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

From Duke Ellington to Tamar-kali, these 12 composers have shaped what movies and TV sound like.

A new music museum in Nashville is telling an important and often overlooked story about the roots of American popular music.

Black people have used music and singing to tell the story of hope amid pain, promise amid peril, and immovable faith amid adversity. This playlist celebrates the uniqueness of Black thought and spirituality through the years.

News outlets report the National Museum of African American Music will host a socially distanced ribbon cutting on Jan. 18 when it formally opens.

In the first of our WFMT Staff Spotlight series, we share a playlist from Tim Russell, the Vice President of Community Engagement at WFMT and WTTW.

IPO concertmaster Azusa Tashiro feels that music is vital as “something to rely on, something that warms [your] heart.”

Among the canceled 2021 productions are Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro; and Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, as well as a concert tribute to music director Sir Andrew Davis, who concludes his 20-year tenure at the end of this season.

The Metropolitan Opera will skip an entire season for the first time in its nearly 140-year history and intends to return from the pandemic layoff next September.

The virtual sphere won’t replace the live stage, but it can add a second, more accessible one, with great room for creative growth and the viral potential of easily shareable, iconic images.

To coincide with exciting new additions to the WTTW slate, WFMT has compiled a playlist celebrating the pinnacles of Black and Latino artistry in vocal music.

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s season opens this weekend in truly unprecedented fashion: with a virtual gala.

The childhood home of iconic musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone will be indefinitely preserved in North Carolina.

Chicago Opera Theater has revised its 2020-21 season with digital livestreams and additional performances.

The Grammy-winning ensemble performed music by Devonté Hynes from their new album, Fields.

Join us on WFMT’s Facebook Page Thursday at 7:30 pm for a free livestream with Third Coast Percussion, Devonté Hynes, and a video featuring choreography by Rena Butler.

Our picture of the past is often incomplete: though long on the frontlines in the fight for racial justice, women’s stories have often been left out of history. Here are nine conversations with women to enrich our understanding.

Grammy-winning folk singer and instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens takes the baton from renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who founded the group two decades ago.

A rare collection of previously unissued recordings by legendary jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley is becoming more accessible thanks to two small jazz labels.

Under the baton of conductor and violinist Kyle J. Dickson, vigil attendees will play string arrangements of music by William Grant Still, Florence Price, Paul Simon, and Bill Withers to mourn and demand justice for Elijah McClain.

We all love Sousa, Gershwin, and Copland. But what about the new(er) entrants to the canon of American classical composers? This Independence Day, we’ve compiled a playlist of just some of the vanguard voices redefining what American classical music sounds like.

As protests in the ongoing fight against systemic racism and police brutality continue, musicians are coming together to pay tribute and raise awareness after the death of fellow violinist, Elijah McClain.

Upon his 2014 appointment, clarinetist Anthony McGill became the first African-American principal musician in NY Phil history. This week, WFMT will present a free livestreamed recital featuring McGill and pianist Anna Polonsky celebrating the diversity of the Americas.

As the city, state, and country celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the US, Chicago arts and music organizations are giving performances and leading discussions centering Black artists. Here are four music-related streams we think you should tune in to.

In observance of Juneteenth, WFMT is sharing music by Black composers and performers throughout the day.