Stories

Met returns with 1st work by a Black composer in its history

Fire Shut Up in My Bones became the first work by a Black composer in the 138-year history of the Metropolitan Opera as the company presented its first staged performance since March 2020 following a gap caused by the coronavirus.

Stephen Raskauskas | April 6, 2018

Video: Hear Third Coast Baroque, Chicago’s Newest Early Music Ensemble

Stephen Raskauskas | April 4, 2018

Visa difficulties force Esperanza Spalding, National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba to cancel Chicago concert

Stephen Raskauskas | April 2, 2018

“Everybody has the blues”: Martin Luther King Jr. on How Music Brings People Together

Violinist Nathan Meltzer, an 18-year-old Julliard student who has been loaned the recovered Stradivarius violin (Photo: Jiyang Chen)

Totenberg Stradivarius reborn 4 decades after theft

Associated Press | November 18, 2019

Roman Totenberg didn't live to see his instrument again; he died in 2012 at the age of 101. But Nathan Meltzer, a nineteen-year-old star violinist, has revived the prized instrument.

Video: Ahead of Chicago Premiere, An Excerpt From Rachmaninoff’s ‘Aleko’

Keegan Morris | November 15, 2019

Two operatic opus ones will have their Chicago premieres this weekend, and they both command a chorus of well over 100. Chicago Opera Theater opens its 2019-20 season with a double bill: Joby Talbot's Everest and Rachmaninoff's Aleko.

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Inside the Sounds of the Upside Down: Meet the Composers of the Netflix Hit Stranger Things

Michael San Gabino | March 28, 2018

Get to know Emmy Award-winning composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, and how their interest in experimental music prepared them to score one of the definitive shows of our era.

For the Record: The Library of Congress Welcomes Four Classical Recordings to the National Recording Registry

Candice Agree | March 27, 2018

Every year since 2002, the National Recording Registry selects a number of sound recordings to honor. Here are four classical recordings registered this year.

Opera in New York City to feature inmates recorded in Iowa

Associated Press | March 26, 2018

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Inmates from an eastern Iowa prison have spent weeks learning German and perfecting inflections for a recording that will be played during a New York City opera performance of Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” Heartbeat Opera invited the Oakdale Community Choir of the Iowa Medical and Classification Center to perform the “Prisoner’s Chorus” for its New York City live ...

Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin