2024–2025 Season of Change for Chicago Opera Theater

The season is the first programmed by 2023-appointed general director Lawrence Edelson and the first following the departure of Lidiya Yankovskaya as music director.

Opera Fest of Chicago Returns for Summer Italian Works

The festival, which is dedicated to presenting seldom-performed Italian opera titles, shares a two-program slate in June and July.

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 …

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: 10 Piano Concertos You Need to Know But Probably Don’t

You voted on your 10 favorite piano concertos and we aired them on WFMT along with 10 piano concertos that might be less familiar to you. Which of the concertos below are discoveries to you? Which of your favorites would you add to the list?

Recalling Gian Carlo Menotti

In the early 1990s, the famed composer and librettist Gian Carlo Menotti came to Chicago as the guest for a black-tie event for Chicago Opera Theater. Larry Johnson recounts a rare opportunity to spend time with a world-famous musician and composer.

Studs Terkel Spoke To the Greatest Musicians of His Time. Now You Can Hear Their Conversations Online.

Between 1952 and 1997, Studs Terkel invited some of the world’s best musicians to join him for his hour-long radio program on WFMT.

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.

Playlist: Opera’s Most Ghastly Ghouls, Ghosts, and Goblins

The opera house can be a scary place – and we’re not talking about all those crazy singers and their shenanigans backstage! Many operas contain ghastly ghouls, ghosts, goblins, witches, dragons, and all kinds of crazy creatures. Here are some of the most frightening pieces from the history of opera.

From 17th Century Spectacle to Contemporary Classics, a First Look at Chicago’s Fall Opera Season

Whether you’re new to opera or consider yourself a connoisseur, there’s something for everyone to enjoy this fall in Chicago. Here are four operas we are excited to see in the coming months.

Chicago Opera Theater Announces 17-18 Season Including World Premiere by Pulitzer-Winning Team

Chicago Opera Theater announced its 2017-18 season: three operas, including a world-premiere co-production with Opera Philadelphia, to be staged at the newly-renovated Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building.

Add ‘The Miracle of Hanukkah’ Opera to Your Holiday Traditions, Now That It’s (Finally) Been Written

“Music and worship started out together…” composer and conductor Victoria Bond explains. “In Jewish worship, prayers are not spoken, they are sung.”

Playlist: 38 Classical Hidden Gems You Should Listen to Right Now

Time for a musical deep dive!

15 Queer Composers You Should Know

Can you imagine a world without the music of Handel, Tchaikovsky, or Britten? These great composers of the past are just a few of many important musical figures who did not identify as heterosexual.