Tired of Pachelbel’s Canon in D and Mendelssohn’s Wedding March? Here are other romantic selections to consider!

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.

A conversation with the music director of Bach in the City, Chicago’s newest early music organization.

An interview with the winner of the Rising Star Award at the 2025 International Opera Awards and a WFMT “Artist to Watch” in 2026.

From all corners of the city and beyond, take part in holiday cheer with music to suit every palate.

This week, Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti leads concertos by Telemann and Michael Haydn—featuring Principal Trumpet Esteban Batallán in his CSO solo debut—along with Schubert’s Fourth Symphony. The program also includes historic RCA recordings of Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé Suite and R. Strauss’s Der Bürger als Edelmann under the baton of sixth music director Fritz Reiner.

We celebrate violinist Jaap Schröder, one of the first pioneers to present performances of baroque, and later, classical works, on period instruments.

From lieder in Hindi to a concerto for oud and piano, check out some of the many ways western classical music has been reimagined!

WFMT’s series of concerts from Ravinia Festival returns on Sunday, August 31 at 3:00 pm for a 10-week lineup of wonderful chamber recitals.

The oldest surviving metal trumpets, constructed of silver and copper, were discovered in the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. So how did we get to today’s lineup?

From 3,000 sonatas to over 300 symphonies, here are some of the busiest composers across classical music history!

Three unique pairings — guitar/flute, oboe/harpsichord, and clarinet/piano — each with a fascinating repertoire focus. Plus early vocal music, piano concertos, solo piano, and a wide-ranging album for harp.

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider leads Poulenc’s Concerto in G Minor for Organ, Strings, and Timpani and Saint-Saëns’s Symphony No. 3, featuring organ soloist Cameron Carpenter. The broadcast opens with Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and rounds out with Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe and Boléro.

Travel with us to the Eternal City with this wide-ranging playlist of music dedicated to, inspired by, and hailing from Rome.

An interview with the soprano in advance of her performances of Haydn’s Mass in Time of War with the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Orchestra.

Celestial Voices, Fathers and Sons, Baroque Blockbusters and other fascinating fare for the ensemble’s 55th season.

New York Philharmonic Principal Cellist Carter Brey performs Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with Alan Gilbert conducting.

Jane Glover makes her CSO subscription debut, leading the orchestra in a program bookended by Haydn’s Symphony No. 71 and Mozart’s Symphony No. 29. Also on the program, Principal Oboe William Welter solos in Mozart’s Oboe Concerto in C Major, and Paul Jacobs performs Handel’s Organ Concerto No. 4 and J.S. Bach’s Sinfonia to Cantata BWV 29. To close, Claudio …

Meet one of Germany’s most acclaimed choruses in advance of their US Tour.

The modern orchestra as we know it today only took shape in the last 150 years.

Fazil Say interprets Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, one of the essentials of the keyboard repertoire.

Bach’s organ works make heavy use of pedals and complex structures. Few organists perform the composer’s complete organ works, given the difficulty and quantity of the music.

Sunday, February 2, 2025, is the year’s biggest night for music. Peruse the classical, jazz, contemporary, folk, screen, and stage nominees, and see the winners as they’re announced!

The festival’s premiere concert will be held at Lincoln Park’s historic St. Vincent de Paul Church.

Curated celebratory classical music, and the exact second to press play so the music crescendos with the changing of the New Year.