Saturdays at 11:00 am
Members of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras perform during a live broadcast of Introductions from Millennium Park. (Photo: Tipping Point Photography)
Hear talented pre-college classical musicians from the Chicago area
Introductions is WFMT’s weekly Saturday morning program that features talented pre-college classical musicians in the Chicago area. We invite soloists and chamber ensembles to perform live in WFMT’s Fay & Daniel Levin Performance Studio. Large ensembles, including orchestras, choirs, and bands, are recorded at their home venues and broadcast at later dates. The program also features youth music competition winners. While many Introductions alumni pursue careers outside of music, some have gone on to study at some of the most prestigious music schools around the world and maintain careers as professional musicians.
Midwest Young Artists Conservatory: Symphony Orchestra & Big Band
On Saturday’s broadcast, we feature two ensembles from the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory of Highland, Illinois. The MYAC Symphony Orchestra plays two movements from Berlioz, and the Big Band concludes the program with a jazz number made famous by Duke Ellington. Midwest Young Artists Conservatory Symphony Orchestra Directed by Dr. Allan Dennis, the MYAC’s founder and president, the Symphony Orchestra ...
Encore Broadcast | 2020 Fischoff Medalists: Dasani String Quartet & The Purple Hippopotami
This Saturday, we profile two medalists in the 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. This year, the competition pivoted to a virtual format due to the coronavirus pandemic, and ensembles were judged on their audition recordings. Of the twelve Chicago-area ensembles in the quarter-finals, two won medals. We hear from those two, as well as The Bone Rangers, winners of ...
Quartet Lucciola and Trio Domino
This Saturday, we feature two chamber ensembles from Midwest Young Artists Conservatory: Quartet Lucciola playing Mendelssohn, Haydn, and Bartók; and Trio Domino with Shostakovich, Beethoven, and Turina. We also interview a member from each group: violist Bella Kim and cellist Samuel Du. Quartet Lucciola Quartet Lucciola is a group from Midwest Young Artists Conservatory coached by Robert Bassill and Allan ...
Alumna: Amelia Piscitelli, violin, with Camerata Chicago orchestras
This Saturday, we profile Introductions alum Amelia Piscitelli, currently between her freshman and sophomore years at college. We look back at her Introductions recital as a 15-year-old in 2016, as well as her working as concertmaster and soloist with two orchestras under the Camerata Chicago banner. Amelia Piscitelli graduated as Salutatorian from Hammond Baptist High School in Schererville, Indiana in ...
Insieme Piano Trio & Trio Reine
For WFMT’s Trailblazing Women in Music Month, Introductions features two all-female trios: the Insieme Piano Trio from the Music Institute of Chicago Academy; and Trio Reine from Midwest Young Artists Conservatory. Insieme Piano Trio The Insieme Piano Trio is comprised of Sonya Jones and Abigail Park, violins/violas; and Ashley Kim, piano. All three students are Fellows at the Music Institute ...
American Composer Highlights for July 4
Independence Day falls on a Saturday this year, so Introductions brings an all-American composers episode. We feature orchestral, chamber and solo repertoire written by Americans born in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
Mariachi Herencia de México’s latest album
This Saturday we feature Esencia Vol. 2, the fourth and newest album from Chicago ensemble Mariachi Herencia de México. Founded four years ago as a student group in Chicago Public Schools and still comprised of teenagers, the group’s debut album was nominated for a Grammy. This most recent release is a collection of different styles within mariachi: classics from the ...
Encore Broadcast | 2020 New Music School Concerto Competition
On Saturday’s program, hear the top three performances in New Music School‘s recent Concerto Competition. A total of 36 NMS students aged 8 to 15 entered the competition. Of those entrants, 16 had the chance to perform concerto movements with the Chicago Arts Orchestra and conductor Vladimir Kulenovic. The top three places were awarded at the finalists’ concert on January ...
Aurora Piano Quartet, Lakeshore Winds, and The Bone Rangers
This Saturday, we feature three chamber groups: one each of strings, winds, and brass. We also talk to one member of each group: pianist Colin Song, about to major in Neuroscience at Emory University; bassoonist Abigail Lopez, about to study Music at DePaul; and freshman trombonist Owen Riordan, about being the newest member of an established quartet. Aurora Piano Quartet ...
No Introductions | WFMT Spring Membership Drive
WFMT’s Spring Membership Drive takes place this morning. You can support original programming like Introductions, and help invite our finest young performers back into the studio once we can safely reopen. Donate securely online at wfmt.com/donate.
No Introductions | WFMT Spring Membership Drive
WFMT’s Spring Membership Drive takes place this morning. You can support original programming like Introductions and to invite our finest young performers back into the studio once we can safely reopen. Donate securely online at wfmt.com/donate.
Encore Broadcast | Masha Lakisova, violin
On Saturday, we have an encore broadcast featuring violinist Masha Lakisova of Vernon Hills. Masha studies violin at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division with Li Lin and Itzhak Perlman. This program was originally broadcast on September 7, 2019. A little note: the Lakisovas’ performance of Jenő Hubay’s Carmen Fantasy will be available on an exclusive WFMT compilation in the upcoming ...
2020 Fischoff Medalists: Dasani String Quartet & The Purple Hippopotami
This Saturday, we profile two medalists in the very recent Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. This year, the competition pivoted to a virtual format due to the coronavirus pandemic, and ensembles were judged on their audition recordings. Of the twelve Chicago-area ensembles in the quarter-finals, two won medals. We hear from those two, as well as The Bone Rangers, winners ...
CYSO: A Celebration of Black Composers
This weekend on Introductions, we feature a new double CD from Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras. It’s called A Celebration of Black Composers, and was released during Black History Month 2020. We hear from their full orchestras, a steel pan orchestra, and the Jazz Orchestra jamming with the flagship Symphony Orchestra on some Duke Ellington – 123 musicians in total! Video: Address ...
Alumni as featured on Chicago Tonight
This weekend, we look to a couple of stories filed by our colleagues down the stairs and down the hall: the TV journalists who work for Chicago Tonight on WTTW Channel 11. They checked in with students and alumni of the Music Institute of Chicago Academy. We hear those stories, plus a selection of archival recordings from the Introductions vault. ...
2020 New Music School Concerto Competition
On Saturday’s program, hear the top three performances in New Music School‘s recent Concerto Competition. A total of 36 NMS students aged 8 to 15 entered the competition. Of those entrants, 16 had the chance to perform concerto movements with the Chicago Arts Orchestra and conductor Vladimir Kulenovic. The top three places were awarded at the finalists’ concert on January ...
Encore Broadcast | 2020 Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition Winner
We feature the winner of the 2020 Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition: 17-year-old violinist Isabella Brown of Gurnee. Isabella studies violin with Almita Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy. Isabella performed the first movement from Beethoven’s Violin Concerto during the final round of the competition at Symphony Center on Saturday, March 7, with Michael Christie ...
Encore Broadcast | Parquarious Winds
On Saturday’s broadcast, we feature the Parquarious Winds of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO). The quintet ran in the 2018-2019 school year. In addition to playing in regular CYSO recitals, the group performed at a Chamber Showcase recital at PianoForte and with the Orion Ensemble. As representatives of the CYSO Ambassadors Program, the group gave performances at two Chicago ...
Encore Broadcast | String Highlights
We celebrate string instruments! From violin and cello features to piano trios and string quartets, we have an incredible range of repertoire from Introductions performances in the past year. For more information about this broadcast, click here.
Encore Broadcast | Piano Highlights
Celebrating the piano! We revisit solo piano performances from Introductions in 2019, featuring Alice Zhang, Myroslav Mykhailenko, Kimberly Han, Yerin Yang, and Ashley Kim. To listen again, click here.
