Riccardo Muti and CSO Dedicate Performance to Victims of Northern California Fires during West Coast Tour

CSO music director Riccardo Muti decided to dedicate an encore to victims after a concert in Berkeley, where the orchestra had a multi-day residency.

James Levine Named Ravinia Conductor Laureate

James Levine, recently retired music director of the Metropolitan Opera, has been named conductor laureate of the Ravinia Festival.

Chicago Sinfonietta’s 30th Anniversary Season Showcases ‘Full Spectrum of Voices and Identities’

The Chicago Sinfonietta recently announced its 30th season line-up, as well as the launch of its Commissions by Women Composers Project, a season-long effort to close music’s gender equality gap by commissioning, performing, and recording, works by women composers.

Harris Theater for Music and Dance Brings ‘Epic Masterworks’ to Chicago in 2017-18 Season

The newly announced season features the Monteverdi Choir, American Ballet Theatre, and the Mark Morris Dance Group performing “epic masterworks.”

Chance the Rapper Gives $1 Million for Arts Ed in Chicago Public Schools, Goal to Raise $215 Million

Chance stated: “I’m committed to helping Chicago’s children having quality learning experiences, experiences that include the arts.”

NY Philharmonic president quits for University of Michigan

Matthew VanBesien will become the third executive to depart this year with the orchestra in the midst of fundraising to renovate its Lincoln Center home.

Hamburg’s spectacular Elbphilharmonie opens for 1st concert

The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester is playing music from the renaissance to the present, including works by Beethoven and Wagner and a new piece by German composer Wolfgang Rihm.

Lyric Opera of Chicago Casts TV and Broadway Stars in Upcoming “My Fair Lady”

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s American Musical Initiative has brought four productions to the Civic Opera House. Today, Lyric announced casting for its fifth musical in the series, “My Fair Lady.”

WFMT’s Studs Terkel Archive Receives $400,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Between 1952 and 1997, Studs’ radio show on WFMT featured many of the 20th century’s most vibrant artists and thinkers.

Chicago Public Schools Reports Increased Access to Arts Education, Despite Statewide Budget Crisis

Ingenuity Inc., an organization that works to improve and expand arts education in Chicago, released its annual progress report surveying arts education in Chicago Public Schools.  Considering that earlier this year, Illinois’ public school districts were $20 billion in debt, Ingenuity’s findings may surprise you. In 2013, CPS announced its Arts Education Plan, which states: “Through a comprehensive and sequential …

Pianist Mary Sauer Retires from Chicago Symphony Orchestra After 57 Years of Service

Sauer began her long tenure with the CSO in 1959 when Music Director Fritz Reiner invited her to perform with the orchestra. During the 1967-68 season, Music Director Jean Martinon officially added her to the roster. She was named principal piano at the start of the 2000-01 season.

New Yorker Illustrator Tom Bachtell Talks Trump, Clinton, and Obama

Even if you don’t know the name Tom Bachtell, you know his work. For over 20 years, the Chicago-based illustrator has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker, which includes his drawings and caricatures in “The Talk of the Town” each week. You may also have seen Bachtell’s art in other publications including The New York Times, The Wall …

Tech at the symphony: Boston orchestra loaning patrons iPads

BOSTON (AP) — A night at the symphony usually means silencing cellphones and mobile devices before the music starts. But as part of an effort to draw in a younger audience, the Boston Symphony Orchestra is loaning select patrons iPads loaded with content specific to each performance. They’ll be able to view sheet music for the pieces being played, video …

RIP Jim White, WFMT Chief Engineer

Mark Jahnke, VP and Chief Technology shares the sad news of Jim White’s death. Sadly, we received news last night that Jim White, Chief Engineer for WFMT, has passed away.  Although Jim just joined the company in February of this year, he had quickly become a valued member of the WFMT team.  The second Jim walked in the door at …

Mezzo Jamie Barton Receives $50K Richard Tucker Award

Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton was just named the recipient of the 2015 Richard Tucker Award, a prestigious honor conferred annually and informally dubbed the “Heisman Trophy of Opera.”

Julia Wolfe Wins 2015 Pulitzer Prize in Music

Judges described Wolfe’s work, Anthracite Fields, as a “powerful oratorio for chorus and sextet evoking Pennsylvania coal-mining life around the turn of the 20th Century.”

Lyric Opera of Chicago Announces 2016-17 Season

Lyric Opera of Chicago announced its 2016-17 season, scheduled to include eight opera productions on its main stage, one opera production at the Harris Theater, and one musical.

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