Klaus Mäkelä (Photo: Marco Borggreve) Klaus Mäkelä makes his CSO debut in Stravinsky's The Firebird . Opening the program is Hillborg's Eleven Gates, followed by Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 joined by Daniel Lozakovich. The broadcast concludes with Ravel's Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet, and String Quartet, led by Jean Martinon. All works conducted by Klaus Mäkelä Anders Hillborg: Eleven Gates Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 63 D

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/10/08/makela-conducts-the-firebird-2/

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Aaron Copland with Marian Anderson, rehearsing "Lincoln Portrait" (Image: Allen J. Winigrad via loc.gov) Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1900, Aaron Copland devoted his creative life to creating and fostering distinctive American music. Studs Terkel spoke with the eminent twentieth-century composer in the WFMT studios in 1961.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/10/06/aaron-copland-03-10-1961/

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With a career spanning nearly three decades, the multiple Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet has achieved international recognition as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today. The quartet is known for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and often-daring repertory choices. Music La oración del torero by Joaquín Turina Tues, 10/3 — Chicago Gargoyle Brass and Organ Ensemble The Chicago Gargoyle Brass and Organ Ensemble is comprised of classically trained musicians and performs a variety of repertoire in an equally diverse range of settings.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/10/06/october-2-october-6-2023/

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Gerard van Honthorst (1592-1656:) "Couple making music behind a balustrade" British vocal ensemble I Fagiolini brings us madrigals for every mood in a program titled 'Melancholy and Nonsense.' I Fagiolini's recital took place November 11, 2022 in the Kreuzkirche in Herne, Germany, as part of Herne Early Music Days, founded in 1976. Madrigals by Monteverdi, Purcell, Banchieri and others echo the Festival's 2022 theme: 'Tragic-Comic.' Thanks to WFMT's association with the European Broadcasting Union, we're able to bring you tonight's program as a stream for thirty days following tonight's broadcast.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/10/04/melancholy-and-nonsense-madrigals-for-every-mood/

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Black Oak Ensemble (Photo: Ayaka Sano) Black Oak Ensemble, a string trio boasting three of Chicago's most enterprising and dynamic chamber musicians, is collaborating with JCC Chicago and Ravinia to perform on Violins of Hope—a collection of violins, violas, and cellos that belonged to Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust, painstakingly restored for cultural exhibitions, performances, and community education with a message of hope, resistance, resilience, and unity. Dick

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/10/02/black-oak-ensemble-silenced-voices/

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Lauren Snouffer (Photo: Dario Acosta) Recognized for her unique artistic curiosity in world-class performances spanning four centuries of repertoire, the 'pure-voiced soprano' ( New York Times ) Lauren Snouffer is celebrated as one of the most versatile and respected artists on the international stage. Snouffer is a favorite of both living composers and the leaders of historically informed performances of 17th and 18th century repertoire. This summer, she made her Santa Fe Opera debut as La Musica in Monteverdi's Orfeo (with a new orchestration by Nico Muhly).

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/30/the-pure-voice-of-lauren-snouffer/

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Mitsuko Uchida (Photo: Geoffroy Schied) The incomparable creativity of Mozart is on full display in this wondrous program that includes his final piano concerto and final symphony. Peerless Mozart interpreter Mitsuko Uchida—described by  Gramophone  as having stunning 'virtuosity and elan' and tonal shading 'verging on the miraculous'—joins the LA Phil for the Piano Concerto No. 27. Dudamel leads the exuberant 'Jupiter' Symphony, one of the composer's longest symphonies and one of his most enduring and loved.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/28/dudamel-conducts-mozart/

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Jordi Savall & Le Concert des Nations in Concert Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations take us on a journey through a variety of sound environments of the eighteenth century. We'll hear works by three composers with three unique musical voices, yet with one thing in common: the desire to innovate. Their originality made the pieces we'll hear tonight a turning point in the history of music. Tonight's program was recorded live in concert February 15, 2023 in Barcelona's Palau de la Música Catalana.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/27/jordi-savall-the-elements-and-the-furies/

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In her only Chicago-area performance this season, Simone Dinnerstein headlines Oak Park's Schubert+ Festival next month with a recital program that features Schubert's Sonata in B-flat Major and includes works by Couperin, Glass, and Robert Schumann. The distinctive American soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and entrepreneur is committed to giving concerts in non-traditional venues and to audiences who don't often hear classical music. She joins WFMT for Music and Conversation hosted by Henry Fogel.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/27/music-and-conversation-with-simone-dinnerstein/

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Jaime Martín (Photo: Paul-Marc Mitchell) The Planets : Holst's colourful character portraits of our Solar System's seven planets (excluding Earth) is by turns powerfully visceral and captivatingly luminous, opening with the war-like ‘Mars' and concluding with ‘Neptune', whose alluring sounds float off into the ether. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Jaime Martín present the suite alongside Welsh composer Grace Williams's Violin Concerto. Suppressed by Williams for many years, it is an intensely lyrical work whose bittersweet opening gives way to an ecstatic slow movement – based on a Welsh hymn tune – and a joyful finale.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/26/holsts-the-planets/

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Learn more about advertising and sponsorship on WFMT. Meet the Host Kerry is a regular host of live concert broadcasts including Live from WFMT, concerts from the Ravinia Festival, and WFMT's premiere visiting artist series, Impromptu. Kerry hosts many WFMT Radio Network broadcasts from such locations as the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the Salzburg Festival. A native Chicagoan, Kerry grew up with WFMT. His love of music and radio played an important part in his life at Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin, where he eventually became program director of Wisconsin Public Radio.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/25/lara-downes-with-nicole-cabell

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Learn more about advertising and sponsorship on WFMT. Meet the Host Alec Baldwin is the Radio Host of the New York Philharmonic. Since 1980 Mr. Baldwin has appeared in numerous productions on stage, in films, and on television. He has received a Tony nomination (A Streetcar Named Desire, 1992), an Oscar nomination (The Cooler, 2004), and has won two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globes, and seven consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on NBC's 30 Rock.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/22/julia-wolfes-unearth

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American violist Matthew Lipman has been praised by the New York Times for his 'rich tone and elegant phrasing,' and by the Chicago Tribune for a 'splendid technique and musical sensitivity.' Lipman has come to be relied on as one of the leading players of his generation, frequently appearing as both a soloist and chamber music performer. Music Märchenbilder , Op. 113 by Robert Schumann Tues, 9/19 — Northwestern University Cello Ensemble Established in 2014, the Northwestern University Cello Ensemble performs and records works by classical and contemporary composers.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/22/september-18-september-22-2023/

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Gustavo Dudamel (Photo: Danny Clinch for LA Phil) The thrilling way Beethoven treats different dance rhythms in his Seventh Symphony made it a hit from the start, and Dudamel is the perfect interpreter to bring out its vibrant and whirling character. Gustavo also leads Gabriella Smith 's brand-new Lost Coast , a cello concerto played by Gabriel Cabezas. For Thursday and Saturday night audiences, Lost Coast is paired with Ellen Reid 's West Coast Sky Eternal , another world premiere.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/21/dudamel-leads-beethoven-and-smith/

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Jewish wedding ring, early 14th century Tonight's program, titled 'Sacred Bridges,' celebrates the rich connections between Orient and Occident, creating a musical exploration of the complex intertwinings – the sacred bridges – between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, as seen through settings of the timeless Psalms of David. Bringing this music to life is the multicultural ensemble Sarband. Though based in Germany, Sarband's musicians hail from a number of different nations, united in their commitment to 'bridging the Occident and Orient' through early music.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/20/sacred-bridges-music-of-the-abrahamic-faiths

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Osvaldo Golijav (Photo: Eric Cheng) A conversation with renowned composer Osvaldo Golijov. Best known for his ground-breaking St. Mark Passion of 2000, the Argentine composer discusses that seminal work and a number of his other compositions, including Falling Out of Time: A Tone Poem of Voices , which was performed last fall at the Harris Theater. Golijov also reveals a period of difficulties with the compositional process following his early successes, and his most recent music, including soundtracks for the movies of Francis Ford Coppola.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/20/music-and-conversation-with-osvaldo-golijov/

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Danish String Quartet (L-R): Asbjørn Nørgaard, Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, Frederik Øland (Photo: Caroline Bittencourt) In its second appearance at Ravinia Festival, the Danish Quartet opened with Haydn's Quartet in G minor, Op. 20, No. 3, followed by arrangements of fugues from J.S. Bach's The Art of Fugue, and Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 7. The second half of the program featured the ensemble's signature arrangements of folk music—an audience favorite.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/18/danish-string-quartet-3/

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Ailyn Pérez (Photo: Chris Singer) At the close of a hectic season that featured performances of signature roles in London, Berlin, and Paris and the addition of three new roles to her repertoire in New York, Naples, and Santa Fe, soprano Ailyn Pérez remembered to include her native Chicago audience with this 'run-out' recital with her friend, pianist Kevin Murphy. This homecoming solo concert (recorded in between performances of Dvořák's Rusalka at Santa Fe Opera) marked a return to Ravinia's Martin Theatre, the site of early career triumphs in Mozartian roles under the baton of James Conlon.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/16/ailyn-perez-in-recital/

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Joseph Kim and Samuel Kim Today we feature two brothers, both solo and as a duo. Samuel and Joseph Kim recently moved from Libertyville to Chesapeake, Virginia, and are back in town for a fraternal recital. They bring music from the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, including from two Chicago composers. Joseph Kim is 15 years old and a rising high school sophomore. He started his journey as a guitarist when he was four years old. Joseph has been taking lessons from Brad Conroy at the Music Institute of Chicago for the past four and a half years.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/09/joseph-kim-15-guitar-and-samuel-kim-17-piano/

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Freddie De Tommaso (Photo: Dana van Leeuwen) Freddie De Tommaso is a British-Italian tenor who came to international attention in 2021 (at the age of 28!) when he stepped in at the last minute to sing the role of Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Since then, he has been taking the opera world by storm in the Italian lirico-spinto repertoire that is the domain of tenors typically ten years his senior. De Tommaso made his American debut this year singing Cavaradossi at Santa Fe Opera.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/09/the-barnstorming-career-of-freddie-de-tommaso/

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Ken-David Masur (Photo: Adam DeTour) A preview of the upcoming season with music director Ken-David Masur and the orchestra's new artistic partner, bass-baritone Dashon Burton.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/09/13/the-milwaukee-symphony-orchestra-2023-24-season/

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Jordi Savall, a major figure in Early Music for almost half a century, has dedicated himself to rediscovering lost musical gems. He's recorded more than 230 albums of music from the Middle Ages to Baroque, bringing to light Hispanic and Mediterranean musical treasures. Savall first appeared at the Ascona Music Festival in 2009. Savall returned to Ascona with Hespèrion XXI Ensemble with a program of 'Folias & Romanescas,' featuring works from the Old and New Worlds. Recorded live in concert September 24, 2021, in Ascona's Collegio Papio, as part of the 2021 Ascona Music Festival.

https://www.wfmt.com/2022/09/07/folias-romanescas-jordi-savall-hesperion-xxi/

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Sandra Cisneros (Photos by Keith Dannemiller) In December 1992, the brilliant and versatile Mexican American author Sandra Cisneros spoke with Studs Terkel. She recounted growing up in Chicago's Humbolt Park neighborhood, and recited excerpts from her poems, short stories, and other writings.

https://www.wfmt.com/2022/09/09/sandra-cisneros-12-21-1992-2/

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(Photo: Orsolya Korcsolan) Studs Terkel honors the High Holy Days with this 1978 program featuring cantorial and secular music pertaining to Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement.

https://www.wfmt.com/2022/09/30/yom-kippur-10-11-1978/

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Founded in 1919 by Frederick Stock, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago prepares young professional musicians for lives in music. Civic members participate in rigorous orchestral training, led by Principal Conductor Ken-David Masur, musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and some of today's most luminary conductors. Music Symphony No. 1, Afro-American, Finale by William Grant Still Tuesday, October 18 — Third Coast Percussion Founded in 2005, Third Coast Percussion has performed hundreds of concerts across the country, presents an annual concert season at home in Chicago, teaches musicians of all ages and experience levels, and has commissioned dozens of new works by composers.

https://www.wfmt.com/2022/10/21/october-17-october-21-2022/

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The Léner Quartet recorded the first complete cycle of Beethoven string quartets. Here, we hear String Quartets 1, 3, 4, and 6. All works composed by Beethoven and performed by the Léner Quartet Quartet No. 1 Quartet No. 3 Quartet No. 4 Quartet No. 6

https://www.wfmt.com/2022/10/16/the-first-recordings-of-the-complete-beethoven-quartets-1/

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Written in the last decade of his life, Bach's chorale preludes for organ mark the pinnacle of his sacred works for organ. Daniel Gauss, organist at the Bern Cathedral, plays the Gottlieb Leuw organ, built in 1729. Recorded live in concert June 11, 2019, as part of the series Evening Music at Bern Cathedral. Thanks to WFMT's association with the European Broadcasting Union, we are able to bring you tonight's program as a thirty day stream, following the broadcast. A blue 'Listen' button will be visible when the stream is accessible.

https://www.wfmt.com/2022/11/09/the-great-eighteen-bachs-leipzig-chorales/

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Dame Jane Glover (Photo: Jim Steere) Dame Jane Glover's long relationship with Chicago Opera Theater includes benchmark performances of the Mozart/Da Ponte operas and the Monteverdi trilogy. Glover will return for the company's 50th anniversary season to lead a comic masterpiece by Benjamin Britten — another composer with whom she has a special affinity. In advance of performances later this month, Jane Glover joins Oliver to preview Albert Herring. Learn more about Chicago Opera Theater's upcoming production of Albert Herring HERE.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/01/14/dame-jane-glover-on-albert-herring/

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Canadian Brass (Photo: Nina Yoshida Nelson) Friends Chuck Daellenbach and Gene Watts first came together in 1970 to form the quintet Canadian Brass. Daellenbach, the group's tubist and last remaining original member, reminisces about the ensemble's storied career now spanning 50 years with a discography of over 130 albums and the distinction of being the world's most famous brass group. Hosted by Jan Weller.

https://www.wfmt.com/2022/12/13/celebrating-50-years-of-canadian-brass/

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Rolando Villazón as Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute (Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera) The Met's abridged, family-friendly version of Mozart's musical fairy tale returns for the holiday season, with Maestro Duncan Ward making his company debut conducting Julie Taymor's irresistible production. Duncan Ward conducts Joélle Harvey (Pamina), Aleksandra Olczyk (Queen of the Night), Ben Bliss (Tamino), and Joshua Hopkins (Papageno).

https://www.wfmt.com/2022/12/24/mozarts-the-magic-flute-abridged-english-language-version-3/

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