Celebrating Margaret Hillis

This broadcast celebrates Margaret Hillis, founder and first director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, featuring three Grammy Award-winning recordings. Bartók’s Cantata profana led by Pierre Boulez is the centerpiece, bookended by an excerpt from Brahms’ German Requiem and Verdi’s monumental Requiem, both under the baton of eighth music director Sir Georg Solti.

Mäkelä Conducts López Bellido & Mahler 5

Klaus Mäkelä returns to the CSO podium to lead Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. The program includes Sibelius’ The Swan of Tuonela, and a premiere performance of Aino by López Bellido, which the CSO’s co-commissioned. The opening of the broadcast is Corigliano’s Tournaments Overture under Sir Georg Solti’s baton.

Zhang & Trpčeski

Xian Zhang leads the CSO in Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony and Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s Primal Message. In between, Simon Trpčeski joins her in Grieg’s Piano Concerto. Opening the program, Sir Georg Solti leads the CSO in Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, Op. 56a from 1997 London recording.

Solti Foundation US Names 2024 Fellow

Previous recipients have included Karina Canellakis, Roderick Cox, and Gemma New.

Mäkelä Conducts López Bellido & Mahler 5

CSO music director-designate Klaus Mäkelä returns to the Symphony Center podium.

A Chicago Symphony Chorus Spotlight

Maestros Barenboim, Boulez, and Solti conduct the CSO with the Chicago Symphony Chorus under the direction of chorus founder Margaret Hillis.

CSO Cellist David Sanders to retire after nearly 50 years

Sanders was the last active member of the legendary Frank Miller-helmed CSO cello section.

Handel Messiah & Tchaikovsky Nutcracker

Holiday music conducted by Sir Georg Solti and Fritz Reiner.

Salonen & Kuusisto

Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to the CSO podium for Ravel, Stravinsky, and Dessner.

Cheryl Frazes Hill on Margaret Hillis

Hillis was the first woman to regularly conduct a major symphony orchestra, she was the founder of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and served for thirty-seven years as its first director, winning nine Grammy Awards.

Solti Conducts Del Tredici

We celebrate Sir Georg Solti and Barbara Hendricks’ birthdays in Final Alice by Del Tredici.

Solti Conducts Mahler 8

The multiple Grammy-winning release.

Riccardo Muti becomes Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s music director emeritus for life

The announcement was made on the stage of Orchestra Hall on Friday night after a performance of Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis,” the start of Muti’s final subscription weekend as music director.

Great Guest Soloists

This week, we celebrate Byron Janis’s 95th birthday in Strauss’s Burleske in D Minor from a 1957 RCA recording and some of the guest soloists who have appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra over the years.

Solti Foundation US Announces 2023 Conducting Award Recipient

The $30k grant is reserved for rising conductors and is given to further the recipient’s career and artistic development.

Cheryl Frazes Hill on Margaret Hillis

Hillis was the first woman to regularly conduct a major symphony orchestra, she was the founder of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and served for thirty-seven years as its first director, winning nine Grammy Awards.

Salonen & Kuusisto

Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to the CSO podium for Ravel’s Mother Goose, Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, and a 2021 concerto by Bryce Dessner.

Mozart’s Top 10 Works

Picking a favorite out of Mozart’s immense catalog of music is no small feat, so we asked all WFMT hosts, producers, and staff to weigh in on their best-loved compositions and recordings.

In Their Own Words: Inspiring Quotes From Classical Artists, Members of the Arts Community, and Colleagues Who Died in 2021

As we reflect on the year gone by, Classical WFMT salutes the contributions of members of the arts community who died this past year.

Gemma New Announced as 2021 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Fellow

Originally from New Zealand, Gemma New is the music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra in Ontario and the principal guest conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

WFMT and CSO Partner for New Series: From the CSO’s Archives: The First 130 Years

Today, WFMT and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra announce the launch of an exciting new broadcast and streaming series.

Playlist: Classical Music Inspired by Flowers and Nature

Many composers have also answered the call of springtime’s riotous colors during this, the blooming season.

WFMT, CSO Announce Extension of Joint Series ‘From the CSO’s Archives: Maestro’s Choice’

The joint series, which is curated by CSO music director Riccardo Muti, launched in April in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marcello Giordani, tenor of beauty and heft, dies at 56

Giordani had a heart attack at his home in Sicily.

“Kerry, it’s Norm!” — Remembering Norman Pellegrini

When this particular phone call came, it was usually trouble. What often followed was something like “I don’t believe there’s a ‘cough’ in Prokofiev. Love you madly! Goodnight.” Norman Pellegrini, WFMT’s illustrious program director of 43 years, was always listening — vigilant, protective of the station’s values, always blunt in his criticism, and usually right.