Wednesdays at 12:15 pm
From the Chicago Cultural Center, hear weekly live concerts.
Each week WFMT goes live to the Chicago Cultural Center for concerts with emerging artists from around the world, produced by the International Music Foundation. Some shows offer solo recitals while others feature ensembles. The concerts take place beneath the world’s largest Tiffany-domed ceiling, part of a landmark building that originally housed the Chicago Public Library. The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts are named for British pianist Myra Hess who organized some 1,700 free lunchtime concerts for Londoners during World War II, in the years of nightly air raids.
Rannveig Marta Sarc and Victor Asunción
Icelandic-Slovenian violinist Rannveig Marta Sarc and pianist Victor Asunción perform works of Lili Boulanger, Cécile Chaminade, and Maurice Ravel on this Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert live from the Cultural Center. Icelandic-Slovenian violinist, Rannveig Marta Sarc, began playing the violin at age 4. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Slovene Philharmonic, Reykjavik Conservatory of ...
Anastasiya Squires and Stephen Squires
Flutist Anastasiya Squires and pianist Stephen Squires perform a program of Mykola Lysenko, Germaine Tailleferre, Franz Doppler, Zhanna Kolodub , and Theobald Boehm live from the Cultural Center. In 2019, Mrs. Squires (Ganzenko) was named winner of the Aeolian Classics Emerging Artists Competition. As a part of her winnings, she performed numerous recitals at various venues in Illinois, and has ...
Eleanor Kirk
On this Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert presented live from the Chicago Cultural Center, harpist Eleanor Kirk presents a program of Sophia Dussek, Lili Boulanger, Florence Price, Marcel Grandjany, and Brandee Younger. Eleanor Kirk is the principle harpist for the Illinois Philharmonic and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Brian Hong and Victor Asunción
Violinist Brian Hong with collaborative pianist Victor Asunción present a program of music by Florence Price, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Antonin Dvorak.
Cora Swenson Lee and Claire-Chung Lim
Cellist Cora Swenson Lee and pianist Claire-Chung Lim present a program with music by Amy Beach, Ethel Smyth, and Luise Adolpha Le Beau on this live Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert. Praised by the San Francisco Classical Voice for playing “with maturity and panache,” Dr. Cora Swenson Lee is a cellist and baroque cellist who performs actively around the United ...
John MacFarlane and Victor Asunción
John Macfarlane is Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Lyric Opera Orchestra. He has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Music Festival, IRIS Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival Orchestras, and served as first violinist of the Eykamp String Quartet. He has served as Concertmaster of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, ...
Emma Gerstein, Alexander Love, and Winston Choi
This program features music by Mel Bonis and Carl Reinecke performed by Emma Gerstein, flute; Alexander Love, horn; and Winston Choi, piano. Emma Gerstein is second flute of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She was appointed to the post in 2017 by Music Director Riccardo Muti. Before her appointment to the CSO, she appeared with the Orchestra as a guest several ...
Sonia Mantell and Victor Asunción
Cellist Sonia Mantell and pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion perform works like Kevin Day, Claude Debussy, and Laura Netzel live from the Cultural Center. Sonia Mantell, cellist from Orland Park, Illinois, studied at New England Conservatory and DePaul School of Music under the tutelage of Natasha Brofksy and Brant Taylor respectively. She was appointed co-principal cellist of the NEC orchestras and the Civic Orchestra of ...
Civic Orchestra of Chicago String Quartet
The Civic Orchestra of Chicago String Quartet performs works by Chevalier de Saint, Rebecca Clarke, and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel live from tithe Cultural Center. Joy Curtain and Genevieve Smelser, violins Benjamin Wagner, viola Najette Abouelhadi, cello
Beatrice Chen and Kuang-Hao Huang
This live Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert features works by Paul Hindemith and Rebecca Clarke performed by Beatrice Chen and Kuang-Hao Huang. Beatrice Chen currently studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Hsin-Yun Huang. She’s won first prize in various competitions including the Johansen International Competition for Young String Players, Albert M. Greenfield Competition, DePaul Concerto Festival, Chicago Youth ...
Feder Duo
Abraham Feder, cello and Cheryl Feder, harp perform works of J.S. Bach, Johann Strauss, Henriette Renié, and Castelnuovo-Tedesco live for this Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert.