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.

A full day of classical music from the perspectives of Black composers, instrumentalists, singers, and conductors.

In troubled times, music is a source of hope and healing. In a virtual interview and concert with WFMT’s George Preston, pianist Lara Downes performs selections from her new album, Some of These Days.

WFMT is thrilled to bring you this upbeat, swinging concert livestream from pianist and composer Aaron Diehl featuring propulsive Harlem stride hits by James P. Johnson, Thomas “Fats” Waller, and Willie “the Lion” Smith, plus selections by Scott Joplin, Gershwin, and Massenet.

Pianist and composer Aaron Diehl shares virtuosic music by “Fats” Waller, Willie “the Lion” Smith, plus selections by Gershwin, Grieg, and Scott Joplin in a free upcoming livestream co-presented by WFMT.

The Chicago Sinfonietta’s longstanding mission of bringing communities and people together through the symphonic experience takes center stage this weekend with the Sinfonietta’s annual tribute concert to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., featuring orchestral settings of spirituals, folksongs, hip hop, and Mahler’s Ressurection Symphony.

What better way to inaugurate a program celebrating music for kids and families than by inviting a very musical family to perform — violinist Rachel Barton Pine and her 8-year-old daughter Sylvia Pine?

Thompson’s 2015 piece brings to light an issue that hits close to home in Chicago and countrywide: the killing of unarmed African American men. Thompson parallels Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ; using the liturgy as a guide, he weaves a piece that prompts conversation about race and social injustice.

On a sweltering summer evening in the early 1990s, Jessye Norman visited the Chicago area for an intimate recital at Ravinia. Host Larry Johnson recalls the singular concert experience.

Latonia Moore, Eric Owens, Lise Davidsen, J’Nai Bridges, and Leah Hawkins are scheduled to perform, the company said Wednesday, along with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

“Writing music, I believe, is a spiritual practice,” says composer Michael Abels. “Any three notes you can find are either terrible or brilliant depending on the context.” Abels makes his Sinfonietta conducting debut leading the orchestra in a live-to-picture performance of his own score for Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning film Get Out.

The Americana Music Association said the new award has been created to honor those who have “either made a lasting impression through music or inspired art to recognize the legacy of Americana music traditions.”

Classical and jazz composer-pianist Anthony Davis is known for writing operas based on historical figures, notably X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X. His latest opera, The Central Park Five, with a libretto by Richard Wesley, premiered in June 2019. We spoke with the composer and members of the creative team about bringing the opera to life.

“You have these pieces of music that are part of you, part of your DNA, and every time you return to them, it just comes out differently because you are different.”

Renée Baker’s interest in Baldwin began when she first heard recordings of his voice. “The person that I’d only accessed from books became quite real once I was able to actually hear and listen to him speak.” She notes.

In addition to the acclaim she has won for her interpretations of music by well-known composers like Bach, Handel, and Paganini, Rachel Barton Pine has long sought to include underrepresented composers in her repertoire.

Bach’s Minuet in G major from the Notebooks for Anna Magdalena Bach is famous enough today that you may have had it as your cell phone ringtone. One arrangement, recorded by a ’60s girl group called The Toys, was a #1 single in the US and reached #5 on the UK Global charts.

“We want to dismantle the notion that classical music is reserved for a certain group of people,” said D-Composed Chicago founder Kori Coleman.