeeva.
A Chicago Symphony Chorus Spotlight
December 28, 2025
This week, we take a look back at Grammy-winning performances by the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Music directors Daniel Barenboim and Sir Georg Solti conduct Bruckner’s Psalm 150 and Brahms’s A German Requiem. Former principal guest conductor Pierre Boulez conducts Bartók’s Cantata profana.
Handel’s Messiah & Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker
December 21, 2025
This week, Sir Georg Solti leads the CSO and Chorus in the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah, featuring Kiri Te Kanawa, Anne Gjevang, Keith Lewis and Gwynne Howell. The broadcast also includes three works by Gabrieli, performed by the Chicago Symphony Brass, plus selections from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.
Mahler Festival Broadcast: Mahler 7
December 14, 2025
This week on CSO Radio, hear Jaap van Zweden lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No. 7, recorded live at the 2025 Mahler Festival in Amsterdam. Opening the broadcast, Claudio Abbado conducts the CSO in Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, featuring mezzo-soprano Hanna Schwarz.
Solti Conducts Del Tredici
December 7, 2025
This week, Sir Georg Solti leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Del Tredici’s Final Alice, featuring soprano Barbara Hendricks. Also heard in this broadcast are Berlioz’s Overture to Les Francs-juges, Dohnányi’s Varations on a Nursery Song (featuring András Schiff), and Weber’s Overture to Oberon.
Rakitina, Weilerstein, & Tchaikovsky
November 30, 2025
Anna Rakitina makes her debut with the CSO leading an all-Tchaikovsky program. Included in the program is Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien, Variations on a Roccoco Theme, Pezzo capriccioso, followed by an encore of Bach Saranamde from Suite No. 2, featuring Alisa Weilerstein, plus Suite from The Nutcracker. Closing the broadcast, Sir Georg Solti conducts Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms.
Guests in the House
November 23, 2025
This broadcast features the CSO’s historical recordings lead by various guest conductors. Opening the broadcast is Khachaturian’s Symphony No. 3 lead by Leopold Stokowski, followed by John Williams’ Suite from Memoirs of a Geisha for Cello and Orchestra. Next, Neeme Järvi leads Kodály’s Dances of Galánta. Closing the broadcast, Pierre Monteux leads Franck’s Symphony in D Minor.
Barenboim Conducts Bruckner 8
November 16, 2025
This broadcast features iconic recordings of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s ninth music director, Daniel Barenboim, conducting Wagner’s Prelude to Lohengrin, Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8.
Afkham & Gluzman
November 9, 2025
On today’s broadcast, David Afkham leads the CSO in Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, featuring soloist Vadim Gluzman, followed by Vadim Gluzman’s encore, Serenade by Valentin Silvestrov. Also included in this program are Debussy’s La Mer and two pieces by Ravel: Menuet antique and La valse. Closing out the program, Bernard Haitink conducts Webern’s Im Sommerwind.
Muti Conducts Sleeping Beauty & Swan Lake
November 2, 2025
This week, Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti leads a program featuring Tchaikovsky’s Suites from The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, opening with Reznicek’s Overture to Donna Diana. Filling out the broadcast, Stephanie Jeong, So Young Bae, Lawrence Neuman, and Kenneth Olsen perform Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major.
Opera without Words
October 26, 2025
Five CSO music directors—Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Fritz Reiner, Artur Rodzinski, and Sir Georg Solti—lead orchestral excerpts from operas by Beethoven, Copland, Mascagni, Rossini, and Strauss. The program closes with several selections from Wagner’s Ring cycle.
Ravinia Opening Night 2025
October 19, 2025
Marin Alsop conducted the CSO in the first concert of their 2025 Ravinia Season. This program features Simon’s Amen, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody of a Theme of Paganini, and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. To follow, former Ravinia music director Seiji Ozawa leads the CSO in Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, and Stravinsky’s Fireworks.
Carmina Burana
October 12, 2025
This week, Osmo Vänskä leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Orff’s Carmina Burana, featuring vocal soloists Joélle Harvey, Reginald Mobley and Hugh Rusell. Opening the program is Montgomery’s Banner and Rautavaara’s Cantus Arcticus. Before that, Seiji Ozawa conducts Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.
Mahler Festival Broadcast (Mahler 6)
October 5, 2025
This week, experience the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the 2025 Mahler Festival in Amsterdam, as Jaap van Zweden leads Mahler’s Symphony No. 6. The broadcast opens with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting Charles Ives’s The Unanswered Question, featuring former CSO Principal Trumpet Adolph Herseth. Also heard on the program is Sir Georg Solti leading Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, with soprano Yvonne Minton.
Salonen & Kuusisto
September 28, 2025
This week, Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the CSO in Ravel’s Mother Goose, Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, and Dessner’s Violin Concerto, featuring soloist Pekka Kuusisto. Rounding out the broadcast, Sir George Solti conducts Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra.
Mäkelä Conducts Mahler 3
September 21, 2025
The CSO celebrates the opening of 2025/26 season with Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 led by Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä, featuring vocal soloist Wiebke Lehmkuhl, the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and Uniting Voices Chicago.
