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.
Victorian Flourish with the St. Charles Singers
The St. Charles Singers concluded their 2018-19 concert season with an eclectic program of Victorian-era choral works, both secular and sacred, from the British Isles, the United States, France, and Germany. The mixed-voice professional chamber choir conducted by Jeffrey Hunt presented a broad range of composers from a specific historical period. “The Victorian era was a Renaissance for choral music,” ...
2019 Rush Hour Concerts at St. James Cathedral
In the Summer of 2000, concert pianist and civic leader Deborah Sobol founded the Rush Hour Concert series to reinvent the traditional classical music concert format by presenting chamber music masterworks in an engaging setting, accessible to all. These 30-minute concerts offer unparalleled access to repertoire spanning 700 years, performed by world-class musicians from Chicago’s leading ensembles including the Chicago Symphony ...
The Grand Tour with Music of the Baroque
In March 2019, Harry Bicket, Baroque specialist and artistic director of the English Concert, led Music of the Baroque in a lively musical reenactment of the grand European tour of young nobles and aristocrats, from London and Versailles to Venice and Munich. The program included a concerto by Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco, who worked in the service of the Bavarian court ...
Violist Matthew Lipman on WFMT
In a Facebook Live webcast from WFMT’s Levin Performance Studio, violist Matthew Lipman and pianist Shirley Trissell performed works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Rebecca Clarke, and Robert Schumann. Matthew hails from Chicago’s south suburbs and appeared on WFMT’s Introductions in 2008 as a student. Now, he is a member of the viola faculty at Stony Brook University, performs with the ...
Composer and Guitarist Juan Falú on WFMT’s Impromptu
In his dual role as composer and performer, Juan Falú is a cornerstone of Argentinean folk music. As an interpreter, Falú employs his vast knowledge of the different Argentinean folk rhythms and displays an innate command of the artistry of improvisation. Many of his songs are already established within the repertoire of the most outstanding Argentinean folk musicians. Falú visited ...
Neave Trio at Northeastern Illinois University
Since forming in 2010, the Neave Trio – violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura – has earned enormous praise for its engaging, cutting-edge performances. The Boston Musical Intelligencer included Neave in its “Best of 2014” and “Best of 2016” roundups, writing, “it is inconceivable that they will not soon be among the busiest chamber ensembles going,” ...
Winter Chamber Music Festival at Northwestern University
Every January, the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University hosts renowned chamber groups at its Winter Chamber Music Festival. The concert on January 27, 2019, in Pick-Staiger Hall featured faculty members in a wide-ranging program, including Samuel Zyman’s 1997 Flute Sonata with flutist John Thorne and pianist Kay Kim.
Pianist Rasa Vitkauskaite at Dame Myra Hess Series
Hailed for “artistry of poetic and observant sensitivity” (Gramophone), internationally acclaimed pianist Rasa Vitkauskaite performed in the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series on April 3, 2019. Her program included works by Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Moszkowski, Guastavino, and a composer from her native country of Lithuania – Mikalojus Čiurlionis.
Pianist Sophiko Simsive Plays Liszt
Georgian-born Sophiko Simsive started to play the piano at the age of three and began her studies with her mother. At the age of eleven, she performed Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto with the student orchestra of Georgia at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Germany. Most recently she was selected as the winner of the Music Academy of the West’s second ...
Elgin Symphony Orchestra in Concert
Named “Orchestra of the Year” an unprecedented four times by the Illinois Council of Orchestras and winner of a 2010 Elgin Image Award, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, now in its 67th season, is respected for exceptional performance, innovative education programs, and community outreach initiatives. In 2013, after a two-year international search in which over 250 applicants were reviewed, Andrew Grams ...
DePaul University Faculty Chamber Concert
Completed in the summer of 2018, the Holtschneider Performance Center is the first phase of a new music complex for the DePaul University School of Music, serving as the eastern gateway to the Lincoln Park Campus. The new center houses four concert halls of varying sizes along with state-of-the-art rehearsal spaces, a sound recording technology suite, box office, and dynamic ...
Dynamic Duos with Chicago a cappella
Chicago’s acclaimed vocal ensemble Chicago a cappella spotlighted songwriting and performing duos on their April 2019 program, “Dynamic Duos: The Greatest Musical Partnerships.” Veteran pop arranger Paul Langford provided music direction and new arrangements of songs by Elton John & Bernie Taupin, the Carpenters, Hall & Oates, Simon & Garfunkel, and more. The ten professional vocalists of Chicago a cappella also ...
Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra in Concert
The Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra performs major literature from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. It is conducted and administered by Victor Yampolsky, director of orchestras. Under his baton, the ensemble has evolved into one of the nation’s great collegiate orchestras that has placed many alumni in top orchestras and opera companies. In January 2019, the NUSO presented a program ...
Brasil Guitar Duo at Northeastern Illinois University
Brasil Guitar Duo, a 2006 winner of the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, and hailed by Classical Guitar magazine for its “maturity of musicianship and technical virtuosity,” is equally at home on a classical or a world-music series. Its innovative programming features a seamless blend of traditional and Brazilian works, resulting in a full global touring schedule and a growing ...
The Civic Orchestra of Chicago Centenary Celebration
Currently celebrating its 100th season, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago is the nation’s premier orchestral training program for emerging professional musicians. Since 1919, young artists have sought membership in the orchestra to develop their musicianship and to further prepare for their careers. Benefiting from a unique alliance with the world-renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Civic members refine their skills under the ...
Third Coast Baroque Plays Muffat
Third Coast Baroque is a versatile ensemble comprised of “Chicago’s most accomplished period instrumentalists and singers” (Chicago Tribune) under the artistic direction of conductor Rubén Dubrovsky. The ensemble seeks to take Baroque music to the people of Chicago and beyond by removing barriers of location and setting, focusing on accessibility, educating audiences about the diverse influences that underlie the Baroque aesthetic, ...
Philippe Quint and Marta Aznavoorian at Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts
Grammy Award nominee Philippe Quint has established himself as one of the leading violinists of his generation. Constantly in demand, he regularly appears at venues around the world. “Truly phenomenal” is how BBC Music Magazine recently described him. For his recital on January 16, 2019, at the Chicago Cultural Center, Quint was joined by pianist Marta Aznavoorian. Their program featured music from ...
CSO Young Artists Competition Winner: Flutist Rosie Wang
Many musicians dream of performing on the stage of Orchestra Hall with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition makes this dream come true for one young musician every year. On February 23, four young musicians competed on that famous stage for the opportunity to perform with the CSO during the 2019-2020 season. This year, the competition ...
Civic Orchestra and Rachmaninoff
Founded during the 1919-20 season, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago has trained thousands of the nation’s finest emerging professional musicians while presenting free concerts at Symphony Center and in schools and other neighborhood venues throughout Greater Chicago. It is the only training orchestra of its kind affiliated with a major American orchestra. In April 2018, the Civic Orchestra was led ...
Civic Orchestra of Chicago: Strauss’s Suite from Der Rosenkavalier
Since 1919, young artists have sought membership in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago to develop their musicianship and to further prepare for professional careers. Founded by Frederick Stock, second music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra is the only training orchestra of its kind affiliated with a major American orchestra. The Civic provides its members with opportunities ...
