“We’ve truly made Treemonisha the heroine. She doesn’t need a man to save her. She does everything herself.”

This week, we celebrate women in composition and performance. Violinist Kyung-Wha Chung performs Berg’s Violin Concerto, led by Sir Georg Solti. Cellist Jacqueline Du Pré has the spotlight in Dvořák’s Silent Woods, led by Daniel Barenboim, who also conducts Ran’s Legends. The program also includes Pierre Boulez conducting Augusta Read Thomas’s … words of the sea… and Sir Georg Solti …

With a characteristically star-studded lineup of conductors and soloists.

Ahead of his debut as WFMT’s Morning Music host, WFMT spoke with John Clare to welcome him to Chicago airwaves and introduce him to listeners.

Music from the 1800s to today to honor each of the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

Kristina and LaRob sit down for an informal listening party with composer, violinist, and CSO Mead Composer in Residence, Jessie Montgomery. She shares her musical inspirations, music she wishes she composed herself, and gives some insight into the life of a composer in the 21st century!

The inaugural 2024-2025 season contains four concerts taking place on Wednesday over the course of the year. The debut season boasts six world premieres.

Composer Jessie Montgomery wrote Transfigure to Grace after reflecting on the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to America. Riccardo Muti conducts its world premiere, plus music by Rachmaninoff and Wagner.

Conducted by Elim Chan and featuring pianist Igor Levit.

We celebrate the CSO’s most recent Grammy Award–winning recording, Contemporary American Composers, released on CSO Resound. The broadcast features Glass’ Eleventh Symphony, plus world premiere recordings by Jessie Montgomery and Max Raimi. The broadcast opens with another legendary Grammy winner: Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra under the baton of Fritz Reiner.

Music and the struggle for freedom go hand in hand. The program pairs Beethoven overtures with two works championing freedom and social justice in our own country.

Osmo Vänskä leads the CSO in Orff’s Carmina burana featuring Joélle Harvey, Reginald Mobley and Hugh Russell. Plus a Seiji Ozawa-conducted performance of Britten’s Young Person’s Guide.

Two composers with strong Chicago ties…

The lineup includes chamber performances, dance, family programming, and more.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association has announced its 2024–2025 season, a full year of concerts in its mainstage subscription series, as well as chamber, solo, family, and other programming.

Follow live on Sunday, February 4, as music’s biggest awards are given out!

Marin Alsop leads the German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, in a performance of Montgomery, Dean, and Dvořák.

Another packed summer of live music awaits.

Welcoming 2024 with Bernstein’s effervescent Overture to Candide and the luxuriant storytelling of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade in a program conducted by Chicago Sinfonietta music director Mei-Ann Chen.

Jessie Montgomery, Carlos Simon, and Jasmine Barnes join WFMT to preview the season premiere of CSO MusicNOW.

Peruse the hopefuls for classical, jazz, soundtrack, and more!

Violinist James Ehnes takes center stage in a performance of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto. Music by Jessie Montgomery, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky rounds out the performance.

Erina Yashima also leads works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Franz Schubert, and Jessie Montgomery.

This week, Osmo Vänskä leads the CSO in Orff’s Carmina burana featuring Joélle Harvey, Reginald Mobley, and Hugh Russell. Included in the program is Montgomery’s Banner and Rautavaara’s Cantus Arcticus, as well as Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

The exciting and innovative Eric Jacobsen makes his Grant Park Music Festival debut.