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.
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.
Music from 17th-Century Mexico with the Newberry Consort
Directed by David Douglass and early music vocalist Ellen Hargis, the Newberry Consort plumbs the Newberry Library’s vast music collection and assembles a star-studded roster of local and international artists to offer world-class performances of music from the 13th to the 18th centuries…and occasionally beyond. In April 2016, the Consort performed music of Juan de Lienas, a composer who was ...
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, ...
Chicago Latino Music Festival: KAIA String Quartet and Fareed Haque
Guitar virtuoso Fareed Haque and the KAIA String Quartet, a rising star among American chamber ensembles, performed music from their new album on October 24, 2018, at the Old Town School of Folk Music. They presented works by Latin American masters, from Astor Piazzolla to Eduardo Angulo and Leo Brouwer, from Afro-Cuban to tango, from the Caribbean and Mexico to ...
Music of the Baroque Performs Handel
Under the direction of internationally acclaimed British conductor Jane Glover, Music of the Baroque occupies a special place in the rich cultural life of Chicago. Long recognized as one of the region’s top classical groups, MOB’s professional chorus and orchestra is one of the leading ensembles in the country devoted to the performance of eighteenth-century works. In September 2018, MOB’s ...
Orion Ensemble Plays Schubert
Recognized as one of Chicago’s finest chamber music groups, the Orion Ensemble has been performing since 1992. With the possibilities inherent in its unique combination of instruments — piano, string trio and clarinet — Orion offers exciting interpretations of standard repertoire, introduces audiences to rarely performed masterpieces, and inspires composers with commissions for new works. The ensemble opened its 2018/29 ...
Akropolis Reed Quintet Plays Gershwin
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 ...
Callisto Quartet Plays Mozart
Grand prize winners of the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the Callisto Quartet was formed in 2016 at the Cleveland Institute of Music, bringing together four dedicated and passionate musicians who share a love for chamber music. The quartet was a prizewinner at the 2018 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition and is the only American quartet selected to ...
Chicago a cappella Celebrates Chicago History in Song
Chicago a cappella opened their 25th anniversary season with a musical tribute to their home city titled “Chicago, Chicago.” Multi-Emmy winner Geoffrey Baer of WTTW served as narrator alongside vivid projections illustrating Chicago’s past and present. Prepared by Principal Music Director John William Trotter, the 10-voice ensemble guided audiences through a Chicago time capsule.
Elgin Symphony Orchestra Plays Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite
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 is now in its 67th season. The orchestra is respected for exceptional performances, innovative education programs, and community outreach initiatives. The ESO’s 2018-19 season opened with a program led by Music Director Andrew ...
Thirsty Ears Festival 2018
In August 2018, Access Contemporary Music presented the third annual Thirsty Ears Festival, Chicago’s only classical music street festival. It featured two days of stellar soloists and ensembles, alongside craft beer, food trucks, vendor booths and kid-friendly activities. Pianist Ariella Mak-Neiman presented a program including music of Bach, Debussy, and Brahms. Members of the Chicago-based Ursa Ensemble played Schubert’s Violin Sonatina ...
Pacifica Quartet Plays Mendelssohn at Ravinia
Recognized for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and often-daring repertory choices, over the past two decades the Pacifica Quartet has achieved international recognition as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today. The members of the quartet live in Bloomington, Indiana, where they serve as quartet-in-residence and full-time faculty members at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. This past summer, the ...
Violinist Pinchas Zukerman and Pianist Angela Cheng at Ravinia
With a celebrated career encompassing five decades, Pinchas Zukerman reigns as one of today’s most sought after and versatile musicians – violin and viola soloist, conductor, and chamber musician. He is renowned as a virtuoso, admired for the expressive lyricism of his playing, singular beauty of tone, and impeccable musicianship, which can be heard throughout his discography of over 100 ...
Chicago Chamber Choir
Founded in 1996, the Chicago Chamber Choir is passionately committed to creating a moving experience for audiences by performing exceptional choral music that celebrates the unlimited power of the human voice. The choir’s 40 singers come from a variety of backgrounds. Some are professional musicians, others are teachers, and still others have careers in fields as diverse as law and medicine. They are ...
Jorge Federico Osorio at Ravinia Festival
Pianist Jorge Federico Osorio has been lauded throughout the world for his superb musicianship, powerful technique, vibrant imagination, and deep passion. Highly revered in his native Mexico, Osorio resides in the Chicago area, where he serves on the faculty at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. He performed a wide-ranging recital on July 26, 2018, at Ravinia’s Martin Theater. Osorio’s ...
Miriam Fried & Friends at Ravinia Festival
Violinist Miriam Fried and friends took the stage at Ravinia’s Martin Theatre to perform a program of chamber works by Mozart and Schubert. The program from June 28, 2018, marked the 30th anniversary of Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, the conservatory at America’s oldest summer music festival. Each season, talented young musicians from around the world come together at RSMI to make music ...
Rembrandt Chamber Musicians Play Milhaud
Founded in the fall of 1990, the Rembrandt Chamber Musicians features six of the most highly accomplished musicians in the Chicago area, including principal members of the Lyric Opera of Chicago orchestra. The ensemble’s expansive repertoire, ranging from historically informed performances of Baroque classics to contemporary works by local composers, has consistently garnered high praise and recognition. Hear the Rembrandt Chamber ...
Chopin in Paris at the North Shore Chamber Music Festival
Opening night of the 2018 North Shore Chamber Music Festival at Northbrook’s Village Presbyterian Church was titled “Chopin in Paris.” The concert on June 13 featured a chamber version of Chopin’s First Piano Concerto. The performers were William Wolfram, piano; Vadim Gluzman and Lisa Shihoten, violins; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; Ani Aznavoorian, cello.
Violinist Paul Huang Plays Dvořák
Violinist Paul Huang made his Grant Park Music Festival debut this summer, playing Barber’s Violin Concerto. While in Chicago, the recipient of the prestigious 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists returned to WFMT’s Fay and Daniel Levin Performance Studio to play on the Impromptu series. Huang was joined by Chicago pianist Marta Aznavoorian.
