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 day 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, Civic Orchestra, Midwest Mozart Festival, and Chicago Latino Music Festival are among the many artists and organizations that have been heard on this weekday 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.
March 24 – March 26, 2024
March 28, 2025, 12:00 pm
This week we feature bassoonist David McGill, Northwestern University's Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and a live recital by flutist Jungah Yoon and pianist Kay Kim.
Chicago a cappella: Polish Splendor
February 15, 2019
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
February 8, 2019
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
January 25, 2019
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
January 25, 2019
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
January 18, 2019
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
January 18, 2019
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
January 11, 2019
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
January 11, 2019
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
January 4, 2019
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
December 21, 2018
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
December 21, 2018
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 ...
Handel’s Messiah with Camerata Chicago
December 21, 2018
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
December 21, 2018
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
December 14, 2018
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
December 14, 2018
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
December 14, 2018, 12:00 pm
From the heaven-storming timpani of the opening chorus, the Bach's Christmas Oratorio unfolds with moving arias and inspiring chorales — performed with the power and passion by Chicago's Music of the Baroque.
Music from 17th-Century Mexico with the Newberry Consort
December 7, 2018
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 ...
Pianist Joseph Kingma Plays Liszt
December 7, 2018
Pianist Joseph Kingma is quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso in the grand style. Known for both the beauty of his sound and the emotional intensity of his performances, he garners invitations from orchestras and performing venues across the country. Kingma was the first prize winner of the American Liszt Society’s inaugural Franz Liszt International Piano Competition held at ...
Chicago Latino Music Festival: KAIA String Quartet and Fareed Haque
November 23, 2018
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
November 23, 2018
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 ...
