Winter can be grueling, but music can warm and soothe. Here’s the music that helps WFMT get through the season.

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.

Andris Nelsons, Mariss Jansons, Kristine Opolais: when we think of classical music in Latvia, most are either conductors or musicians. But Latvia also has an abundance of composers whose works you will want to hear.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ten years ago at age 27, Nico Muhly became the youngest composer ever to have a piece commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. “It was completely terrifying,” Muhly said of the offer from Met general manager Peter Gelb to write “Two Boys” for America’s leading opera house. As with any commission he gets, he said, “It’s not …

When it comes to Czech composers, most are familiar only with Antonín Dvořák. Here are ten more Czech composers that we think you should know!

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.

Missy Mazzoli is a composer who is inspired by “weird stories,” and that’s a good thing. Her fascination with “humans who support, undermine, and love each other” has paved the way for opportunities in nearly every realm of the music industry. She is one of two women composers commissioned to write an opera for the Metropolitan Opera in New York …

Violinist Jennifer Koh visited WFMT for a Facebook live broadcast and shared two contrasting works — the “Sarabande” from Bach’s Violin Partita No.2 in D minor and “Kinski Paganini,” by Missy Mazzoli. She also spoke about the importance of ensuring that there is diversity in future generations of classical artists. “One of the things that’s important to me,” Koh shared, “is to bring voice to people who didn’t have that voice before.”

When composer Mohammed Fairouz isn’t busy writing symphonies or operas, he’s likely writing about international politics for the Huffington Post, On Being, or Foreign Policy.

Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges is known for her interpretations of classic and contemporary works, and she shared both with us live in the WFMT studios – including a world premiere!

CINCINNATI (AP) — Composer Gregory Spears and U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith have been commissioned by the Cincinnati Opera to write Castor and Patience, a story of black cousins in the American South who disagree about the future of land they inherited. The company said Tuesday that the work will premiere at the Corbett Theater in July 2020. Smith’s …

With the Supreme Court very much in the news these days, a Chicago label has released a musical tribute illuminating the personal and professional life of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is marking 25 years on the high court.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti has appointed Missy Mazzoli as the orchestra’s new Mead Composer-in-Residence. Mazzoli will write a new work for the CSO, to be performed during the 2019-2020 season, and she will curate the orchestra’s Music Now concert series, plus give guidance for the programming of other contemporary music by the orchestra. Mazzoli’s compositions include two …

Composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen is known for his innovative approach to creating new music and curating concerts. During his Chicago residency, he sat down for a wide-ranging conversation about the importance of new works and the future of classical music.

Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Ogonek shared 20 modern and contemporary works that have most inspired them in celebration of 20 years of CSO’s MusicNOW series.

Get to know Emmy Award-winning composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, and how their interest in experimental music prepared them to score one of the definitive shows of our era.

Niccolò Paganini’s 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1 has defined virtuosity on the solo violin for nearly 200 years. Violinist Jennifer Koh is changing that.

Ludovico Einaudi (Photo: Ray Tarantino) Composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi made history when he became the first musician to take all top 10 single positions in the iTunes classical chart in 2015. When visiting Chicago to perform at Symphony Center on October 24, 2017, Einaudi explained how being a performer influences his compositional process. He also described lessons he learned …

From Mahmoud Ahmed to Tilahun Gesesse, Mulatu Astatke to Getatchew Mekuria, there have been many beloved musicians throughout Ethiopia’s history. However, there is only one that has combined the musical traditions of St. Yared, the father of Ethiopian religious music, with classical piano and the traditional pentatonic scales of Ethiopian music.

Even the biggest Björk fan might not know that she admires Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. However, listening to Pärt’s music, which many describe as “holy minimalism,” and then Björk’s, it’s easy to understand why.

As you fire up the grill, we have the perfect soundtrack for you: some of our favorite American works, from classics like Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to modern masterpieces like John Adams’ City Noir.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra recently announced the 2017-18 lineup for its acclaimed series MusicNOW, celebrating 20 years of bringing contemporary music to Chicago.

“Music is the perfect way to get to know other parts of the world,” said composer Rodrigo Cadet during a visit to Chicago from his native Mexico. “Sometimes you don’t have the time or means to travel to another place, but music can help you to do that.” As part of a yearlong residency, Cadet has been sharing his music …

Anyone who’s ever tried to sing or play an instrument knows that hard work and practice are essential to make a performance successful. But performing music from memory presents another challenge. The repetitions Glass uses make memorizing his music particularly difficult.

Growing up in Kerman, Iran, composer Badie Khaleghian received his first music lessons from his father. “When I was six or seven years old, he taught me how to play the recorder, then violin, and later piano.” As a young adult, Khaleghian wanted desperately to study music at the university level. “But because of my religion, I was not allowed …