Trifonov Plays Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto

In the opening concert of the 2021-22 Season, Daniil Trifonov was soloist in Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto.

6 Studs Terkel Conversations With Native American Artists, Scholars, and Activists

Studs Terkel was committed to evolving, expanding, and examining our conception of who made up the USA.

Juneteenth Events in Chicago 2023

Concerts, festivals, and more to celebrate Juneteenth in Chicago.

11 Studs Terkel Conversations for Black History Month

Just a few of the Black voices from the Studs Terkel Radio Archive.

The Sounds of Chicago in a Festival of Art Song and Vocal Chamber Music

“We’re celebrating the spirit of the city and taking a moment for some musical civic pride!”

Grammys add new categories, including songwriter of the year

The Recording Academy has created a social change song award and five new categories, including songwriter of the year.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Art: Music, Dance, Poetry, and more

An assortment of multimedia tributes — music, visual arts, poetry, and dance — to the monumental Civil Rights leader.

Shaw, Sagan, and Searching: ‘The Listeners’

“For centuries, millennia, we humans have looked at the stars and wondered about our place in the universe and what’s beyond. That’s what I wanted to dig into,” reflects musician-composer-producer Caroline Shaw on her latest work, The Listeners.

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.

From the Studs Terkel Radio Archive: 7 Conversations with Poets for National Poetry Month

Throughout his 52 years at WFMT, Studs Terkel showcased and championed poets from across the globe.

Edgar Allan Poe, Leonard Slatkin, Vincent Price Team Up for an Orchestral Take on ‘The Raven’

As an outsized figure in literature and poetry, Poe has inspired composers like Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Philip Glass, and composer-conductor Leonard Slatkin, who set Poe’s “The Raven” to music in 1971.

WFMT Hosts and Staff Share Their Favorite Poems

April is National Poetry Month, so there’s no better time to share, revisit, or discover wonderful poetry. Here are our picks.

Billy Collins Recites his Conversational, Observational, Quirky Poems

“Radio is such a perfect medium for the transmission of poetry, primarily because there just is the voice.” — Billy Collins Billy Collins is a wonderfully prolific, contemporary poet whose brief, poignant, and idiosyncratic word gems earned him the prestigious title of Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. A distinguished educator, he was also named the …

Exploring Chords: “Appalachian Spring”

From its premiere more than 75 years ago, this music and ballet continue to speak to the American soul. Dive into the score of Appalachian Spring with Bill McGlaughlin.

Chicago Latino Music Festival Celebrates Its 14th Year

The festival’s artistic director Elbio Barilari, who also hosts WFMT’s Fiesta, remarked of the festival that “just the idea that a Latin American classical music festival exists in the US and has already been going on for 14 years is very exciting!”

Hear What Maya Angelou, ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ Author, Sounds Like Singing the Blues

Author and activist Maya Angelou is best for her autobiographical memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. But have you heard Angelou sing?

Star Soprano Kate Royal on the Joys and Difficulties of Singing Rare French Works

Soprano Kate Royal has made her name singing in some of the oldest and most beloved operas in the repertoire by Monteverdi and Mozart, but the London native is also drawn to and sought-after to perform in more modern operas.

Composer Exploration: Jacques Ibert

When young Jacques finished grade school, he found a job in a movie house, playing piano for silent films.