Season Finale: Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances

Closing out the 2023 Grant Park Music Festival season with music by Modest Mussorgsky, Felix Mendelssohn, and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Hough Plays Mendelssohn

Respected pianist Stephen Hough performs Felix Mendelssohn’s 1st Piano Concerto.

Little Traveling Music, Please

Wanderers, farewells, and sightseeing; people are always on the go. This week, Bill calls up, “A Little Traveling Music, Please” from the pens of Handel, Smetana, Duke Ellington, and more. Reflections from such travels infuse themselves into their works, as we will discover throughout the week. We will hear selections from Beethoven’s Les Adieux, Schubert’s Die Schöne Mullerin, and Haydn’s …

RSMI Piano/Strings On Tour

Artists from the Ravinia Steans Music Institute — Ravinia’s training ensemble — join the program’s director, violinist Miriam Fried, to play a medley of quartets.

Playlist: Loud Classical Music

Whether you are looking to rev up for the race or drown out the din, this playlist of cacophonous classical music is for you.

Evening with Mendelssohn

Two works by Felix Mendelssohn.

Evolving Ensembles

We start with a Boccherini quintet before advancing to Mendelssohn’s monumental octet.

Masterworks for Organ and String Orchestra

Maestro Emanuele Andrizzi leads the Chicago College of Performing Arts Chamber Orchestra in music by Mendelssohn, Poulenc, and Vaughan Williams.

Paul Huang, violin & Helen Huang, piano

WFMT is honored to present a recital by two extraordinarily virtuosic collaborators who happen to share the same last name. The pair plays music by Gabriel Fauré, Frédéric Chopin, and Felix Mendelssohn.

CSO 2023-24 Season Announced: Myriad Guest Conductors as Muti Era Closes

The season will be the first following the departure of Riccardo Muti as music director. But the maestro will be close at hand as he continues his association with the CSO.

Grant Park Music Festival 2023 Season Released

What music will fill your summer? Grant Park shares its 2023 offerings.

Playlist: Classical Music for Travel

WFMT brings you a “musical getaway,” whether you’re enjoying the comfort of your cushiest armchair or exploring somewhere new!

Grant Park Music Festival Announces Full 2022 Season

The season begins on June 15 with artistic director and principal conductor Carlos Kalmar leading music of Mozart, Wagner, and Price.

Video: Two Unsung Quartets Played by Fischoff-Winning Risus Quartet

Hearing music by Schubert and Mendelssohn, WFMT audiences enjoyed some rarified music-making by the Risus Quartet, the Grand Prize winner of the prestigious 2021 Fishoff Competition.

‘A rose for love and a book forever’: Literature for Music Lovers on World Book Day

WFMT host Candice Agree has selected some of her favorite works of literature that have inspired musical compositions for you to enjoy on World Book Day.

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: Christmas Classics Performed by Chicago Artists

Chicagoans really know how to celebrate the holidays! Here’s a playlist of Christmas favorites as performed by Chicago-area artists and ensembles.

Playlist: Aeronautic and Maritime Music for the Skies and Seas

Brace your ears: the Chicago Air and Water Show is upon us! But there’s more to hear than the roars of the Blue Angels and Red Arrows — take in the excitement while listening to music inspired by aviation and nautical navigation!

Playlist: WFMT Selects Classical Music to Help You Spring into Spring

You made it; the frigid, blustery days of winter have finally passed, and spring is here! Here is some music that captures the season’s irrepressible spirit.

Playlist: Classical Music for Weddings (That’s Not Pachelbel’s Canon)

If you’re looking to add a classical touch to your nuptials, but would like to avoid the ubiquitous “Canon,” we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite pieces to match the mood of each moment in the ceremony.

Grant Park Music Festival Announces 2018 Season

The summer festival’s 2018 season of concerts runs for 10 weeks from June 13 to August 18.

Hess Concerts Celebrates 40 Years of Presenting Free Music in Downtown Chicago

On October 20, 1977, the first Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert was presented in Chicago, inspired by Dame Myra Hess’ passion to make music accessible for all.

10 Composers Who Surprised Us With Their Hidden Talents

Though we tend to remember our favorite composers for their music first and foremost, many of them were virtuosic in more ways than one.

Video: This Dog Wanted to Hear Mendelssohn Better, So It Took a Seat Next to the First Violinist

Dog image: SixtyWeb, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons This cute Labrador may be the biggest Mendelssohn fan you’ve seen. A dog joined the Vienna Chamber Orchestra during a recent performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 at the 31st International İzmir Festival in İzmir, Turkey. This outdoor annual festival brings live concerts to the historic stage of the Grand Theater of Ephesus, …

Art and Music: Mendelssohn’s Watercolors

Felix Mendelssohn was a beacon in his world, whether as a conductor, composer, scholar, or painter. As a painter, he wallowed in images of man in dialogue with nature: landscapes with buildings or people under trees. The image to the right is of an unknown subject, but brings to mind the mysterious, churning sounds of his Hebrides Overture, and offers …