Stories

VIDEO | Award-winning Russian Renaissance shares music for balalaika, domra, and accordion in a WFMT Facebook Live

On Saturday, March 23, 2019, WFMT hosted Russian Renaissance in a Facebook Live from Wheaton College’s Edman Chapel. The versatile quartet, which won the $100,000 Grand Prize at the 2017 M-Prize competition at the University of Michigan, shared music by Zequinha de Abreu, Monti, and Tchaikovsky arranged for balalaika, domra, and accordion.

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Days after concert, Gaza’s grand piano seized by merchant

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A local businessman on Wednesday seized the Gaza Strip’s only grand piano, claiming he owned the instrument, just days after it made its public debut in a landmark concert following a complicated international restoration effort. Sunday’s recital provided a lucky audience a rare opportunity to see a live concert in Gaza, whose cultural offerings …

QUIZ: Latin American Food or Instrument?

Can you tell the difference between Latin American foods and instruments? Take this quiz and find out.

Raise your glasses with us at Ravinia as we celebrate Carl Grapentine’s retirement

WFMT’s longtime Morning Program host Carl Grapentine landed what he describes as his dream job by chance. He first heard about WFMT in the early 1970s from his colleagues at WQRS, a classical radio station in Detroit that modeled itself after WFMT. Fast-forward to the summer of 1985: during a trip to Chicago, Carl visited the WFMT studios and found out from …

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On his birthday, Google invites you to compose like Johann Sebastian Bach!

Today’s Google Doodle pays homage to Johann Sebastian Bach, who was born on March 21, 1685. To celebrate the illustrious Baroque composer, Google gives you the opportunity to do your best Bach impression. The interactive doodle invites you to build the soprano line of your own composition, and then the program creates complementary harmonies to emulate Bach’s music. Google says ...

Happy Birthday, Bach!

All day on Thursday, WFMT will be celebrating Johann Sebastian Bach, who was born on March 21, 1685. Tune in throughout the day to hear works composed by Bach, including these highlights that you won’t want to miss: In the 9:00 am hour, hear Bach’s Orchestral Suite in G minor, BWV 1070 In the 11:00 am hour, tune in to ...

Now in its second week, the CSO musicians’ strike continues

Little progress has been made in resolving the work stoppage at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, CSO management said Monday during a conference call. The strike has now endured for a week, since 11:59 p.m. on March 10. Since the strike began, various artists and public figures have appeared on the picket line to voice their support for the CSO musicians. ...

La Scala returns $3.4 million to Saudi Arabia in debacle

MILAN (AP) — Italy’s famed La Scala opera house will immediately return 3 million euros ($3.4 million) sent to an escrow account by Saudi Arabia in what Milan’s mayor on Monday termed a badly handled fundraising deal. But he did not rule out future dealings with the kingdom despite concerns raised over its human rights record. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala ...

Meet John Field, the Irish composer who invented the nocturne

Frédéric Chopin’s collection of 21 nocturnes might be the best-known example of the musical form, but did you know the inventor of the nocturne was an Irish composer named John Field? Field was born into a musical family in Dublin in 1782, and quickly excelled at the piano. In 1792, the young pianist gave his first public performance to rave reviews. An ...

Spend St. Patrick’s Day with WFMT!

Celebrate the musical Luck O’ The Irish with an actual Irishwoman! Maggie Clennon Reberg shares music evoking the Emerald Isle all morning, beginning with Sir Hamilton Harty’s Irish Symphony. Then at 9:00 am, tune in for John Cameron’s Missa Celtica, based upon the ancient Book of Kells. Buxton Orr’s Celtic Suite at 11:00 am rounds out the morning, and who ...

So Young Park in An American Dream (Photo: Todd Rosenberg courtesy of the Lyric Opera of Chicago)

Seven Classical Performances to Fill the CSO-Size Hole in Your Weekend

Because of the ongoing strike by the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, all activities at Symphony Center through Sunday, March 17 have been canceled, including the weekend’s subscription concerts under music director Riccardo Muti and the Sunday matinee chamber concert with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. Here are seven possible alternatives to scratch the classical itch while the strike persists. An ...

New Voces8 Album Evokes Landscapes, Homelands

Imagine the rolling hills of Scotland, the jagged cliffs of Ireland, the mountains and beaches of England. On Enchanted Isle, the newest album by choral ensemble Voces8, the landscapes of the United Kingdom take center stage. This Decca Classics release is the UK-based ensemble’s thirteenth album. In an interview with WFMT, Barnaby Smith, the Artistic Director of Voces8, discussed curating an ...

Chicago mayoral candidate Toni Preckwinkle stands with picketing CSO musicians

On a rainy Thursday morning, Cook County Board President and Chicago mayoral candidate Toni Preckwinkle visited Symphony Center to stand with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians.

Igor Levit not content to be heard only through piano

NEW YORK (AP) — Igor Levit arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport’s Terminal 1 ahead of his first concert at Carnegie Hall’s main Stern Auditorium. It was the last day of February and his entry didn’t go smoothly. “It was actually four hours,” he recalled. “There were 900 people standing in the line — approximately 900 people — it ...