What better way to inaugurate a program celebrating music for kids and families than by inviting a very musical family to perform — violinist Rachel Barton Pine and her 8-year-old daughter Sylvia Pine?

The 2010s were a tumultuous decade, replete with astounding artistic highlights, superlative new voices, and watershed moments of reckoning. WFMT hosts and staff reflect on what the past decade brought for classical music, and what the new decade may have in store.

Saturday Morning Listener’s Choice kicks off on January 4 with guests Rachel Barton Pine and daughter Sylvia, who give us their picks in the premiere episode

December 21st’s broadcast marks the 350th program of Arias and Songs. Over the seven years on WFMT, host Larry Johnson has played everything from Callas and ‘La Traviata’ to Nat King Cole and ‘The Producers.’

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 very few places, it seems to me, where people go to reflect as a community… The opera house, or the concert hall, is one of those sacred spaces…” reflects composer Jake Heggie.

WFMT is deeply saddened to learn that soprano Jessye Norman has died at age 74. As a tribute to her inspiring life and career, we are re-sharing this story from when Ms. Norman herself visited WFMT.

One of the most exciting things about working at WFMT over the years has been the opportunity to travel on music-themed trips, meeting new friends who share a love of classical music. In early September, I led a group of eleven listeners on a journey to Denmark and Norway, where we saw cosmopolitan capitals and incredible natural beauty. Along the …

When this particular phone call came, it was usually trouble. What often followed was something like “I don’t believe there’s a ‘cough’ in Prokofiev. Love you madly! Goodnight.” Norman Pellegrini, WFMT’s illustrious program director of 43 years, was always listening — vigilant, protective of the station’s values, always blunt in his criticism, and usually right.

“I was thirteen years old and on a definite budget: I took some of my paltry allowance and spent the princely sum of $1 on a record.”

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.”

This month, music director Andi Lamoreaux passed a remarkable milestone — 50 years with WFMT.

“Among the eminent broadcast journalists of his generation, Studs Terkel may well stand alone in his consistent compassion for lesbian and gay people and curiosity about their lives.” Here are just a few testaments to that compassion.

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

As Guerrero says, “In many ways, I am the poster child to show that music can…become a part of your life regardless of your background.”

Andrew Patner, WFMT’s late critic-at-large and music critic at the Chicago Sun-Times, passed away in 2015, but his characteristic wit and wisdom live on in his book, A Portrait in Four Movements: The Chicago Symphony under Barenboim, Boulez, Haitink, and Muti.

Studs Terkel, the gregarious, cigar-chomping oral historian, used to say of his birth that, “when the Titanic went down, I came up.”

Another fantastic trip with Earthbound Expeditions and WFMT!

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!

On February 10, some of the biggest names in the music industry convened at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles. R&B and soul singer Alicia Keys hosted the ceremony, as winners were announced in 30 fields and 84 categories. Here are the nominees and winners for the classical music categories.

Winter can be grueling, but music can warm and soothe. Here’s the music that helps WFMT get through the season.

WFMT has a new Vice President and General Manager, but it is someone you may recognize! George Preston, who will begin in this position March 1, 2019, returns to WFMT, where he served as the afternoon drive host from 2009 to 2013, and hosted and produced the internationally syndicated Lyric Opera of Chicago broadcasts. Sandra Cordova Micek, CEO of Window …

To close out out week of musical resolutions, let’s hear what some friends of WFMT — musicians, artists, authors, and more — intend to focus on in 2019.

My musical New year’s resolution: Listen More Mindfully Many of the most important and rewarding musical works demand our full attention and were written in and for far less harried times. In Chicago, in particular, we’re lucky to have access to live performances of great works year round, sometimes at low cost or even for free. It’s so easy to …