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.
Tesserae Quartet
The Tesserae Quartet hails from Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music and performs the first two movements of Mozart‘s Piano Quartet No. 2 on Introductions.
Encore broadcast | Kevin Hernandez, cello
We hear a rebroadcast of a stirring performance by cellist Kevin Hernandez. This episode first aired on April 26, 2025. For more information, visit the original episode page.
Karen Kobayashi, 17, flute
Karen Kobayashi, 17, is a Japanese-born flutist currently based in Barrington IL.
Encore broadcast | Henry Auxenfans
We revisit the violin recital of Henry Auxenfans, who at the time of the original broadcast was a senior at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. He has been honored with many regional, national and international competition successes including Grand Prize in the 2024 Enkor International Competition; First Prize at the 2022 United States Marine Band Concerto Competition in 2022; ...
Jeremy Liu, piano
Jeremy Liu, 15, is a 10th grader at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville. He has been under the tutelage of Mrs. Sueanne Metz since the age of six. Jeremy is the 2025 winner of the Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition. As a result, he had the honor of performing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra last fall. He also ...
Encore broadcast | Elysian Quartet
Today we hear a rebroadcast of a performance by Elysian Quartet, who formed at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy in the 2023-2024 school year. This episode first aired on November 9, 2024. For more information, visit the original episode page.