Sounds like the Harlem Renaissance

Join the hosts of Sounds Classical as they take a dive into the breadth of art-making during the Harlem Renaissance and its impact on the classical world. Discover how Margaret Bonds brought her connections to Langston Hughes with her to Chicago and much more!

Grant Park Music Festival 2025 Season: Guerrero Era Begins

Marking the free classical music festival’s first season led by Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero.

Sounds like the Harlem Renaissance

Join the hosts of Sounds Classical as they take a dive into the breadth of art-making during the Harlem Renaissance and its impact on the classical world. Discover how Margaret Bonds brought her connections to Langston Hughes with her to Chicago and much more!

Lara Downes with Nicole Cabell

Works by Florence Price and other women composers, including unpublished songs by Margaret Bonds.

Lindsey Sharpe, cello & John Bitoy, piano

Cellist Lindsey Sharpe and pianist John Bitoy perform works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Margaret Bonds, Claude Debussy, and Astor Piazzolla.

Songs of Freedom

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.

90 Years: Grant Park Music Festival Announces 2024 Season

Another packed summer of live music awaits.

Lara Downes with Nicole Cabell

Works by Florence Price and other women composers, including unpublished songs by Margaret Bonds.

Grant Park Music Festival Vocal Fellows

Grant Park Music Festival Vocal Fellows soprano Taylor Mackenzie Adams, mezzo-soprano Miya Higashiyama, tenor Eric Botto, and baritone Anthony Pilcher sing the Liebeslieder Waltzes by Johannes Brahms and music by Margaret Bonds, Leonard Bernstein, and more.

Juneteenth: Remembrance and Celebration

A special program commemorating the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans

Classical Music in the Loop as Guarneri Hall Announces 5th Anniversary Season

Over six programs, Guarneri will present wide-ranging explorations of chamber music repertoire.

Rediscovered Composers

A rare opportunity to hear Margaret Bonds’s Montgomery Variations. Composed in 1964 and dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr., the work is based on events and ideas in the Civil Rights Movement.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Art: Music, Dance, Poetry, and more

An assortment of multimedia tributes — music, visual arts, poetry, and dance — to the monumental Civil Rights leader.

Ravinia Returns for 2021 Season

Ravinia Festival is back for 2021 for its 85th concert season, offering up a signature blend of classical, jazz, folk, and rock music performances.

Juneteenth 2020 on WFMT

In observance of Juneteenth, WFMT is sharing music by Black composers and performers throughout the day.

Pianist Lara Downes Joins WFMT for a Moving and Timely Virtual Concert and Conversation

In troubled times, music is a source of hope and healing. In a virtual interview and concert with WFMT’s George Preston, pianist Lara Downes performs selections from her new album, Some of These Days.

Playlist: 19 African American Composers to Celebrate on Juneteenth (and Every Day of the Year)

Though African Americans have faced oppression throughout American history and the arts, Black composers’ contributions to music have been nothing short of history-changing.

How Women of the Chicago Black Renaissance Changed Classical Music Around the World

Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Irene Britton Smith, Nora Holt, and countless other women of color contributed to the Chicago Black Renaissance and changed classical music around the world.