The CSO’s music director made a remote return to the Windy City on Wednesday to lead an online masterclass with fellows from Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative.

On Saturday, March 7, four young artists competed for a dream opportunity: to perform with the CSO. With her performance of the first movement of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, violinist Isabella Brown won the competition.

Now in its 10th season, WFMT’s Introductions, the Saturday morning program that highlights the finest pre-college musicians in the Chicago area, has given young artists a platform to have their talents and voices heard. Many students who appear on the program decide to study music at an early age, but Introductions alum Ryan Meehan discovered the violin by accident. “I …

On Saturday, September 22, 2018, WFMT’s Introductions, the weekly program that features the Chicago area’s finest pre-college musicians, celebrated its 10th anniversary with a live radio broadcast from Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park to kick off Chicago’s first Youth Arts Showcase (YAS! Fest). The fest was a highlight event of the 2018 Year of Creative Youth, a citywide celebration of Chicago’s young artists and the mentors who inspire them…

Many musicians have started their careers in Chicago, and some of them have also studied at the Academy of the Music Institute of Chicago. Founded in 2006, the Academy was established to serve as a training center for gifted pre-college classical musicians. The program is designed for piano and strings. “The Academy was modeled after another program, the oldest of its …