The recorder may call to mind tortured performances of “Hot Cross Buns” or “Jingle Bells” from your elementary school days, but these pieces make use of the instrument’s virtuosic potential.

Chicagoans really know how to celebrate the holidays! Here’s a playlist of Christmas favorites as performed by Chicago-area artists and ensembles.

Listening to classical music can provide a general sense of peace and tranquility, but many great works promote pacifism as their central theme.

Every morning, host Lisa Flynn shares the best new classical recordings to share with WFMT listeners, and now, you can take her selections with you wherever you go!

There are baritones, and then there are Verdi baritones. They are the elite performers, athletes among baritones, thrilling their fans with blazing top notes and plumbing the depths of some of the most dramatically complex roles in opera.

Frédéric Chopin is one of the most beloved composers of all time. Here are 10 jazz versions of Chopin that will have you listening to old favorites with new ears.

In the gap between a languid summer and a long winter, there’s just enough room left for fall. It’s a season for transformation, comfort, reflection, and growth. In other words, it’s the perfect time to grab some cider, take in that brilliant fall foliage, and enjoy this playlist created for you by WFMT staff and hosts!

Clara Schumann was one of the 19th century’s most celebrated composers and performers for the piano. Ahead of the 200th anniversary of her birth, celebrate her with a playlist of some of her greatest compositions.

Since there is a type of musical composition named for studying — études, for you non French-speakers — we have the perfect musical accompaniment while you hit the books.

Just because the school year is right around the corner doesn’t mean that you have to stop playing (or writing) music. As proof, here are 16 pieces from composers written when they were still students!

Regardless of his relationship to Mozart, Salieri was a successful composer in his own right, and we should not forget his music – particularly his operas!

Brace your ears: the Chicago Air and Water Show is upon us! But there’s more to hear than the roars of the Blue Angels and Red Arrows — take in the excitement while listening to music inspired by aviation and nautical navigation!

Some of the most beautiful music ever composed originates from or was inspired by the British Isles. Weekend morning program host Maggie Clennon Reberg and Introductions host and producer Michael San Gabino have selected some of their favorites in this great British playlist!

When you think of the trombone, what comes to mind? A particular classical work, or more likely, “Seventy-Six Trombones” leading a big parade? Although The Music Man brings the instrument into the spotlight in Meredith Willson’s hallmark song, the musical leaves a lot of room to explore the wide world of trombone repertoire.

Using his violin and virtuosic whistle, Andrew Bird genre-jumps from indie rock to jazz, and from folk to classical. Born in Lake Forest, Bird began learning classical violin from the Suzuki Method at the age of four and recalls, “My mom would have WFMT on all the time… My dad listened to Merle Haggard.”

While kitties are favored in contemporary popular culture (memes, viral videos, #Instagram), they have also long dominated the hearts of humans throughout history and are reflected through past art and music.

Summer is upon us! Whatever your plans, we have the perfect musical accompaniment: summery classical music selected by WFMT hosts and staff!

The father, Sergio, is a guitarist, composer, arranger, educator, and the daughter, Clarice, is a bold and highly innovative vocalist, composer, orchestrator, videographer, and mentor.

We can’t guarantee that you’ll love (or even like) each and every rendition, but we promise that you will be amazed by the beauty and the broad appeal of Schubert’s “Ave Maria.”

James Conlon’s OREL Foundation documents scores of composers whose lives were taken—directly or indirectly—or otherwise irrevocably altered by the Nazis. Here are four who persisted, creating art in the face of peril.

You made it; the frigid, blustery days of winter have finally passed, and spring is here! Here is some music that captures the season’s irrepressible spirit.

If given the task to assemble a collection of music that reflects humanity, what would you choose? This assignment was given to a group of astronomers, science writers, designers, and engineers. Their solution? The Voyager Golden Record: a collection of images, sounds, greetings, and a diverse array of music. Astrophysicist and Cornell University professor Carl Sagan led the Voyager Golden …

Frédéric Chopin’s collection of 21 nocturnes might be the best-known example of the musical form, but did you know the inventor of the nocturne was an Irish composer named John Field?

We can’t blame you if you wish you could just skip Valentine’s Day. As an antidote for the overpowering saccharine sentimentality of every February 14, we made this playlist of angry, downcast, and downright anti-romantic music.

A holiday celebrating love and romance? Sign us up! Valentine’s Day only comes around once a year, so now’s your chance to get swept away by this playlist of breathtakingly romantic classical music.