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.

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.

The Bolshoi Ballet is returning to Chicago for the first time in sixteen years. The Russian ballet company will perform at the Auditorium Theatre in June 2020, which will be the only Midwest stop on their United States tour. The Bolshoi Ballet will perform Yuri Grigorovich’s Swan Lake, set to Tchaikovsky’s classic score. Grigorovich, who served as the Bolshoi’s director …

A jazz pianist and composer is being honored with a lifetime achievement award on the occasion of African-American Heritage Month.

“Right now, we’re in a golden era of American opera”

The season features four Chicago premieres and the return of two reimagined staples.

With pianist Justina Lee, Wilson shared a selection from Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Weightless Dreams, a song cycle composed for Wilson based on the writings and experiences of women astronauts.

It will mark Muti’s tenth-anniversary season as music director as well as the 250th birthday of Beethoven. Muti conducts all of Beethoven’s symphonies over the course of the season, culminating in the triumphant Symphony No. 9 in June 2020.

“Culture — the way we express ourselves and understand each other — can bind us together as one world.”

The eighty-fifth annual season opens June 12 and will run through August 17, with most performances taking place at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.

In early November 2018, Graves was hospitalized for blockages in three coronary arteries, according to a statement from the school. His resignation comes amidst the contentious planned sale of the Old Town School’s Lincoln Park location, a facility it has operated for 50 years.

Candles flicker as young girls and boys parade up and down a stretch of Clark Street singing “The Lucia Song.” Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood has long held celebrations the St. Lucia Festival of Lights.

Chicagoans and visitors alike can now enjoy the sounds of the season with festive classical music selected by WFMT to accompany the holiday program for one of the city’s largest pieces of public art — Art on theMART.

WFMT is proud to celebrate the Art Institute of Chicago’s 125th anniversary – here’s to 125 more years of great art!

On December 3, 1818, Illinois became the 21st state in the union. You might know about the Prairie State’s most famous resident, Abraham Lincoln, but did you know these 5 facts about Illinois music?

“This idea of the one-man or one-woman show is very American. For the French, it is all about l’équipe, the team.”

“I love being able to share music with your close friends… As I started playing in more competitions and festivals, I would think, ‘Who would be my dream team for a quartet?’”

Though perhaps best-known as a master of the music of Chopin, Seong-Jin Cho showcased his dazzling versatility, rivetingly sharing music by Mozart and Mussorgsky.

Corky Siegel is one of the world’s great blues harmonica players. He is also a composer, pianist, singer, bandleader, teacher, and author whose curiosity about classical music and American blues has inspired much of his distinguished half-century career.

CMPI will support promising young musicians from underrepresented backgrounds and low-income households in order to diversify the next generation of musicians.

“The design decisions have been born of our experiences performing and recording,” Stefan Hersh explains.

CHICAGO (AP) — A Gettysburg Address rap by Broadway in Chicago’s Hamilton star Miguel Cervantes, Illinois-bred rockers REO Speedwagon and a cast of Prairie State celebrities will highlight the state’s 200th birthday party Dec. 3. The bicentennial extravaganza ‘s lineup was announced Thursday. The theme of the party at Chicago’s United Center is “Born, Built and Grown in Illinois.” A tribute …

This monthly podcast pairs some of Studs’ most compelling conversations with interviews with some of the most exciting voices of today.

On Saturday, September 22, 2018, WFMT’s Introductions, the weekly program that features the Chicago area’s finest pre-college musicians, celebrated its 10th anniversary with a live radio broadcast from Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park to kick off Chicago’s first Youth Arts Showcase (YAS! Fest). The fest was a highlight event of the 2018 Year of Creative Youth, a citywide celebration of Chicago’s young artists and the mentors who inspire them…

Riccardo Muti, addressing the 10 thousand-plus crowd, remarked that “all 3 pieces connect the desire of freedom, libertà, liberty!”