CSO Cellist David Sanders to retire after nearly 50 years

Sanders was the last active member of the legendary Frank Miller-helmed CSO cello section.

Mahler & Britten

We conclude the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra broadcast season in triumphant fashion, with an excerpt from Britten’s Peter Grimes and Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony.

Brahms, Strauss, Mozart

Seminal orchestral works by Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart make up this performance led by music director laureate Edo de Waart.

Aaron Diehl Trio

Music director Ken-David Masur welcomes the Aaron Diehl Trio for Mary-Lou Williams’s Zodiac Suite before conducting the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Milwuakee Symphony Women’s Chorus in Holst’s seminal The Planets.

Don Juan & Beethoven Piano

Roderick Cox conducts the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and pianist Inon Barnatan in music by Richard Strauss, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Jean Sibelius.

Stephen Hough Plays Rachmaninoff

Star pianist Stephen Hough takes the stage to perform Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto.

Water Festival: Smetana, Hailstork, Takemitsu, Debussy

Music director Ken-David Masur leads water-inspired music by Smetana, Hailstork, Takemitsu, Debussy, and David Ludwig.

Fresh Air & Beethoven’s Eroica

Tension, energy, and triumph abound in Beethoven’s history-changing Eroica Symphony. In contrast, Sebastian Currier’s delicate and mesmerizing Aether evokes “the air the gods breathe.”

Every Tree Speaks: Habbi, Brahms, & Schumann

In an ode to the wonder of our natural world, this program ponders fate, resolve, and reverence.

James Ehnes Plays Prokofiev

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.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra 2023-24 Season

A preview of the upcoming season with music director Ken-David Masur and the orchestra’s new artistic partner, bass-baritone Dashon Burton.

Pictures at an Exhibition

Ken-David Masur — music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago — takes the Millennium Park stage.

Third Coast Percussion 2023-24 Season Released

One of Chicago’s most notable and dynamic ensembles has announced its upcoming season.

2021 Grammys: Classical Music Nominees and Winners

It’s been a strange, difficult year for the music world, which is all the more reason to celebrate musical excellence.

Decade in Review: The 2010s and Classical Music

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.

‘Come as You Are’: Ken-David Masur on Building Community With Civic Orchestra

For Ken-David Masur, artistry is just one aspect of a successful career in classical music; community engagement and outreach are of equal importance in building both a thriving artist and a flourishing orchestra.

Hit the Road With These 3 Classical Music Road Trips You Can Take From Chicago

It’s just a fact: road trips are better when live music is the destination!

Musicians Share Why Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Is the Gig That Gives Them “All Any of Us Really Want”

As the WFMT Radio Network’s series from the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival returns, we asked participants what makes this location so enchanting.