Playlist: WFMT Selects Classical Music to Help You Brave the Winter

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

Grant Park Music Festival Announces 2019 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.

Playlist: 10 Latvian Composers You Should Know

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.

Nico Muhly scores with second commission from Met

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 …

Playlist: 10 Czech Composers You Should Know (Who Aren’t Dvořák)

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!

Playlist: Corky Siegel at 75 — The Future Is an Unopened Present

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.

Meet Missy Mazzoli, the CSO’s New Composer-in-Residence

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 …

Video | Violinist Jennifer Koh on Creating a Diverse, Thriving Future for Classical Music

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.”

Hear the Symphony Mohammed Fairouz Composed as a Response to the 9/11 Attacks

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.

Video: Mezzo-Soprano J’Nai Bridges Performs Live in the WFMT Studios

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!

Spears, Smith to write ‘Castor and Patience’ for Cincinnati

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 …

Hear the Album Inspired by the Incredible Life of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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 Appoints Missy Mazzoli as Composer-in-Residence

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 …

Esa-Pekka Salonen: Without New Music, Orchestras and Opera Houses Will “Dry up”

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.

Playlist: 20 Works That Inspire CSO Composers-in-Residence Elizabeth Ogonek, Samuel Adams

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.

Inside the Sounds of the Upside Down: Meet the Composers of the Netflix Hit Stranger Things

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.

Video | Jennifer Koh Plays 6 New Works That Redefine Violin Virtuosity for the 21st Century

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.

Video | The Most Important Advice That Composer Ludovico Einaudi Received from His Mentor Luciano Berio

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 …

Listen to the Music of Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou: Pianist, Composer, Nun, and Living Legend

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.

Do Yourself a Favor and Watch This Charming Video of BJörk Interviewing Composer Arvo Pärt

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.

Playlist: The Best Classical Music to Serve at Your Next Cookout

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.

CSO’s MusicNOW Announces 20th Anniversary Season: Vijay Iyer, Salonen, Evening-Length Theatrical Work

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

Composer Rodrigo Cadet Creates World-Premiere Works for Chicago Students to Teach About Mexico & Its Music

“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 …

“Difficult, But Worth It”: Singers Share Their Secrets to Memorizing Opera Scores by Philip Glass

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.

Composer Creates Music Major for Persecuted Bahá’ís in Iran Despite No Classrooms, Teachers, Piano

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 …