Wednesdays at 6:30 pm

The Grant Park Music Festival is back, and so are WFMT’s live broadcasts!
WFMT is bringing you the very best that the Grant Park Music Festival has to offer this summer, giving you a front-row ticket to the Chicago summertime institution. With live broadcasts featuring scintillating solo performances, rousing choral opuses, and beloved orchestral landmarks, WFMT is your ticket to a whole summer’s worth of great music.
There are no upcoming broadcasts at the moment.
Schubert Symphony No. 3
June 27, 2018
Carlos Kalmar conducts the Grant Park Orchestra in a program featuring flutist Adam Walker.
Mozart Violin Concerto
June 15, 2018
Carlos Kalmar conducts the Grant Park orchestra and violin soloist William Hagen.
Opening Night – Haydn and Walton
June 13, 2018
Carlos Kalmar conducts the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus in a program that features baritone soloist Dashon Burton from the Grammy Award-winning group Roomful of Teeth. Below, Michael San Gabino interviews Grant Park audience and artists before the opening night concert.
Grant Park Music Chorus Sings Rachmaninoff
April 9, 2018
The Grant Park Chorus last summer presented two performances of Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil (Vespers), one of the alltime greatest works of a cappella choral music. It was a personal favorite of the composer’s among his creations, and has often been singled out as his masterpiece. Consisting of 15 movements, the work draws on sacred texts from the Vespers, the Matins, ...
Beethoven Symphony No. 9
August 18, 2017
Led by conductor Carlos Kalmar and chorus director Christopher Bell, the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus come together for a performance of Brahms’s Schicksalslied and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Featured performers include soprano Janai Brugger, mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy, tenor Brendan Tuohy, and bass Russell Braun.
Haydn Cello Concerto
August 16, 2017
Cellist Harriet Krijgh joins the Grant Park Orchestra in a performance led by Carlos Kalmar at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Listen to Resphigi’s The Birds, Chadwick’s Symphonic Sketches, and Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C Major, which features Krijgh.
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1
July 26, 2017
Led by Carlos Kalmar, the Grant Park Orchestra and pianist Stephen Hough perform at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Hear Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, Brahms’s Hungarian Dances Nos. 1, 3, and 6, and Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1, featuring Hough.
Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto
July 19, 2017
Guest conductor Brett Mitchell and violinist Angelo Xiang Yu join the Grant Park Orchestra in a performance at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Listen to Bunch’s Supermaximum, Copland’s The Red Pony, and Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto No. 3, featuring Yu.
Haydn London Symphony
July 12, 2017
Guest conductor Fawzi Haimor leads the Grant Park Orchestra in a performance of Roustom’s Ramal, Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 “London,” and Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis live from the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park.
Independence Day Salute
July 4, 2017
Conductor Christopher Bell leads the Grant Park Orchestra in its annual Independence Day Salute, which brings patriotic favorites such as Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, and more to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park. An encore performance will be held on Wednesday, July 5, at 6:30 pm at the South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 ...
Missa Latina
June 28, 2017
Led by guest conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and chorus director Christopher Bell, the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus come together to perform Sierra’s Missa Latina, which features soprano Jessica Rivera as a soloist.
Stravinsky Firebird
June 23, 2017
Pianist Conrad Tao joins the Grant Park Orchestra in a performance led by Carlos Kalmar at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Listen to Schiff’s Infernal, Stravinsky’s The Firebird, and Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto, featuring Tao.
Opening Night: Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
June 14, 2017
The Grant Park Orchestra is joined by violinist Vadim Gluzman in a performance led by Carlos Kalmar at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Hear Alfvén’s Festival Overture, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture, and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, featuring Gluzman.
Wednesday, August 17 – Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
August 17, 2016
Carlos Kalmar, conductor Christian Tetzlaff, violin Mozart: Ballet music from Idomeneo Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor Schubert: Symphony #4
Friday, August 12 – Tchaikovsky Spectacular
August 12, 2016
Carlos Kalmar, conductor Kirill Gerstein, piano Tchaikovsky: Marche Slave Piano Concerto #1, original version Orchestra Suite #3
Wednesday, August 3 – Rachmaninov Rhapsody
August 3, 2016
Carlos Kalmar, conductor Stephen Hough, piano MacMillan: Britannia Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on A Theme by Paganini Ibert: Escales (Ports of Call)
Friday, July 29 – Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony
July 29, 2016
South Shore Cultural Center Thomas Wilkins, conductor Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture Lehar: Gold and Silver Waltzes Daugherty: Desi Saint-Saens: Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah Mendelssohn: Symphony #4, Italian
Friday, July 15 – Bruckner Romantic Symphony
July 15, 2016
Christopher König, conductor Haydn: Symphony #55, Schoolmaster Bruckner: Symphony #4, Romantic
Wednesday, July 13 – Rachel Barton Pine Plays Bruch
July 13, 2016
Michal Nesterowicz, conductor Rachel Barton Pine, violin Lutosławski: Little Suite Bruch: Violin Concerto in G Minor Schumann: Symphony #4
Monday, July 4 – Independence Day Salute
July 4, 2016
Independence Day Salute Christopher Bell conducts the Chicago Youth Symphony and the National Youth Choir of Scotland.