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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Church of Our Saviour, Copenhagen Concerto Copenhagen in 2021 celebrated its 30th anniversary with a concert of favorites of the ensemble and the audience. Conductor Lars Ulrik Mortensen in cooperation with the audience, presents a cavalcade of their favorite music from the Baroque era. The first part of the concert consists of works selected by Lars Ulrik Mortensen, no small task, considering the vast amount of music the orchestra has played during the 30 years of its existence. The second part of tonight's concert feature music chosen by the audience from a list compiled by Maestro Mortensen.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/02/15/concerto-copenhagen-30th-anniversary-concert/

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Celebrate the career of a living legend, Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) with a special episode curated and co-hosted by  Kenneth Overton . One of the most sought-after singers of his generation, the GRAMMY Award-winning baritone is also a galvanizing voice in the classical singing community as the host of  Black Opera Live! , a weekly program featuring candid conversations with Black opera stars of today.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/02/18/on-leontyne-price-with-kenneth-overton/

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Lil Hardin-Armstrong (1898-1971) reigned among the most prominent women in early jazz. She played piano, composed, and arranged for most of the important hot bands from New Orleans to Chicago to Paris. And, for a good while, she was married to Louis Armstrong. As the song goes, she was born to swing.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/02/03/lil-armstrong-02-27-1957/

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Portrait of Florence Price Later in Life Looking at the Camera. Florence Beatrice Smith Price Papers Addendum (MC 988a), box 2, folder 1, item 5. Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville. Celebrating Black History Month! Music Director Riccardo Muti leads works by William Grant Still and Florence Price, the first African American composers to have symphonic works performed by major orchestras. The program begins with Beethoven's Overture to Egmont and Fourth Symphony, followed by Still's Mother and Child and Price's Third Symphony.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/02/05/muti-conducts-beethoven-price/

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Josquin des Prez, first master of the high Renaissance style of polyphonic vocal music, worked for some five years as a papal cantor at the Sistine Chapel, where he left his signature in the choir loft. On this edition of Baroque&Before, Ensemble De Labyrintho, under the direction of its founder Walter Testolin, presents a program of Josquin's compositions, perhaps inspired by Perugino's pictorial cycles, including Factum est autem, as well as those that find a visual coincidence in Michelangelo's Liber Generationis Jesu Christi.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/01/25/josquin-at-the-vatican/

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Tower of David and Jerusalem walls at night (Photo: Adiel lo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons) 13th-century Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi described Jerusalem as 'the place where everything is music … and brothers and strangers are one.' Apollo's Fire, under the direction of Jeannette Sorrell, presents an exploration of the four quarters of Old Jerusalem (Jewish, Christian, Arab, and Armenian/Byzantine,) and the cross-cultural influences of the city's inhabitants. The rhythms of daily life — love, song, dance, and prayer -– culminate in a joyous celebration of brotherhood and sisterhood.

https://www.wfmt.com/2022/12/21/apollos-fire-o-jerusalem-crossroads-of-three-faiths/

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Founder and host of Folkstage since 1999, Rich Warren gives his final sign-off from WFMT, concluding an iconic career in radio that spans seven decades. Celebrate a true legend as we ring in the New Year live with Vance Gilbert, Reggie Harris, Anne Hills, Rory Makem, Tom Paxton, Claudia Schmidt, and a very special surprise guest from the Old Town School of Folk Music. Hailing from Evanston, Rich Warren hosted The Midnight Special for 37 years, produced the WFMT Folk Music Festival, recorded more than 1,000 folk music concerts, and has been inducted by Folk Alliance International into the Folk DJ Hall of Fame.

https://www.wfmt.com/2022/12/31/a-new-years-eve-folkstage-farewell-to-rich-warren/

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Praised by the New York Times for its 'conviction, authority, and finesse,' the Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble harnesses the collaborative spirit of chamber music to reach beyond the traditionally-perceived limits of classical music. The ensemble's artistic, educational, and civic programs engage theater groups, video game designers, corporate innovators, and folk bands to share stories as diverse as the communities it serves. Music Perpetual Spark by Alex Shapiro Tues, 2/7 — Anthony Molinaro Anthony Molinaro is the 1997 winner of the prestigious Naumburg International Piano Competition and one of the most versatile pianists of his generation.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/02/10/february-6-february-2023/

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Four of today's best-known organ virtuosos – Olivier Latry (France), Shin-Young Lee (Korea/France), Guy Bovet (Switzerland,) and Hans-Ola Ericsson (Sweden) – try to outplay one another in a light-hearted competition of  Who Played it Better? They're all winners, of course, and so are we, as the organists share their unique interpretations of familiar works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Tonight's program was recorded live in concert August 10, 2022 as pat of the Lahti International Organ Festival,  held each summer in late July and early August.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/03/01/lahti-international-organ-festival-showdown/

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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/2023/07/17/rsmi-piano-strings-on-tour

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The Gateways Brass Collective in performance (Photo: Matt Wittmeyer) Through dynamic performances and outstanding educational outreach, the Gateways Brass Collective, an all–African American quintet, was founded in 2018 to inspire artists from all backgrounds. Each member has performed with soloists, big bands, orchestras, and indie bands, as well as on Broadway, film soundtracks, and Grammy-nominated recordings, including with the likes of David Byrne, Aretha Franklin, and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/07/24/gateways-brass-collective/

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Ken-David Masur (Photo: Adam DeTour) Ken-David Masur — music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago — takes the Millennium Park stage to lead the Grant Park Orchestra in music by Carlos Simon, Alexander Glazunov (featuring violinist Esther Yoo), and Modest Mussorgsky. Carlos Simon:  Profiles Alexander Glazunov: Violin Concerto Esther Yoo, violin Modest Mussorgsky:  Pictures at an Exhibition

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/07/19/pictures-at-an-exhibition/

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Yefim Bronfman is the soloist in the first of three broadcasts from the NY Phil's 2014 cycle of the Beethoven piano concertos. Between the First and Fourth Concertos, you'll hear Anthony Cheung's Lyra , a work the composer said was inspired by the noted relationship between Beethoven's Fourth Concerto and the Orpheus myth. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 Yefim Bronfman, piano Anthony Cheung: Lyra (World Premiere–New York Philharmonic Commission) Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/07/07/the-beethoven-piano-concertos-part-i/

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L-R: Cellist Nicholas Canellakis, pianist Inon Barnatan, cellist Joseph Johnson (Photo courtesy Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival) Enjoy Ravel's only string quartet, alongside the second piano quintet from Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Director, Mark Neikrug! Marc Neikrug (b. 1946) Piano Quintet No. 2 in Six Parts (2021; New Mexico Premiere) Haochen Zhang, piano; Dover Quartet (Joel Link & Bryan Lee, violin; Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola; Camden Shaw, cello)

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/07/13/piano-quintet-no-2-in-six-parts-premiere/

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The Newberry Consort brings together singers and instrumentalists of the highest caliber to create historically informed performances of music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque, and beyond. They inspire audiences, musicians, and scholars by providing a window into earlier times and diverse cultures. Music Dixit Dominus by Fabián Peréz Ximeno Tues, 8/1 — Stephen Buzard Stephen Buzard is one of the leading organists of his generation, serving as Director of Music at historic St.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/08/04/july-31-august-4-2023/

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Zachary Allen conducting Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras as Music Director Allen Tinkham looks on. (Photo: Ed Spinelli.) Today on Introductions , we feature four soloists from within Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras. Principal Oboe Zachary Allen takes the podium to conduct his orchestra; Henry Lazzaro and Owen Riordan play solos with piano; and Henry Auxenfans triumphs in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. Zachary Allen is an oboist heading to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in the fall.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/08/12/soloists-from-chicago-youth-symphony-orchestras/

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Susan Graham (Photo: Matthew Cosgrove | Onyx Classics) Susan Graham rose to the highest echelon of international performers within just a few years of her professional debut, mastering an astonishing range of repertoire and genres along the way. Her operatic roles span four centuries, from Monteverdi's Poppea to Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, which was written especially for her. She maintains a strong international presence at such key venues as Paris's Théâtre du Châtelet, Santa Fe Opera and the Metropolitan Opera.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/08/19/an-interview-with-susan-graham/

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Johann Sebastian Bach: Orchestra Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067 VII. Badinerie Mary Elizabeth Bowden, trumpet; Kassia Ensemble Rêverie Summit DCD-743 Reena Esmail: Pedernal Mary Elizabeth Bowden, trumpet Reena Esmail: Tuttarana Seraph Brass Sarah Kirkland Snider: Caritas Emily D'Angelo, mezzo-soprano; Matangi Quartet enargeia DG 4860536 Sarah Kirkland Snider: Chrysalis Mary Elizabeth Bowden, trumpet; Kassia Ensemble Rêverie Summit DCD-743 Vivian Fung: Violin Concerto Kristin Lee, violin; Metropolis Ensemble Dreamscapes Naxos 8.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/08/30/music-and-conversation-with-mary-elizabeth-bowden-2/

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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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Lorin Maazel (Photo: Barbara Haws /Chris Lee , CC BY-SA 3.0 , cropped and darkened, via Wikimedia Commons) Alec Baldwin hosts this retrospective on Lorin Maazel, the Philharmonic's former music director. The 2-hour special features excerpts from over 30 works, recorded over the course of Maazel's seven-decade relationship with the orchestra, and woven together with interview material taken from his many conversations with producer/director Mark Travis. Ravel: Cat Duet from L'enfant et les sortilèges Beethoven: I.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/04/21/maestro-maazel/

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Caroline Shaw (Photo: Kait Moreno) From its sinuous opening flute solo, Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun blossoms into a dazzling kaleidoscope of orchestral sound. The musical celebration of our new hall continues with a US Premiere by Pulitzer Prize–winner Caroline Shaw, featuring the versatile vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth. Price's Symphony No. 4 is a bustling synthesis of distinctly American musical styles. Claude Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) Caroline Shaw: Microfictions , Vol.

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/04/28/the-sound-of-home-debussy-caroline-shaw-and-florence-price-2/

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