Each day of the year, Lisa Flynn shares her favorite New Releases with music lovers around the world. Here are her 12 favorite classical recordings of 2017.

17 year-old Rebecca Vazquez said that hearing the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform at Lane Tech College Prep High School, where she is a student, is a “a once in a lifetime opportunity.” The orchestra performed there on Wednesday, November 15, 2017, as part of its efforts to bring music to communities throughout Chicago.

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.

Sometimes, composers save their best work for last. Is Verdi’s last opera, “Falstaff,” his best?

Since Riccardo Muti became the CSO’s music director in 2010, Chicagoans have enjoyed many magical moments with the maestro.

For ten weeks each year, Erina Yashima works directly with Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti and leads the Civic Orchestra.

Holy Name Cathedral is an architectural landmark in the heart of downtown Chicago. On February 17, 2017, the church opened its doors to another Chicago treasure, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Maestro Muti sat down with Sheila Jones, coordinator of the CSO’s African American Network, years ago to ask, “How do we bring the African American community into Symphony Center?”

Riccardo Muti will conduct ten weeks of subscription programs at Symphony Center and lead the orchestra on two U.S. tours, to the West Coast in October and to the East Coast in February 2018.

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.

As soon as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra played the first four notes of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, an audience of over 3,000 at the Apostolic Church of God on Chicago’s South Side broke into applause.

Chicago-based Sam and Helen Zell acknowledged a $17 million dollar gift from the Zell Family Foundation for the endowment of the position currently held by music director Riccardo Muti.