Playlist: Christmas Classics Performed by Chicago Artists

Chicagoans really know how to celebrate the holidays! Here’s a playlist of Christmas favorites as performed by Chicago-area artists and ensembles.

Grammy Nominations Announced with Nods for Third Coast Percussion and Cedille Records

The 2020 Grammy Nominations were announced this morning, and several members of the Chicago classical community received recognition as nominees.

Honor Día de Los Muertos in Chicago With These 6 Celebrations

Celebrated from October 31 to November 2, the holiday honors loved ones who have died and is an intergenerational coming together of families. Find some of the many offerings Chicago has to offer to celebrate these days of remembrance.

Ravinia President and CEO to Step Down Following 2020 Season, His 20th

“I’ve decided that this milestone anniversary would be the right time to make way for someone new to shape the festival’s future,” Ravinia Festival president and CEO Welz Kauffman expressed in a press release.

22 Chicago Music and Arts Buildings To Add To Your Open House Chicago 2019 Itinerary

From downtown’s soaring steel and glass skyscrapers to the iconic residential greystone, there are impressive, beautiful, and revolutionary buildings practically everywhere you look. Each fall, the Chicago Architecture Center celebrates the city’s many architectural treasures both big and small with Open House Chicago, the two-day festival which lets opens many of these buildings for the public to explore for free!

2020 Is the Year of Chicago Music, Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events Announces

DCASE Commissioner Mark Kelly stated that the year will highlight Chicago’s “big bold sounds” and show the world the city’s “proudly undefined” music scene.

13 Chicago Area Arts and Music Events for a Frightening and Fun Halloween

Whether you’re looking for a hardcore horror flick or a family-friendly outing, this list has you covered for some of the Chicago area’s Halloween highlights!

Chicago Latino Music Festival Celebrates Its 14th Year

The festival’s artistic director Elbio Barilari, who also hosts WFMT’s Fiesta, remarked of the festival that “just the idea that a Latin American classical music festival exists in the US and has already been going on for 14 years is very exciting!”

Esteban Batallán Named CSO Principal Trumpet

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.

Celebrate Art Song and Living Composers in Chicago and Beyond at this Three-Day Festival

In the eyes of tenor Nicholas Phan, living composers and the classical music genre of art song both face a similar obstacle: they’re often overlooked when it comes to programming and promoting classical music.

Playlist: Aeronautic and Maritime Music for the Skies and Seas

Brace your ears: the Chicago Air and Water Show is upon us! But there’s more to hear than the roars of the Blue Angels and Red Arrows — take in the excitement while listening to music inspired by aviation and nautical navigation!

Video: The McGill Brothers Return Home for Grant Park Music Festival Debut

The Chicago-born brothers reflect on their first forays into music, their ongoing support of young arts organizations, and their debut performances at their hometown Grant Park Music Festival.

Off the Beaten Path: 9 Underrated Venues for Classical Music in Chicago

The Windy City is home to some of the greatest venues in the world to see classical music. From Symphony Center and Lyric Opera House to Millennium Park and Auditorium Theater, Chicago boasts large houses that are just as beautiful and grand as they are sonically pleasing. Beyond these major houses, Chicago is filled with smaller venues that can bring …

Elliott Golub, founding concertmaster of Music of the Baroque, dies at 85

Respected Chicago violinist Elliott Golub has died at age 85. He was the founding concertmaster of Music of the Baroque, holding the position from the ensemble’s establishment in 1972 until his retirement in 2006.

Playlist: Fretless and Linear — How Classical Violin Shaped Andrew Bird’s Sound

Using his violin and virtuosic whistle, Andrew Bird genre-jumps from indie rock to jazz, and from folk to classical. Born in Lake Forest, Bird began learning classical violin from the Suzuki Method at the age of four and recalls, “My mom would have WFMT on all the time… My dad listened to Merle Haggard.”

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma Performs Bach’s Cello Suites in Free Concert for Chicago

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

Get to know the musicians — and music — behind VOLTA, Cirque du Soleil’s latest show

“I saw my first Cirque du Soleil show when I was about 10 years old,” recalls percussionist and band leader Ben Todd ahead of a recent performance. “I’d already been playing drums for quite a while before then, but something about seeing a live band with the acrobatics on stage and being in this unique environment of a Big Top, …

‘Closets Are For Clothes’: Celebrating Pride Month through Musical Coming Out Stories

“I wanted to encourage young emerging LGBTQ+ composers to write pieces that tell their story in an authentic way… This concert series is both a celebration of how far we have come and how far we still have to go.”

Strike Up the Wind Band: Celebrating 50 Years of the Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble

Though Northwestern’s band program dates back to 1911, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble began in 1969.

Studs waltzes along with the Newberry Library’s latest dance exhibit

Studs Terkel was known for a lot of things-his Pulitzer Prize-winning oral histories, his seemingly boundless appetite for life, and even his penchant for cigars. One of Studs’ less well-remembered legacies, however, is his tremendous admiration for the art of dance.

CSO Contract Ratified, Strike Ends After 7 Weeks

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.

Why Composer and Chicago Children’s Choir Alum Ted Hearne Embraces Politics in His Art

The Chicago-born artist attributes his interest in politics and social justice to his many years singing in the Chicago Children’s Choir.

Ravinia Festival Announces 2019 Summer Season

Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand,” the continued celebration of the music and influence of Leonard Bernstein, and four films accompanied by live orchestra await festivalgoers this summer at Ravinia, which released its 2019 summer schedule this morning.

11 New Chicago Ensembles You Should Know

For naysayers who think classical music is on the decline, these Chicago-based performing groups offer the perfect response. All founded in the past three years, they’re offering fresh takes on repertoire familiar and unfamiliar, expanding the musical canon and enlivening the musical life of our city.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Musicians take to the picket line

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.

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