WFMT-FM (Chicago, IL)

WFMT is an FM radio station based in Chicago, Illinois, known for its focus on fine arts and classical music. It also offers a variety of programs that delve into genres like folk and jazz. The station is operated by Window To The World Communications, Inc., which also owns WTTW, one of the two PBS public television stations in Chicago. Additionally, WFMT serves as the main station for the WFMT Radio Network, along with the Beethoven and Jazz Networks. Its broadcasts are transmitted from the iconic Willis (Sears) Tower.

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English

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Global

#250740

United States

#58750

Arts and Entertainment/Music

#693

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Articles

Mäkelä Conducts López & Mahler 5

1 week ago | wfmt.com | Adela Skowronski

Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä returns to the CSO podium to lead Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. The program includes Sibelius’ The Swan of Tuonela, and the U.S. premiere of Aino by Jimmy López, which the CSO co-commissioned. Opening the broadcast is Corigliano’s Tournaments Overture under Sir Georg Solti’s baton. All recordings feature Klaus Mäkelä as conductor except where otherwise stated.
Mäkelä Conducts Shostakovich 10

2 weeks ago | wfmt.com | Adela Skowronski

On April 2, 2024, Klaus Mäkelä was named Zell Music Director Designate of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This week, we feature performances from that special moment, beginning with Zinovjev’s Batteria. Next, we hear two works by Shostakovich: The First Cello Concerto with Sol Gabetta, followed by a powerful reading of the Tenth Symphony. All recordings feature Klaus Mäkelä as conductor except where otherwise stated.
Beethoven, Mozart & Tchaikovsky

3 weeks ago | wfmt.com | Adela Skowronski

This week, Julian Rachlin showcases his singular versatility as a violinist, violist and conductor. He joins Associate Concertmaster Stephanie Jeong in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante before leading a performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Meditation” from Souvenir d’un lieu cher. Taking the podium, Rachlin bookends the program by conducting works by Mozart and Beethoven.
A Chicago Symphony Chorus Spotlight

1 month ago | wfmt.com | Adela Skowronski

Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello in a Saturday matinee broadcast on February 9, 1974 (Photo: Metropolitan Opera Archives)This week, we take a look back at Grammy-winning performances by the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Music directors Daniel Barenboim and Sir Georg Solti conduct Bruckner’s Psalm 150 and Brahms’s A German Requiem. Former principal guest conductor Pierre Boulez conducts Bartók’s Cantata profana.
Szeps-Znaider & Carpenter

1 month ago | wfmt.com | Adela Skowronski

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider leads Poulenc’s Concerto in G Minor for Organ, Strings, and Timpani and Saint-Saëns’s Symphony No. 3, featuring organ soloist Cameron Carpenter. The broadcast opens with Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and rounds out with Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe and Boléro.
Pierre Boulez at 100

1 month ago | wfmt.com | Adela Skowronski

The CSO celebrates Pierre Boulez’s 100th birthday! In this broadcast, we hear Pierre Boulez, the CSO’s Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus, conducting the CSO in Stravinsky, Scriabin, Varèse, Schoenberg and Bartók. In between, the CSO’s Ninth Music Director Daniel Barenboim conducts Boulez’ Notations VII.
Swedish Radio Choir & Performs Bach

1 month ago | wfmt.com | Candice Agree

In the late 1730s, Johann Sebastian Bach composed four short masses in Latin in part, by selecting portions from his earlier works and putting them together in new and ingenious ways, resulting in musically rich mass settings. On this edition of Baroque&Before, Fredrik Malmberg leads the Swedish Radio Choir and Capella Suecia in one of these short masses, BWV 236 in G Major. The beloved cantata “Sleepers Awake” opens the concert.
Unraveling Genius: Capturing Leonardo in Film and Music

Nov 15, 2024 | wfmt.com | Daniel Goldberg |Keegan Morris

Leonardo da Vinci is the archetypal “Renaissance man.” He is revered for his paintings, his inventions, his daring. He is practically synonymous with “genius.” But what do we actually know about him? Or, to put it more directly, who is the manbehindthe vaunted Renaissance man? As it turns out, just like his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, Leonardo is something of an enigma.
Brahms and Schubert | WFMT

Nov 11, 2024 | wfmt.com | Keegan Morris

Brahms and Schubert Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert BIS 2660Piano French pianist Alexandre Kantorow, winner of the Gold Medal at the 2019 Tchaikovsky competition, presents his fourth solo album for BIS, and his ninth album overall. The centerpiece work is Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy, considered to be the most virtuosic composition in his entire output.
Muti, Herbert & Pines of Rome

Nov 3, 2024 | wfmt.com | Adela Skowronski

Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti conducts Kraft’s Timpani Concerto featuring the CSO’s Principal Timpani David Herbert. The program opens with Mozart’s Divertimento in F Major and closes with Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 1 and Pines of Rome. Music conducted by Riccardo Muti Wolfgang Amadeus: Mozart Divertimento in F Major, K.