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.
American Composer Highlights
July 2, 2022
For the holiday weekend, Introductions looks back at some of the most notable performances of American music from the past year.
Catherine Woods, 18, violin
June 25, 2022
Catherine is already an active violin and piano teacher, and in this recital she presents music by Bach, Beethoven, Boulanger, and Saint-Saëns.
LIVE | Tara Hagle, 18, violin
June 18, 2022
In this recital of Brahms, Bacewicz, Messiaen and Wieniawski, Tara Hagle is joined by her father, Matthew Hagle, on piano.
Noah Jung, 17, clarinet
June 11, 2022
Starting the clarinet at age three, Noah Jung is a graduate of the Colburn Music Academy, where he studied with professor Yehuda Gilad.
Bazyli Siwek, 17, piano and composer
June 4, 2022
Along with three of his own pieces, he presents music by Clara Schumann, Robert Nathaniel Dett, Maurice Ravel, and Lowell Liebermann.
Ella Wimbiscus, 11, cello
May 28, 2022
Only 11 years old, Ella Wimbiscus has already been playing the cello for nearly a decade.
CYSO Jubilee Woodwind Quintet with Taki Salameh, 18, composer
May 21, 2022
Five principal players from the CYSO present wind quintet music by Paul Taffanel, Carl Nielsen, and Paul Hindemith.
No Introductions | Early Opera
May 14, 2022
There is no episode of Introductions this week: the Metropolitan Opera is starting Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the earlier time of 11:00am Central.
LIVE | Elinor Detmer, 17, violin
May 7, 2022
A live broadcast of Beethoven, Bach, Perkinson, Gershwin and Sibelius from the Rhapsody Theater.
LIVE | Sidney Lee, 18, viola
April 30, 2022
A live performance — from Rogers Park's Rhapsody Theater — of music by Clarke, Bach, Brahms, and Prokofiev.
2022 Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition
April 23, 2022
In our continuing coverage of recent concerto competitions, Introductions plays all four finalists from the 2022 Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition. This year, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Negaunee Music Institute opened the competition up to piano soloists, and all four finalists performed their chosen concerto movement with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and conductor Andrew Grams on Saturday March ...
2022 International Young Artist Concerto Competition
April 16, 2022
This week, Introductions returns with the finalists from the 2022 International Young Artist Concerto Competition, with performances from Sunday January 30. Formerly known as the New Music School Concerto Competition, WFMT covered this event in 2020 and in 2021. First-Place Winner: Esme Arias-Kim. Runner-Up Tie: Kimiko Darcy and Zarin Mehta. Third Place: Luis Villa. Esme gave a solo recital on ...
No Introductions | WFMT Spring Membership Drive
April 9, 2022
WFMT’s Spring Membership Drive takes place this morning. You can support original programming like Introductions and to keep our finest young local performers on the radio. Donate securely online at wfmt.com/donate.
No Introductions | WFMT Spring Membership Drive
April 2, 2022
WFMT’s Spring Membership Drive takes place this morning. You can support original programming like Introductions and to keep our finest young local performers on the radio. Donate securely online at wfmt.com/donate.
Living Composer Highlights
March 26, 2022
Introductions is a short program this week, since the opera starts at 11:30am Central, half an hour earlier than usual. We’ll take the chance to rebroadcast pieces by living composers from the United States, France and Argentina; as performed by youngsters in the past year.
Sarah Wejman, 17, viola
March 19, 2022
A viola recital today on Introductions: Sarah Wejman is a high school senior and student of Desirée Ruhstrat. She presents music of JS Bach, H. Leslie Adams, Max Reger and Ernest Bloch, with pianist Liang-yu Wang. Thanks to Delmark Records for hosting this recording session. Sarah Wejman is a senior at New Trier High School, and has played viola since ...
LIVE | Katya Moeller, 17, violin
March 12, 2022
Today on Introductions, a live recital from Katya Moeller, a fellow of the Music Institute of Chicago Academy and a student of Almita Vamos. With her mother Ksenia Noskiova at the piano, Katya performs music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Eugène Ysaÿe and George Gershwin; plus a set of Lera Auerbach preludes including two world premieres. Thanks to ...
Women’s History Month Highlights
March 5, 2022
For the start of Women’s History Month, Introductions looks at highlights from the past twelve months: young musicians’ performances of works by female composers. In the second half of the episode, we feature recent releases by Introductions alumni: solo violinist Megan Healy and Ryan Meehan of the Calidore String Quartet. This episode is not available as a podcast for copyright ...
Rosie Wang, 17, flute
February 26, 2022
Today on Introductions, we feature 17-year-old Rosie Wang, winner of the 2019 Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition. As part of her prize package, Rosie was due to perform a live recital on WFMT in June 2020. In this program, we feature chamber recordings made last year, plus her prize-winning performance from 2019, first broadcast on Music in Chicago. Rosie ...
Encore Broadcast | CYSO Concerto Competition Winners
February 19, 2022
We hear once again from Bianca Ciubancan and Louis Auxenfans, who won Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras’ top concerto competition in 2020 and 2021 respectively. This episode first aired on January 15, 2022. More details and podcast at the original episode page.
Encore broadcast | Aurum Quartet
June 6, 2026, 11:00 am
On today’s Introductions we feature a rebroadcast of the Aurum Quartet. They are violinists John Lee & Vincenzo Zuppardo, violist Kay Ito, and cellist Jocelyn Gao. This episode first aired on November 4, 2023. More details and the podcast are available at the original episode page.
