It’s not every day an artist can re-discover a piece of music by a master from the Romantic era. Yet this was the enviable privilege of cellist Juliette Herlin, who in 2017 gave one of the first performances since 1919 of a lost cello sonata by Camille Saint-Saëns.

Bach and Gounod’s Ave Maria has always held a special place in violinist Anne Akiko Meyers’ repertoire: she grew up playing the beloved work. “It’s just one of the most beautiful pieces,” Meyers shared during her appearance on WFMT’s Impromptu.

Beneath the Tiffany Dome of the Chicago Cultural Center, 18-year-old pianist Kimberly Han performed works by Bach, Haydn, and Chopin.

We know that music makes our lives better, but sometimes, it can make funny things even funnier! Take Charles Cornell, for instance, who is turning viral tweets and videos into songs.

The Chicago-born brothers reflect on their first forays into music, their ongoing support of young arts organizations, and their debut performances at their hometown Grant Park Music Festival.

In February, soprano Tamara Wilson joined WFMT to perform a celestial song cycle composed for her by Chicago composer James Kallembach. The works draw from the experience of women astronauts, including Sally Ride, Sunita Williams, and Peggy Whitson. We’re bringing this video back in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.

It all started in Chicago. As a child, Yolanda Kondonassis and her family visited the Windy City. During the trip, her mother, a piano instructor, brought the family to the Lyon & Healy showroom, which was at that time sort of a “music department store,” Kondonassis recalls. “Because it was Valentine’s Day… they had a very kind of ‘dream love’ …

“I saw my first Cirque du Soleil show when I was about 10 years old,” recalls percussionist and band leader Ben Todd ahead of a recent performance. “I’d already been playing drums for quite a while before then, but something about seeing a live band with the acrobatics on stage and being in this unique environment of a Big Top, …

WFMT hosted the Escher Quartet in a Facebook Live from the Village Presbyterian Church in Northbrook ahead of their performances at the 2019 North Shore Chamber Music Festival, which begins on June 12.

A successful, in-demand touring and recording artist, Pablo Sáinz-Villegas visited WFMT while in town to make his CSO debut in a program of Spanish and Latin American music conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero.

A musical treat even more delicious than an alfajor.

It’s not every day that we get treated to a performance of viola repertoire, and in this Facebook Live from the Faye and Daniel Levin Performance Studio, violist Matthew Lipman performed three works composed for the instrument by Bach, Rebecca Clarke, and Robert Schumann. Matthew, who hails from Chicago’s south suburbs, admits that “the viola has the reputation amongst the …

Age really is just a number!

On Saturday, March 23, 2019, WFMT hosted Russian Renaissance in a Facebook Live from Wheaton College’s Edman Chapel. The versatile quartet, which won the $100,000 Grand Prize at the 2017 M-Prize competition at the University of Michigan, shared music by Zequinha de Abreu, Monti, and Tchaikovsky arranged for balalaika, domra, and accordion. Enjoy their performance below!

Cellist Hee-Young Lim and pianist Kuang-Hao Huang performed in a WFMT Facebook Live from the Brennan Family Recital Hall at the DePaul University School of Music.

Richard Strauss’s Elektra is challenging, dramatic, and very, very bloody. This thrilling, one-act opera is based on an ancient Greek myth: Elektra seeks her sweet revenge on her mother for murdering her father. Lyric Opera of Chicago’s intense production features WFMT host Maggie Clennon Reberg. Go behind the scenes at Lyric, and be astonished as Maggie transforms in hair and makeup!

With pianist Justina Lee, Wilson shared a selection from Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Weightless Dreams, a song cycle composed for Wilson based on the writings and experiences of women astronauts.

“Culture — the way we express ourselves and understand each other — can bind us together as one world.”

One of the world’s leading classical ensembles, joined WFMT for a Facebook Live at Northwestern University’s Galvin Recital Hall and shared their experience as classical musicians in the digital age.

Candles flicker as young girls and boys parade up and down a stretch of Clark Street singing “The Lucia Song.” Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood has long held celebrations the St. Lucia Festival of Lights.

The ensemble shared the premiere of an arrangement by Haque of “I Know a Rose Tree Springing,” a traditional Christmas carol.

What is it about Cinderella fairy tale that grabs readers, viewers, audiences, and listeners alike? In between riveting vocal performances, two opera stars shared what makes the story so very resonant.

Chanticleer, a leading men’s vocal group returned to WFMT for an Impromptu and Facebook Live video broadcast of joyous holiday songs. Enjoy the full video broadcast here!

Enjoy this engaging two-part conversation between American composer Aaron Copland and John Calloway! This program of “John Calloway Interviews” aired on WFMT’s sister station, WTTW, on September 14, 1981. Copland discusses his introduction to music, his forays into composing Hollywood scores, his relationship with critics, and more in this hourlong interview.

Though perhaps best-known as a master of the music of Chopin, Seong-Jin Cho showcased his dazzling versatility, rivetingly sharing music by Mozart and Mussorgsky.