Celebrate Chicago’s vibrant classical music scene.
Music in Chicago gives you a front-row seat to some of the best classical music concerts presented throughout the Chicago area. Every Friday in the noon hour, Lisa Flynn features recent performances from the city’s soloists, orchestras, choirs, bands and chamber ensembles. The Elgin Symphony Orchestra, St. Charles Singers, Rachel Barton Pine, Dover Quartet, Civic Orchestra, Midwest Mozart Festival, and Chicago Latino Music Festival are among the many artists and organizations that have been heard on this weekly program.
WFMT is always looking for new groups and musicians to feature on Music in Chicago. If you or your ensemble would like to be considered for our program, audition online to let us know more about you and to send us a recording.
ViolMedium Plays Abel and Bartók
Founded by gambists Eric Miller and Phillip Serna, the duo of ViolMedium bridges contemporary and historically-informed performance with experimental and innovative programming for violas da gamba. Their concert in February 2019 at LaGrange’s Emmanuel Episcopal Church was titled, “Façades and Duplicities: Beguiling Curiosities and Excursions for Dueling Gambas.” The program offered an exploration of the rich harmonic, timbral, and dramatic potentials offered ...
Elgin Symphony Orchestra Plays Kodály
Conductor Stephen Squires led the Elgin Symphony Orchestra in three works in January 2019. The program featured Haydn’s Symphony No. 94, nicknamed the “Surprise” Symphony. ESO concertmaster Isabella Lippi performed Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, considered one of the greatest and most difficult of its kind. Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály was fascinated with the folk songs of his region. His ...
Trio Céleste Plays Dvořák and Piazzolla
Hailed as “a first-class ensemble” (Orange County Register), “unfailingly stylish” (The Strad), “technically dazzling” (Long Beach Gazette), “flawless” (New York Concert Review), and “the epitome of what chamber musicians should be” (Palm Beach Daily News), Trio Céleste has firmly established itself as one of the most dynamic chamber music ensembles on the classical music scene today. In January 2019, Trio Céleste shared ...
Pianist Henry Kramer Plays Debussy
Pianist Henry Kramer is establishing himself as one of the foremost pianists of his generation. The winner of the 2015 William Petschek Recital Debut Award from the Juilliard School and the Second Prize winner of the 2016 Queen Elisabeth Competition, Kramer has been praised by critics as “triumphant” and “thrilling” (The New York Times), “technically effortless” (La Presse, Montreal), and the Philadelphia ...
Chicago a cappella: Polish Splendor
In February 2019, Chicago a cappella presented a program on the theme “Polish Splendor: Songs and Traditions from the Crossroads of Europe.” The ensemble explored the rich variety of music from Poland, old and new. The singers brought to life traditional folk songs and compelling new works by rising Polish composers—including many in their North American debut.
Cavatina Duo Plays Ravel
The Cavatina Duo — Eugenia Moliner, flute (from Spain) and Denis Azabagic, guitar (from Bosnia) — has captivated audiences with their electrifying performances in such major venues and festivals as the Ravinia Festival, Aix-en-Provence Summer Festival (France), and Symphony Center Chicago, among many others. Moliner and Azabagic are both on the faculty of the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt ...
Chicago Latino Music Festival: Guitarist Eduardo Fernández
This year’s Chicago Latino Music Festival featured a concert in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes by guitarists Eduardo Fernández and Iván Reséndez. Considered among the top five classical guitars players in the world, Fernández performed a program of Latin American and Spanish pieces based on folk and popular music as well us some of the most important works from the ...
International Chamber Artists in Concert
In 2006, a small group of musicians formed the International Chamber Artists. ICA has grown steadily, bringing emerging artists and great music to Chicago. What started out as an idea among friends has grown to become one of the premier chamber music organizations in Chicago. ICA is a non-profit chamber music ensemble currently made up of 21 musicians. On September 9, ...
Stradivarius Chamber Music Concert at St. John Cantius Church
On October 13, 2018, St. John Cantius Church of Chicago presented a concert featuring Stradivarius violins from Italy. Sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, violinists Henry Criz and Sergio Lamberto and pianist Giacomo Fuga performed music by Tartini, Brahms, and Willan.
Elgin Symphony Orchestra Plays Beethoven and Wagner
During its 68th season, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra presented the music of Beethoven, Strauss, and Wagner in a program titled “Titans.” The three influential German composers were showcased in November 2018 at the Hemmens Cultural Center. ESO Music Director Andrew Grams led the program featuring soprano Laura Wilde, a graduate of the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, in Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs. ...
Pianist Yerin Yang Performs Liszt
15-year-old pianist Yerin Yang started piano at the age of 5. Among her many prizes, she took First Prize, Best Performance of Solo Work Award, and the Young Jury Award at the 2018 Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition. In March 2018, Yang won the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. She has also appeared on WFMT’s “Introductions” series profiling young ...
Akropolis Reed Quintet
The Akropolis Reed Quintet was founded in 2009 at the University of Michigan and is the first-ever ensemble of its makeup to win a Fischoff Gold Medal (2014) as well as the Grand Prize at the Plowman and MTNA national competitions. Hailed by Fanfare Magazine for its “imagination, infallible musicality, and huge vitality,” Akropolis has performed from Juneau to Abu Dhabi and has showcased at five national conferences. On ...
The Orion Ensemble Plays Frühling
Over its 25 years, the Orion Ensemble has been called one of the best and most steadfast chamber music ensembles in Chicago. Every season, the members of the group craft programs for audiences to experience the intimacy and magical collaborations that are the hallmark of great chamber music. Concerts in November 2018 featured a rarely heard work by Carl Frühling, ...
Bella Voce: Britten’s Ceremony of Carols
Since its founding in 1983 under the name His Majestie’s Clerkes, Bella Voce has delivered its unique, disciplined choral performances to audiences in Chicago and environs. The name comes from the Italian for “beautiful voice.” For over thirty years, Bella Voce has cultivated the living tradition of choral music from the earliest chant to contemporary creations. For the 2018 holiday season, the ...
Candlelight Carols with the St. Charles Singers
The St. Charles Singers, founded in 1984, is a group of 40 professional musicians under the direction of Jeff Hunt. Recognized for their sublime interpretation of choral classics, the singers strive for excellence in every performance, sing with passion and demonstrate a sincere desire to create beauty, and connect with their audience. The 2018 “Candlelight Carols” program featured world premieres of ...
Handel’s Messiah with Camerata Chicago
Founded in 2003, Camerata Chicago is a chamber orchestra equally at home in intimate settings as well as in larger chamber music venues, performing the rich tapestry of diverse chamber orchestral repertoire that includes newly commissioned works. Musicians and choristers presented the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Magnificat in Camerata Chicago’s Sacred Music Series in November 2018.
A Christmas Tradition with the Wicker Park Choral Singers
Wicker Park Choral Singers has quickly grown from a grassroots effort in the spring of 2008 to an established performing arts ensemble in the Chicago area, with repertoire ranging from Renaissance motets to contemporary works of today’s foremost composers. Its approximately forty members are passionate about making world-class choral music accessible to the community, and are committed to producing concerts that ...
Holidays a cappella: Silver Bells with Chicago a cappella
For 25 years, Chicago a cappella has created a tradition of holiday programs that contain songs you generally won’t hear anywhere else, in combinations that both calm the spirit and inspire the heart. The 2018 edition of “Holidays a cappella” honored the past, cherished the present, and looked forward to the future. Several selections featured composers and arrangers whose work ...
Chicago Latino Music Festival: Guitarist Iván Reséndiz
Originally from Mexico City, Iván Reséndiz began his study of classical guitar at the age of sixteen. He has performed around the world in events such as competitions, university courses, and concerts. Reséndiz was chosen to represent Mexico as one of the ten international finalists in the World Guitar Competition in April 2012 in Serbia. Since 2011, he has directed ...
Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Music of the Baroque
From the heaven-storming timpani of the opening chorus, the Christmas story unfolds in dramatic narrative, moving arias, and inspiring chorales—performed with the power and passion that Chicago’s Music of the Baroque always brings to Bach’s great choral works. In November 2018, Jane Glover conducted the MOB Chorus and Orchestra with soprano Yulia Van Doren, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong, tenor Thomas Cooley, ...