“There are very few places… where people go to reflect as a community… The opera house, or the concert hall, is one of those sacred spaces…” observes composer Jake Heggie.

“Maybe we’re getting used to being misunderstood… Hopefully, [through] music, we can be more open,” reflects Wang Lu. Her work, Code Switch, will have its world premiere to open the first MusicNOW concert of the CSO season.

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.

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.

In February, soprano Tamara Wilson joined WFMT to perform a celestial song cycle composed for her by Chicago composer James Kallembach. The works draw from the experience of women astronauts, including Sally Ride, Sunita Williams, and Peggy Whitson. We’re bringing this video back in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.

Classical and jazz composer-pianist Anthony Davis’ latest opera, The Central Park Five, with a libretto by Richard Wesley, premiered in June 2019. We spoke with the composer and members of the creative team about bringing the opera to life.

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.”

“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.”

The father, Sergio, is a guitarist, composer, arranger, educator, and the daughter, Clarice, is a bold and highly innovative vocalist, composer, orchestrator, videographer, and mentor.

Over the span of just 9 months, Philadelphia Orchestra went from being one of the least representative orchestras of women composers to being the most.

A musical treat even more delicious than an alfajor.

CHICAGO (AP) — A music composition professor in Illinois has learned he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music . Western Illinois University notes that finalists aren’t known until after a winner is announced. A Friday statement from the school says one of its professors, James Romig, found out he’d been up for the award after Los Angeles composer Ellen Reid was …

Moby-Dick is a Great American Novel, no doubt. But that fact doesn’t make Herman Melville’s 600+ page opus any less intimidating.

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

More than two decades after a tragedy catalyzed a generation of LGBTQ activists, Matthew Shepard’s story is being shared with a new generation through music.

Known for composing in styles ranging from melody to dissonance, he earned the Pulitzer in 1975 for From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, a composition for voice and piano.

“I believe that Karenina is a magical moment of looking at our beautiful art form and taking it a step forward,” says Ashley Wheater, Joffrey Ballet’s artistic director. One of the cornerstones of the production is 35-year-old composer Ilya Demutsky’s brand new, full-length orchestral score, the first such commission in Joffrey’s 62-year history.

Renée Baker’s interest in Baldwin began when she first heard recordings of his voice. “The person that I’d only accessed from books became quite real once I was able to actually hear and listen to him speak.” She notes.

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

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.

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!