Grant Park Music Festival Announces Full 2022 Season

The season begins on June 15 with artistic director and principal conductor Carlos Kalmar leading music of Mozart, Wagner, and Price.

CSO Announces Winter/Spring 2022 Concerts

Music director Riccardo Muti will conduct music by Beethoven, Price, Glass, and Montgomery while welcoming guest artists like Anne-Sophie Mutter, Leif Ove Andsnes, and Mitsuko Uchida.

Playlist: Classical Fire and Flames

The Great Chicago Fire began on October 8, 1871. Here’s some music that takes inspiration from flames.

Carnegie Adjusts Program for Return, Adds Beethoven Cycle

Carnegie Hall has changed the program for its return from the coronavirus shutdown and added a Beethoven cycle to the season with the Philadelphia Orchestra and music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Video: Beethoven, Debussy, Kodály, Strohl Performed at Chicago Cultural Center

In an impassioned hour of music, cellist Ben Solomonow and pianist Christopher Goodpasture played a wide-ranging selection of music from Ludwig van Beethoven to Rita Strohl.

Masumi Per Rostad on Beethoven, YouTube, and the Viola

Masumi Per Rostad is an artist completely steeped in classical music. He chats with WFMT ahead of his performance at the Grant Park Music Festival this weekend.

Music, Fable, and Batman: Why Beethoven’s Story Makes for a Perfect Comic Book

WFMT sits down with the two writers of The Final Symphony: A Beethoven Anthology, a comic book collection inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven.

After 18+ Months, Muti Will Return To Chicago To Kick Off 2021-22 CSO Season

Riccardo Muti will return to Chicago this September to launch the 2021-22 CSO season, his first stint conducting the CSO in Symphony Center since February 2020.

Preview: A Look at the Live Music Of North Shore Chamber Music Fest

Enjoy the beauty of live music-making (even if you aren’t there in person) with a star-studded chamber music sampler of works new and old.

Lyric Announces 2021-22 Season With ‘Magic Flute,’ ‘Macbeth,’ Mazzola

A Verdi and bel canto expert, Lyric’s new music director Enrique Mazzola will open the season with Verdi’s Macbeth and Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, while also conducting contemporary opera Proving Up by Missy Mazzoli later in the season.

What Words Cannot Express: Ian Bostridge on the Power of Music

In a free three-part lecture, esteemed tenor Ian Bostridge examines the capacity of music to capture the otherwise indescribable phenomena of life: identity, existence, and death.

2021 Grammys: Classical Music Nominees and Winners

It’s been a strange, difficult year for the music world, which is all the more reason to celebrate musical excellence.

Video: Paula Kosower & Kuang-Hao Huang Play Nadia Boulanger, Debussy, Beethoven Live

From the Chicago Cultural Center, cellist Paula Kosower and collaborative pianist Kuang-Hao Huang present works of Nadia Boulanger, Claude Debussy, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Video: Avalon String Quartet Honors Beethoven 250 with a Dynamic Performance

On the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth, the Avalon String Quartet gave a deft and passionate performance of one of Beethoven’s finest chamber works.

Beethoven’s Top 10 Works

WFMT looks back on the eminent composer’s most important works. Here is our ranking of Beethoven’s top 10 most important compositions.

Celebrate Beethoven 250 with a Beautiful Biographical Film

As the world celebrates the 250th birth anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven, stream the film that traces the young Ludwig, known to family and friends as “Louis,” in his journey from a musical prodigy to an eminent composer.

Video: Andrew Byun and Victor Asuncion Perform Music by Schumann, Tailleferre, and Beethoven

The duo’s stirring performance was given to an empty audience but was broadcast via WFMT and WFMT’s social channels.

Playlist: 88 Piano Pieces for Piano Month

September is National Piano Month, so WFMT is sharing a supersized playlist – with one selection corresponding to each key on the keyboard.

Quiz: Which Symphonic Master Are You?

Are you a revolutionary like Beethoven, or are you obsessive like Berlioz? Take this quiz to see which symphonic master you most resemble.

Deaf Hip-Hop Dancer is Moved by Beethoven’s 5th in New Music Video

With beautiful images and stunning dancing, this video reminds us that not everyone engages with music the same way.

CSO to Premiere Video of Beethoven’s 9th for Facebook Streaming

This Sunday, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will host a Facebook premiere for a video recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 from its archives, in part because it is “widely recognized as one of music’s most powerful and inspiring works.”

Beethoven Said It First: ‘Oh what joy, in the open air!’

Getting through winter in Chicago is tough enough, but when it’s immediately followed by a global pandemic and social distancing, it’s a real double-whammy. We’re reminded of the Prisoners’ Chorus from Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio.’

Robbie Ellis’ Comedy Tunes Prove that Classical Music Can Be Funny [Videos]

Think you know a lot about classical music? Robbie Ellis, WFMT host, composer, music director, and comedy songmaker extraordinaire shares four untold musical revelations that will have your head spinning!

Video: Pianist Taek Gi Lee Shares a Dynamic Recital of Beethoven and Liszt

Pianist Taek Gi Lee, who hails from Seoul and studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, shared a sensitive performance of works by Beethoven and Liszt.

Harris Theater Announces 2020-2021 Season

The season, which runs from August 19, 2020, to May 6, 2021, features 36 performances including vocal recitals, symphonic concerts, and ballet performances.