Playlist: Modern Music for Holiday Merriment

From totally fresh arrangements of old tunes to new winter works altogether.

Montgomery and the Blacknificent 7

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

Video Premiere: Exciting Brass Ensemble The Westerlies Plays ‘This is Water’

How a speech by David Foster Wallace inspired a new triptych for brass quartet.

Mason Bates Takes Us Inside the Orchestra, Literally, In New Concerto, Film

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

Errollyn Wallen On Embracing Serendipity, Bringing New Viewpoints to Music

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

Jennifer Higdon Tackles New Instruments, Breaks Boundaries

“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.'”

Verismo Meets Lyrical Flow: Chicago Composer Creates Opera from Classic Nas Track

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

Video: From the Composer’s Studio: A Conversation with Missy Mazzoli & Jessie Montgomery

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.

Hop In! Ear Taxi Festival Announces Fall 2021 Return

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.

Preview: A Look at the Live Music Of North Shore Chamber Music Fest

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 classical music festival to feature Wuhan musicians

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

Earth Day 2020: Stacy Garrop’s ‘Terra Nostra’

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 …

Inside Chicago Composer Stacy Garrop’s Rousing Eco-Oratorio ‘Terra Nostra’

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.

Take In the Gleaming Tones of Multi-Instrumentalist & Composer Ólafur Arnalds

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

6 Hours, 12 Countries, 250 Performers: ‘The Lunar Opera’ Gets the Virtual Treatment

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.’

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Charles Wuorinen dies at 81

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.

New Music, Deep Listening: Chicago’s Frequency Festival Celebrates 5 Years

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.

Drawing Hope and Courage from Opera: Dan Shore’s ‘Freedom Ride’

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.

Lyric Opera of Chicago Announces 2020-2021 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.

Playlist: Wilco Drummer, Classical Composer Glenn Kotche on His Favorite Classical Music

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.

A Concerto of Discovery: Nicola Benedetti on Collaborating With Wynton Marsalis

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.”

Composer Joel Thompson On Anti-Police Brutality, Racism Oratorio ‘Seven Last Words of the Unarmed’

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.

Syrian Artists Express Urgency and Celebrate Survival through Music

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.

On the Moon Landing’s 50th Anniversary, Hear a Song Cycle Inspired by American Women Astronauts

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.

After a 50-year wait, ‘Stonewall’ opera was written in weeks

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.