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.

Just a few of the Black voices from the Studs Terkel Radio Archive.

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.

Though African Americans have faced oppression throughout American history and the arts, Black composers’ contributions to music have been nothing short of history-changing.

Did you know Broadway’s Mykal Kilgore is a classically trained opera singer? He spoke about opera, activism, and singing for Maxine Waters backstage at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Irene Britton Smith, Nora Holt, and countless other women of color contributed to the Chicago Black Renaissance and changed classical music around the world.

The Chicago Sinfonietta has been devoted to diversity and inclusion since it was founded by pioneering African-American conductor Paul Freeman, and that legacy continues to this day.

Learn how Lawrence Brownlee, hailed as one of the world’s leading tenors, is developing new works that respond to issues facing men of color today.

As you fire up the grill, we have the perfect soundtrack for you: some of our favorite American works, from classics like Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to modern masterpieces like John Adams’ City Noir.

The Chicago Sinfonietta recently announced its 30th season line-up, as well as the launch of its Commissions by Women Composers Project, a season-long effort to close music’s gender equality gap by commissioning, performing, and recording, works by women composers.