All day long on July 4, WFMT will celebrate Independence Day. Here are some of the highlight performances and recordings!

We look back at last year’s opening night CSO performance at Ravinia. Marin Alsop, Chief Conductor of the Ravinia Festival, leads the CSO in a program celebrating American composers. Opening the program is Copland’s Suite from Appalachian Spring, followed by Johnson’s Charleston. Next, soloist Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha joins in Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24. Rounding out the program …

Ahead of his debut as WFMT’s Morning Music host, WFMT spoke with John Clare to welcome him to Chicago airwaves and introduce him to listeners.

Spotlighting the New York Philharmonic’s world-class soloists, including clarinetist Anthony McGill, violinist Frank Huang, violist Cynthia Phelps, and more.

Five CSO music directors—Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Fritz Reiner, Artur Rodziński, and Sir Georg Solti—lead orchestral excerpts from operas by Beethoven, Copland, Mascagni, Rossini, and Strauss. The program closes with several selections from Wagner’s Ring cycle.

Timo Andres is a favorite young composer of John Adams, who conducts the world premiere of his concerto Made of Tunes written for pianist Aaron Diehl.

A special program featuring five of the Orchestra’s principal players as concerto soloists in music by Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, William Bolcom, Julia Adolphe, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Plus Copland’s quintessential Appalachian Spring.

Including highlights from Dvořák, Copland, and Corigliano.

Plus works by Copland and Stravinsky, all led by ascendant conductor Gemma New.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra kicks off its 88th summer season at Ravinia with Chief Conductor Marin Alsop in a festive evening of all-American music.

From waves of grain to stars and stripes, Aaron Copland defined the soundtrack of much of America. This week, we’ll trace his trek from the heart of Brooklyn to the heart of a nation. Featured works include Appalachian Spring performed by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Our Town with Copland himself conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Bill tells the …

Aaron Copland leads the orchestra in an abridged version of his opera The Tender Land, recorded in 1965.

Sampling conductors: Ozawa, Gould, Reiner, and Giulini

With its dedication to boundary-breaking women, Tower’s first piece is a liberal and spirited interpretation of a fanfare.

This AMP season’s lineup showcases neglected repertoire in chamber, solo piano, and orchestral settings.

20th-century standouts by Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin, and Rachmaninoff.

Another packed summer of live music awaits.

Robert Langevin is the soloist in the Celtic-influenced Flute Concerto by Christopher Rouse. We’ll also hear works by Copland and Ravel including the Boléro, all conducted by Leonard Slatkin.

In the opening concert of the 2021-22 Season, Daniil Trifonov was soloist in Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto.

We all came to love classical music in different ways. Here are some of the musical first loves of our WFMT listeners, in their own words.

Music by Copland, Gershwin, and Grofé.

Wanderers, farewells, and sightseeing; people are always on the go. This week, Bill calls up, “A Little Traveling Music, Please” from the pens of Handel, Smetana, Duke Ellington, and more. Reflections from such travels infuse themselves into their works, as we will discover throughout the week. We will hear selections from Beethoven’s Les Adieux, Schubert’s Die Schöne Mullerin, and Haydn’s …

The exciting and innovative Eric Jacobsen makes his Grant Park Music Festival debut.

Music by Aaron Copland, Elliott Carter, and Charles Ives.