Ahead of her appearance at Ravinia this week, we sat down to talk with Lara Downes about her efforts to broaden the classical canon, her first introduction to Black composers like Florence Price and Margaret Bonds, and why she loves to work with Rachel Barton Pine.

Is it luck? Preparation? Skill? David Govertsen thinks it’s a little bit of each that has guided him to some of the city’s biggest stages.

In an impassioned hour of music, cellist Ben Solomonow and pianist Christopher Goodpasture played a wide-ranging selection of music from Ludwig van Beethoven to Rita Strohl.

Ahead of his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut, conductor Teddy Abrams explains why classical music needs to reach out to young people and embrace other artforms — and explains how Leonard Bernstein was a role model for both of these missions.

Ahead of Yue Bao’s Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut at the Ravinia Festival this Sunday, August 8, she reveals to us some conducting secrets, her favorite cities for music, and more!