Between February 2020 and June 2021, Lina González-Granados will have the opportunity to study and work with Maestro Muti, conduct the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and participate in cultural activities and outreach throughout the greater Chicago area.

Anniversaries make up many of the highlights of the CSO’s annual summer residency.

For Ken-David Masur, artistry is just one aspect of a successful career in classical music; community engagement and outreach are of equal importance in building both a thriving artist and a flourishing orchestra.

“Maybe we’re getting used to being misunderstood… Hopefully, [through] music, we can be more open,” reflects Wang Lu. Her work, Code Switch, will have its world premiere to open the first MusicNOW concert of the CSO season.

Since his first CSO performances in June 2018, Batallán has served as guest principal trumpet many times. The Spanish-born trumpeter performed with the orchestra during its 2019 Florida tour as well as in Tokyo during the 2019 Asia tour.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 2019-20 season will start with a much-loved concerto in a performance by two artists picking up the piece for the first time in a while. In a phone interview with WFMT, pianist Leif Ove Andsnes says that he hasn’t played the Grieg piano concerto in more than a decade. And according to Andsnes, Riccardo Muti says …

The multisensory ritual of listening to a vinyl record transcends any digital playlist. And whether they’re new or vintage, you’ll want to make sure that your prized classical albums are well cared for.

Yo-Yo Ma shared that Bach’s cellos suites have served as “a sanctuary for [him in] good times and less good times.”

Verdi’s Aida is the apotheosis of grant opera, but the true beauty of Verdi lies not only in its grandeur but also in its details.

A successful, in-demand touring and recording artist, Pablo Sáinz-Villegas visited WFMT while in town to make his CSO debut in a program of Spanish and Latin American music conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero.

As Guerrero says, “In many ways, I am the poster child to show that music can…become a part of your life regardless of your background.”

Despite Maestro Muti’s tireless activity in the musical realm, he has not neglected the written word.

Andrew Patner, WFMT’s late critic-at-large and music critic at the Chicago Sun-Times, passed away in 2015, but his characteristic wit and wisdom live on in his book, A Portrait in Four Movements: The Chicago Symphony under Barenboim, Boulez, Haitink, and Muti.

Over the span of just 9 months, Philadelphia Orchestra went from being one of the least representative orchestras of women composers to being the most.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra strike has ended and a new, five-year contract through September 2023 has been ratified, the CSO musicians and management have confirmed.

The office of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a statement early Friday evening announcing that, after convening at City Hall on Friday with the Mayor, both Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians and management “have reached an agreement in principle to bring the music back to Symphony Center.” In a joint statement released Friday evening, the CSO Musicians and CSO Association thanked …

The Chicago Federation of Musicians and Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association both accepted an offer from outgoing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Wednesday night to assist in negotiations that have stalled and led to the longest strike in CSO history. In a statement, Mayor Emanuel wrote that “after speaking with both parties, it appears that we should be able to achieve an …

The musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra publicly called for management to return to the table to resolve the labor dispute now in its seventh week, the longest in the orchestra’s history.

This week saw the breakdown of another negotiation session between the Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association on Tuesday, April 16, prolonging the strike that began just before midnight on March 10. A statement released by management says the musicians shared a “counter proposal to the Association’s last, best and final offer,” which had been delivered …

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra strike will persist, as the musicians’ union rejected management’s latest proposal late Monday night.

Little progress has been made in resolving the work stoppage at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, CSO management said Monday during a conference call. The strike has now endured for a week, since 11:59 p.m. on March 10. Since the strike began, various artists and public figures have appeared on the picket line to voice their support for the CSO musicians. …

On a rainy Thursday morning, Cook County Board President and Chicago mayoral candidate Toni Preckwinkle visited Symphony Center to stand with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians.

Usually caught in a neither-nor position straddling the artistic and administrative halves of the organizations, music directors have historically stayed out of labor disputes in major orchestras.

Picketing began yesterday on the sidewalks outside the entrances to Symphony Center in the Loop, as the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra marched off their first full day on strike.

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians say they are on strike after contract talks broke down. They say in a news release that picket lines will form starting at 8 a.m. Monday. They say management is still trying to reduce their pension benefits after nearly a year of negotiations. The musicians walked out after completing a Sunday afternoon concert …