Music and Conversation with Hélène Grimaud

An interview with the prodigious French pianist in advance of her recital at Symphony Center.

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.

Shelby Yamin, violin and Lillia Woolschlager, piano

Violinist Shelby Yamin and Pianist Lillia Woolschlager perform music by Amy Beach, Marie Jaëll, Ingeborg von Bronsart, Cécile Chaminade, and Clara Schumann, live from the Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago.

Chelsea Guo, soprano and piano

Soprano and Pianist Chelsea Guo performs music by Clara and Robert Schumann, live from the Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago.

Arensky, Bernstein, and Clara Schumann

This week, discover Anton Arensky’s memorial to Tchaikovsky in the form of his Quartet in A Minor for Violin, Viola, and Two Cellos, Op. 35. Also featured on the program: Leonard Bernstein’s first published work, and Clara Schumann’s Three Romances, Op. 22.

Golda Schultz on Songs by Female Composers

The South African soprano shares songs by Clara Schumann, Rebecca Clarke, Emilie Mayer, Nadia Boulanger, and Kathleen Tagg.

Video: Warm Up With This Concert of French Music by Geneva Lewis & Sahun Sam Hong

How about some musical bonbons for a cold winter day? With several inches of snow outside, violinist Geneva Lewis and pianist Sahun Sam Hong teamed up for a bright performance of French music confections.

Artist Icebreaker: Pianist Lara Downes

Ahead of her appearance at Ravinia this week, we sat down to talk with Lara Downes about her efforts to broaden the classical canon, her first introduction to Black composers like Florence Price and Margaret Bonds, and why she loves to work with Rachel Barton Pine.

Video: Music of Romantic Masters Played Live By Duo Dotto-Cho

The music of Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, and Johannes Brahms somehow managed to make a lovely spring afternoon even better.

Video: Ascendant Violinist Joshua Brown Plays Debussy, Wieniawski, and Clara Schumann

With collaborative pianist Milana Pavchinskaya, Brown gave a sensitive, engrossing performance to an empty audience in the Chicago Cultural Center.

An Irrepressible Soprano Takes On an Overlooked Repertoire

What is a versatile and active musician to do during quarantine? Susan Nelson has been learning and sharing songs by female composers and songwriters across various genres.

Playlist: 88 Piano Pieces for Piano Month

September is National Piano Month, so WFMT is sharing a supersized playlist – with one selection corresponding to each key on the keyboard.

Playlist: 10 Trailblazing Composers You Should Know (…Who Also Happen to Be Women)

From medieval times to modernity, women have made important contributions to all aspects of music, including as composers.

Playlist: 12 Clara Schumann Pieces You Should Know

Clara Schumann was one of the 19th century’s most celebrated composers and performers for the piano. Ahead of the 200th anniversary of her birth, celebrate her with a playlist of some of her greatest compositions.

Playlist: Classical Music From Composers’ School Days

Just because the school year is right around the corner doesn’t mean that you have to stop playing (or writing) music. As proof, here are 16 pieces from composers written when they were still students!

Pianist Lara Downes on Drawing Courage, Joy From Women Composers and Artists

“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.”

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.