Composers like Terence Blanchard, Ludovico Einaudi, Rachel Portman, and Lei Liang have brought light to the ongoing climate catastrophe through their music.

“Music’s biggest night” is right around the corner, and the classical music community has a lot to look forward to at the 2020 Grammys.

The 2010s were a tumultuous decade, replete with astounding artistic highlights, superlative new voices, and watershed moments of reckoning. WFMT hosts and staff reflect on what the past decade brought for classical music, and what the new decade may have in store.

Composer and percussionist Glenn Kotche is a force in both the classical music and rock worlds: his energetic performance, rhythmic intelligence, and inventive style set him apart.

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. Here are the nominees and winners for the classical music categories.

Winter can be grueling, but music can warm and soothe. Here’s the music that helps WFMT get through the season.

WFMT’s long-time resident “free spirit” Studs Terkel died near a decade ago, on Halloween in 2008, but he just made his Carnegie Hall debut. What brought about this feat of artistic time travel?

“Surprisingly, people will come up to me after [concerts] and say, ‘Oh that sounds like a banjo! That sounds like a harp! That sounds like a guitar!’”

“One of the things I really like about film is the size of the audience. There are potentially millions and millions of people who want to see film, who are open to hearing music, and who know that music can be an important part of the film experience.”

Growing up, composer Jonathan Berger reflects, “there was an enormous amount of talk in my house about what really constitutes patriotism, what is a right war and a wrong war…”