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. Soloists and chamber ensembles perform live in WFMT’s 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.
Encore Broadcast: String Highlights
On Saturday’s encore broadcast, we feature our “String Highlights” program. To listen to this broadcast again, please click here.
No Introductions: WFMT Fall Membership Drive
To support original programming on WFMT like Introductions, please consider giving a gift to the station by clicking here.
No Introductions: WFMT Fall Membership Drive
To support original programming on WFMT like Introductions, please consider giving a gift to the station by clicking here.
Encore Broadcast: Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra Plays Barber and CYSO Ventus Wind Quintet
On Saturday’s encore broadcast, we feature the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and the CYSO Ventus Wind Quintet. To listen to this program again, please click here.
Encore Broadcast: Yerin Yang, 15, piano
On Saturday’s encore broadcast, we feature 15-year-old pianist Yerin Yang of Mount Prospect, Illinois. Yerin won the 2018 Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. To listen to the program again, please click here.
Encore Broadcast: Derek Chung, 18, piano
On Saturday’s encore broadcast, we feature 18-year-old pianist Derek Chung of Lincolnshire, Illinois. To listen to this program again, please click here.
String Highlights
On Saturday’s broadcast, we feature a program dedicated to string music we’ve heard so far this year on Introductions. From solo violin to string quartet to harp, we’ll listen back to some great performances from WFMT’s Fay and Daniel Levin Performance Studio.
LIVE | Introductions Celebrates 10 Years at Youth Arts Showcase in Millennium Park
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events have designated 2018 as the Year of Creative Youth, a citywide celebration of Chicago’s young artists and the mentors who inspire them. This coincides with the 10th anniversary of WFMT’s Introductions, which spotlights the Chicago area’s talented pre-college musicians. As a highlight event of the Year of Creative Youth, the Youth Arts Showcase (YAS! Fest) will take place on Saturday, September 22, and host and producer Michael San Gabino will be on hand to kick off the festival with a live broadcast at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion from 11:00 am to noon.
2018 Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition Winner Yerin Yang
Many musicians dream to perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the CSO gives that opportunity to one young musician every year. On Saturday’s broadcast, we feature 15-year-old pianist Yerin Yang of Mount Prospect. Yerin won the 2018 Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition, and as a result, she will perform with the CSO during the 2018/2019 season. ...
A Leonard Bernstein Birthday Celebration
Leonard Bernstein was many things: conductor, composer, pianist. He was also an educator to so many people during his lifetime, and he educated an entire generation about classical music with his Young People’s Concerts. We celebrate Bernstein’s 100th birthday on Introductions with a program dedicated to his music, performed by pre-college musicians in the Chicago area.
Derek Chung, 18, piano
On Saturday’s broadcast, we feature 18-year-old pianist Derek Chung of Lincolnshire, Illinois. Derek is an incoming freshman at Stanford University, and he currently studies piano with Sueanne Metz. Derek’s recent accomplishments include the Grand Prize Winner at the Chicago International Music Competition, first place at the MTNA National Senior Piano Competition, Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, MostArts Festival Piano Competition, Future ...
Piano Highlights
On Saturday’s broadcast, we feature some recordings of piano highlights from the past year as performed by talented pre-college musicians from the Chicago area.
Encore Broadcast: Julian Rhee, 18, violin
On Saturday’s encore broadcast, we feature 18-year-old violinist Julian Rhee of Brookfield, Wisconsin. To listen to his program again, please click here.
LIVE: Joshua Brown, 18, violin
On Saturday’s live broadcast, we welcome back 18-year-old violinist Joshua Brown of Gurnee, Illinois to the program. Joshua Brown received glowing reviews for his debut performance with the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of 15. “Had he played from behind a curtain, you wouldn’t have believed that Joshua Brown…was only 15,” wrote clevelandclassical.com. “His interpretation of Dmitri Shostakovich’s first violin concerto was so ...
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra Plays Barber and CYSO Ventus Wind Quintet
On Saturday’s broadcast, we feature musicians of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO). We’ll first hear CYSO Symphony Orchestra perform Samuel Barber’s Symphony No. 1, a performance from their Symphony Center concert on May 20, 2018. On the second half of the program, we feature CYSO’s Ventus Wind Quintet. Their members include 18-year-old flutist Hope Rogers, 16-year-old oboist Nate Sanchez, ...
Encore Broadcast: Ifetayo Ali-Landing, 15, cello
On Saturday’s encore broadcast, we feature 15-year-old cellist Ifetayo Ali-Landing of Chicago. To listen to her program again, please click here.
Encore Broadcast: Kairos Quartet, Fischoff and M-Prize Winners
On Saturday’s encore broadcast, we feature the Kairos String Quartet of the Academy at the Music Institute of Chicago. The quartet won the junior divisions at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition at the University of Michigan, some of the most prestigious competitions in the country for young musicians. To listen to their program ...
Emily Bear, 16, pianist and composer
On Saturday's broadcast, we welcome back 16-year-old pianist, composer, and songwriter Emily Bear to Introductions. At age 7, she was one of the first artists to appear on Introductions in 2008. Since then, she has performed at many of the world's most well-known venues. Emily will also be the featured pianist at Grant Park Music Festival's annual Independence Day Salute Concert on Wednesday, July 4.
Latin GRAMMY-Nominated Mariachi Herencia de México
On Saturday's broadcast, we welcome back Mariachi Herencia de México to Introductions. The ensemble, made up of pre-college musicians from Chicago, gave their radio premiere on Introductions in 2017 and shared selections from their debut album, Nuestra Herencia (Our Heritage). The album received a Latin GRAMMY nomination and national attention. Mariachi Herencia de México shares tracks from their second album, Herencia De La Tierra ...
Encore Broadcast: Music Institute of Chicago Academy Orchestra at Skokie Library
On Saturday’s encore broadcast, we feature the Music Institute of Chicago Academy Orchestra in selections from their performance at Skokie Public Library on Saturday, March 24. To listen to this program again, please click here.
