“One of the great things about the orchestra is that it is always evolving…”

“It feels like I’ve been carrying this world with me for a long time.”

“I thought that this was a piece that needed good tunes. And also, because it’s a concerto, you have to have some fast music in there. There are parts where I’m like, ‘Okay, let’s let it rip.'”

It was a rap song by Nas that directly influenced Chicago composer Steve Wallace’s newest chamber opera, Undying Love.

From the Composer’s Studio invites you to hear Missy Mazzoli and Jessie Montgomery, two of today’s most celebrated composers, provide a glimpse into their work. Enjoy this insightful, lively discussion co-produced by the CSOA and WFMT.

When it comes to getting around a bustling city like Chicago to see the sights, jumping in a cab is a great place to start. But hearing the city? Turns out, a taxi can take you on a listening journey, too.

Enjoy the beauty of live music-making (even if you aren’t there in person) with a star-studded chamber music sampler of works new and old.

China’s first classical music festival since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic is featuring musicians and music from the former epicenter of Wuhan.

This past February, Stephen Alltop led the Northwestern University Symphony, the Alice Millar Chapel Choir, the Evanston Children’s Choir, and soloists in Terra Nostra – Our Earth – by the acclaimed Chicago-based composer Stacy Garrop. This large-scale celebration of our planet, and the relationship between humankind and the natural world, uses poetry by Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Walt Whitman, and …

WFMT observes the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day with a fitting broadcast: Chicago composer Stacy Garrop’s oratorio Terra Nostra, which celebrates our planet and explores the relationship between humankind and the natural world.

This prismatic NPR Tiny Desk Concert will challenge your view of what making music means in the digital age.

A marathon 6-hour performance will be held in an unexpected (but increasingly familiar) place: Zoom! The video conferencing platform will provide the proscenium for a performance of Pauline Oliveros’ postmodern masterpiece ‘The Lunar Opera.’

Wuorinen won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize in Music for ‘Time’s Encomium,’ a four-channel work for synthesized sound that became the first electronic composition to earn the honor.

With all the incredible performances that happen every year around this city, it can be easy to forget: Chicago is a hub for new music. This year, one of the cornerstones of Chicago’s contemporary classical music scene — Frequency Festival — celebrates its fifth year in a week of new music concerts.

With a story that highlights how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go, Chicago Opera Theater presents the world premiere of Dan Shore’s Freedom Ride, which centers on a pivotal moment in the civil rights struggle.

On Wednesday, February 12, Lyric Opera of Chicago general director Anthony Freud and music director Sir Andrew Davis announced the company’s 66th season. A North American premiere, a Midwest premiere, and a special opening night concert with Renée Fleming are among the highlights. The 2020-2021 season will also be Sir Andrew’s last as music director.

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.

Classical music, jazz, Celtic folksongs, and funk — these genres make up just a few of the words in Wynton Marsalis’ musical language. Violinist Nicola Benedetti calls Marsalis’ new violin concerto a “path of discovery.”

Thompson’s 2015 piece brings to light an issue that hits close to home in Chicago and countrywide: the killing of unarmed African American men. Thompson parallels Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ; using the liturgy as a guide, he weaves a piece that prompts conversation about race and social injustice.

Born in Damascus, Syria, clarinetist Kinan Azmeh’s home country has undergone years of political strife, violence, and a refugee crisis. Azmeh has looked to his own craft in order to draw attention to these ongoing struggles in the form of a concerto by Syrian composer Kareem Roustom.

In February, soprano Tamara Wilson joined WFMT to perform a celestial song cycle composed for her by Chicago composer James Kallembach. The works draw from the experience of women astronauts, including Sally Ride, Sunita Williams, and Peggy Whitson. We’re bringing this video back in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.

This is the third major presentation of City Opera’s LGBTQ series following Peter Eotvos’ Angels in America in 2017 and Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain last year.

“I believe that Karenina is a magical moment of looking at our beautiful art form and taking it a step forward,” says Ashley Wheater, Joffrey Ballet’s artistic director. One of the cornerstones of the production is 35-year-old composer Ilya Demutsky’s brand new, full-length orchestral score, the first such commission in Joffrey’s 62-year history.

Renée Baker’s interest in Baldwin began when she first heard recordings of his voice. “The person that I’d only accessed from books became quite real once I was able to actually hear and listen to him speak.” She notes.

Violinist Jennifer Koh visited WFMT for a Facebook live broadcast and shared two contrasting works — the “Sarabande” from Bach’s Violin Partita No.2 in D minor and “Kinski Paganini,” by Missy Mazzoli. She also spoke about the importance of ensuring that there is diversity in future generations of classical artists. “One of the things that’s important to me,” Koh shared, “is to bring voice to people who didn’t have that voice before.”