Musical Events for Black History Month

Honor Black artistry with an entire month of exciting musical events — operas, chamber concerts, jazz orchestras, broadcasts, and more!

Playlist: Beginner Concertos to Excite the Senses

Classical concertos are a great entry point for beginners. High-flying, exciting, virtuosic, they are often a pinnacle of solo performance.

Music of the Baroque: Windy City

Wind and water are at the heart of Chicago’s identity; Dame Jane Glover leads a program inspired by our hometown.

Music of the Baroque Pays Tribute to Its Past, Chicago in Windy City Program

“I’ve been with this group now for over 20 years. It is glorious.”

Playlist: Classical Music for Beach Days

Need some music for a day at the beach? These classical plays are the perfect soundtrack as you’re catching rays.

Anne-Sophie Mutter and Mutter Virtuosi

Enjoy exemplary string music that includes the Carnegie Hall premiere of an uplifting Saint-Georges concerto as well as classics by Vivaldi and a virtuosic violin duo by Unsuk Chin.

An Interview with Nicole Cabell

A conversation with the winner of the 2005 BBC Singer of the World Competition and one of the most sought-after lyric sopranos of today.

Rediscovered Composers

A rare opportunity to hear Margaret Bonds’s Montgomery Variations. Composed in 1964 and dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr., the work is based on events and ideas in the Civil Rights Movement.

Caccini, Hasse, Scarlatti: Haymarket Shares ’23 Season

The performance lineup features three mainstage operas; all three titles are rare and represent Chicago premieres.

Capturing the Chevalier, One of the Most Remarkable Stories in Classical Music

“It’s like Paganini and Bruce Lee in one dude,” marvels Bill Barclay, the writer and director of a new play about Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

Haymarket’s 2022 Return to Live Performance: Bologne, Monteverdi, Cabell

Haymarket Opera Company has announced its 2022 lineup; the March-September season will feature three works.

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.

Playlist: WFMT Selects Classical Music to Help You Spring into Spring

You made it; the frigid, blustery days of winter have finally passed, and spring is here! Here is some music that captures the season’s irrepressible spirit.

Playlist: 14 Fantastic French Composers You Might Not Know (But You Should!)

Here are just a few of our many favorite French composers, from medieval to modern, that might be new to you.

10 Composers Who Surprised Us With Their Hidden Talents

Though we tend to remember our favorite composers for their music first and foremost, many of them were virtuosic in more ways than one.

Playlist: 3 Latino “Mozarts” Classical Music Lovers Should Know

There are three Latino composers who have often been compared to Mozart. Two of them were called “Mozart” by their contemporaries:  Chevalier de Saint Georges, born in the French-Caribbean island of Guadeloupe in the 18th century and the 19th-century composer Spanish-Basque Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga. The third is the 20th-century Brazilian composer Camargo Guarnieri whose first name was actually Mozart! Learn …