Terence Andrus has been on death row since 2012. Through a pen pal program, bass-baritone Ryan McKinny became a friend and artistic collaborator.

“There are very few places, it seems to me, where people go to reflect as a community… The opera house, or the concert hall, is one of those sacred spaces where you go to connect and communicate with each other as a community,” reflected composer Jake Heggie during a panel about his opera, Dead Man Walking, at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Moby-Dick is a Great American Novel, no doubt. But that fact doesn’t make Herman Melville’s 600+ page opus any less intimidating. For readers who got stuck somewhere in the middle of the colossal work (we can’t blame you if you were discouraged by the lengthy section of whale taxonomies), you can still join Ahab, the Pequod, and of course, the …

On February 10, some of the biggest names in the music industry convened at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles. R&B and soul singer Alicia Keys hosted the ceremony, as winners were announced in 30 fields and 84 categories. Below are the nominees and winners for the classical music categories.

Enjoy a performance recorded live at the Chicago Cultural Center featuring your favorite classics as well as a new work by Jake Heggie.