Live from WFMT: Recent Episodes
WFMT
Live from WFMT, the station’s full-length recital series, presents weekly music and conversation from October through June. The program draws on the rich community of Chicago-based musicians as well as a roster of international artists who are visiting the city. Each two-hour program is performed live in WFMT’s state-of-the-art Fay and Daniel Levin Performance Studio.
Tonight Live From WFMT presents International Chamber Artists. One of the premier chamber ensembles from the Chicago area, ICA brings features the talents of best musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera Orchestra, and beyond.
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Violinists Eleanor Bartsch and Sherri Zhang, violist Ben Weber and cellist Jean Hatmaker – known collectively as the spectacular Chicago-based ensemble, Kontras Quartet, return to Live From WFMT.
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The American pianist Claire Huangci gained international acclaim by winning first prize as well as the Mozart Prize at the 2018 Concours Géza Anda. In January 2026, she released her latest album titled HEROINES, featuring music of Fanny Hensel, Clara Schumann, Amy Beach and Florence Price.
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The Audire Quartet returns to Live From WFMT with a program that includes the String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 18 by Beethoven, and the String Quartet No. 14 “Death and the Maiden” by Schubert.
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For this edition of Live From WFMT, Kerry Frumkin’s guests are cellist Brant Taylor and pianist Kuang-Hao Huang. The two Chicago based virtuosos and long-time collaborators will perform a varied program including works by Bach, Debussy, Piazzolla, and more.
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British-Korean pianist Hyung-ki Joo is a multi-faceted creative artist whose expansive career includes performing, composing, mentorship, and a longtime, “funtastic” comedic collaboration with violinist Alexey Igudesman. On this edition of Live From WFMT, Hyung-ki Joo returns to the Levin Studio for a rare solo recital.
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The Aznavoorian Sisters launched their musical careers with a debut performance at ages four and eight at their Armenian church in Evanston, Illinois. Today, pianist Marta and cellist Ani are both award-winning, internationally acclaimed instrumentalists and recording artists. Ani is the longtime principal cellist of Camerata Pacifica and proudly performs on a cello made by their father, the luthier Peter Aznavoorian. Marta is a founding member of the GRAMMY-nominated Lincoln Trio, and is a Steinway Artist. Happily, they still perform as a duo, and they will be Kerry Frumkin’s guests on this edition of Live From WFMT.
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The exquisite pianist, Matthew Hagle, returns to Live From WFMT with an all Chopin program.
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On this edition of Live From WFMT, host Kerry Frumkin welcomes the Chicago-based piano duo Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem. The program holds music by Tchaikovsky, Respighi, Liszt, Eric Ewazen, Ravel and Gershwin.
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Founded in 2019 by violinist Janet Sung, Chamber Music Chicago brings together some of the finest musicians of our day. Tonight, Janet collaborates with violist Teng Li, cellist Inbal Segev, and pianist Gilles Vonsattel for an exceptional performance that will include the Faure Piano Quartet No.2 in g minor.
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The 2023-24 Live From WFMT season comes to a close with a very special performance by pianist Marc-André Hamelin.
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Tonight Live From WFMT presents International Chamber Artists, one of the premier chamber ensembles from the Chicago area. This live performance holds works by Ethel Smyth (1858-1944), James M. Stephenson, ICA Composer-in-Residence (b. 1969), and Béla Bartók (1881-1945).
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Pianist Matt Hagle presents the last program in his 3-recital traversal of the complete late piano music of Brahms. This Live From WFMT broadcast will include the Brahms Op. 76 and 119 sets, as well as shorter pieces by Fauré and Schönberg.
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Tune into Live From WFMT to hear Chicago-based international violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine in a live concert broadcast with frequent collaborator, pianist Matt Hagle. The program will feature repertoire the duo will perform at the Kennedy Center just a couple days prior.
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For more than four decades, pianists Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem have enjoyed an extensive international career as proponents of music for both piano duet and two keyboards. Kerry Frumkin welcomes the duo back to the Levin Studio for this episode of Live From WFMT.
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Shortly after forming during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Galvin Cello Quartet captured the Silver Medal at the 2021 Fischoff Competition, and won the Concert Artists Guild’s 2022 Victor Elmaleh Competition. Cellists Sihao He, Sydney Lee, Haddon Kay, and Luiz Fernando Venturelli met as students at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in the studio of acclaimed pedagogue Hans Jørgen Jensen. This extraordinary group returns to WFMT for a performance on Live From WFMT.
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For this special edition of Live from WFMT, pianist Inon Barnatan performs a selection of Rachmaninoff’s most cherished piano works.
Inon’s new album, Rachmaninoff Reflections, includes his own new solo piano arrangement of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. Recorded in November 2023.
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Cedille Records has been building the careers and legacies of Chicago’s finest classical music performers and composers since the label’s founding in 1989. Tonight, host Kerry Frumkin presents two finalists of Cedille Records’ first Emerging Artist Competition, in 2021. Karisa Chiu, violin, and Clare Longendyke, piano, will each perform a set on this Live From WFMT broadcast.
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Hailed as “one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers” by the New York Times, pianist Michael Stephen Brown returns to WFMT’s Levin Studio for this appearance on Live From WFMT.
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As founding artistic director of Chamber Music Chicago, violinist Janet Sung frequently collaborates with prominent artists from Chicago and around the world. For this program she is accompanied by WFMT regular guest Kuang-Hao Huang on piano. Join host Kerry Frumkin for a program featuring music by Rebecca Clarke, Igor Stravinsky, Johannes Brahms, and Karol Szymanowski.
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Recipient of the Medalla Bellas Artes, the highest honor granted by Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts, pianist Jorge Federico Osorio has earned international acclaim for his superb musicianship, powerful technique, vibrant imagination, and deep musical passion.
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The Balourdet Quartet — currently in residence at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University — received the Grand Prize at the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, as well as top prizes in international competitions including the Banff, Premio Paolo Borciani, Carl Nielsen, Fischoff, and Yellow Springs Competitions. Group members Angela Bae and Justin DeFilippis, violins, Benjamin Zannoni, viola, and Russell Houston, cello, make their WFMT debut with this performance.
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Tonight, Live From WFMT presents a recital by three virtuosic collaborators, violinist Philippe Quint, pianist Jessica Choe, and cellist John-Henry Crawford.
Among the works on the live broadcast is a piece by Mr. Quint’s mother, the noted composer Lora Kvint.
Philippe Quint plays the magnificent 1708 “Ruby” Antonio Stradivari violin on loan to him through the generous efforts of The Stradivari Society®.
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Live From WFMT presents the Orion Ensemble.
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The virtuosic players of Chicago’s Juliani Ensemble, a highly acclaimed chamber music ensemble comprised of world class musicians, will offer a delightful and surprising performance on this edition of Live From WFMT.
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Award-winning Duo MemDi brings together violinist Igor Kalnin and pianist Rochelle Sennet. Their recital on Live From WFMT will also include solo selections from Dr. Sennet’s latest release, “Bach to Black, Volume 3.”
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Black Tulip is a multinational ensemble featuring Josefien Stoppelenburg, soprano (the Netherlands), Mirja Lorenz, recorders (Germany), Phillip W. Serna, violas da gamba (US), and Joel Spears, lutes and theorbo (US). Kerry Frumkin welcomes these longtime collaborators back to WFMT’s Levin Studio for this live broadcast.
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The concluding edition of Live From WFMT’s 2022-23 season features a performance by violinist Sara Su Jones and collaborative pianist Tatyana Stepanova.
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An evening of chamber music from a most musical family.
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Winner of Cedille Records’ inaugural Emerging Artist Competition in 2021, saxophonist Julian Velasco is a Chicago-based soloist, collaborative artist, educator, and fierce advocate for contemporary arts whose artistic vision aspires to celebrate the plurality of our society. When Julian makes his Live From WFMT debut alongside his collaborative partner, pianist Winston Choi, they’ll play selections from their album, As We Are, which broke out at number 4 on ...
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When the Orion Ensemble returns to the Levin Studio for this edition of Live From WFMT, they will collaborate with friends in a performance of one of the pinnacles of the chamber repertoire: Schubert’s great Octet in F major.
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Pianist Matthew Hagle is a musician of great versatility and depth, whose performances are a rare mixture of musical understanding, imaginative programming, pianistic mastery and beauty of sound. Matt is also a Live From WFMT favorite, and we’re delighted to welcome him back to the Levin Studio for the first time since the pandemic.
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Join Kerry Frumkin as he welcomes cellist Anita Graef back to Live From WFMT along with pianist Louise Chan. The duo's program will include music for cello and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven, Amy Beach, and Johannes Brahms.
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Founded in 2011, Civitas is a chamber music ensemble with a threefold mission: to present engaging live performances of new and traditional works; to inspire a young generation of classical musicians; and to bring the healing power of music to those with limited access to live performances. The trio performs works by Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
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Live From WFMT is honored to present a recital by pianist Helen Huang and violinist Paul Huang, two extraordinarily virtuosic collaborators who happen to share the same last name. The pair plays music by Gabriel Fauré, Frédéric Chopin, and Felix Mendelssohn.
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Named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine, the Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet has followed a “practically meteoric” (Strings) trajectory to become one of the most in-demand chamber ensembles in the world. We’re delighted to welcome the ensemble back to the Levin Studio for this performance on Live From WFMT.
Enjoy a previous iteration of the quartet in a WFMT livestream from 2019!
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WFMT proudly welcomes two laureates of the 2022 Concours International Musical de Montréal Art Song Division: Brooklyn-based soprano, Meredith Wohlgemuth, and vocal collaborative pianist, Jinhee Park.
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The Black Oak Ensemble’s latest CD release, *Avant l’orage*, a double album of French string trios, reached #1 in the Billboard Classical Charts in July 2022 and was album of the week on Symphony Hall Sirius XM. Featured on New Releases with Lisa Flynn, the ensemble comes in person now to the Levin Studio to perform for this week’s Live From WFMT.
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Hailed as “one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers” by the New York Times, pianist Michael Stephen Brown returns to WFMT’s Levin Studio for this appearance on Live From WFMT.
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For more than four decades, pianists Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem have enjoyed an extensive international career as proponents of music for both piano duet and two keyboards. Kerry Frumkin welcomes the duo back to the Levin Studio for this episode of *Live From WFMT*.
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This is an encore broadcast from March 6, 2019. Pianist Matthew Hagle presents an all Beethoven recital.
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Recognized as one of Chicago’s finest chamber music groups, the Orion Ensemble has been performing since 1992. The Orion Ensemble includes violinist Florentina Ramniceanu, cellist Judy Stone, clarinetist Kathryne Pirtle, and pianist Diana Schmück.
They will perform alongside Stephen Boe on viola. Boe is currently a faculty member at the Music Institute of Chicago and is a frequent collaborator with the ensemble.
The group performs music by Johann Andreas Amon, Jackson Berkey, and Johannes Brahms.
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On this episode of Live From WFMT, cellist Alexander Hersh and pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion play music by Claude Debussy, Benjamin Britten, Robert Schumann, and Fazıl Say.
On November 30, Alex makes his Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall, with Victor, once again, at the keyboard. And in his spare time, Alex loves to make short films that marry classical music with things like making fresh pasta.
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Vocal and instrumental works by Francesca Caccini, Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, Isabella Leonarda, Barbara Strozzi, and others.
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The group makes its WFMT debut on this episode of Live From WFMT.
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Season Finale: Violinist Rachel Barton-Pine and pianist Matthew Hagle perform the complete Brahms violin sonatas.
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The Chicago based Formosa Quartet presents two master works String Quartet No. 17, in B-flat major, K. 458 “The Hunt Quartet”, by Mozart and String Quartet No. 7 Op. 59, No. 1 ‘Razumovsky”, by Beethoven. Additionally, the present a work written for them by Taiwanese composer Shih-Hui Chen entitled Returning Souls. This is a rebroadcast from January 11, 2015.
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This is a rebroadcast from October 15, 2015 entitled AMERICANO: The Journey of the Spanish Guitar in the Americas.
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This is a rebroadcast from May 11, 2015. Black Tulip Josefein Stoppelenburg, soprano Mirja Lorenz, recorders Phillip W. Serna, violas da gamba Joel Spears, lute and theorbo
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This is a rebroadcast from December 3, 2007.
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This is a rebroadcast from January 22, 2007.
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David Schrader performs on Fortepiano. This program is a rebroadcast from January 2, 2006.
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This is a rebroadcast from October 1, 2011.
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This is a rebroadcast from February 2, 2009. This first time collaboration brings cello sonatas from Beethoven, Debussy, and Chopin.
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This is a rebroadcast from June 6, 2005. Thomas Yang, violin Jeri Lou Zike, viola Deb Stevenson, oboe Stephen Houser, cello
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This is a rebroadcast from November 2, 1998.
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This is a rebroadcast from October 11, 2004.
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This is a rebroadcast from March 7, 2016.
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This is an encore broadcast from February 27, 2006.
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This is a rebroadcast from January 20, 2014. Jasmin Lin, Violin Wayne Lee, Violin Brian Chen, Viola Brant Taylor, Cello-guest
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This is a rebroadcast from June 6, 2016.
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This is a rebroadcast from October 20, 2014.
Alexei Naumenko, violin
Anton Ilyamin, violin
Dmitry Pitulko, viola
Anna Gorelova, cello
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This is a rebroadcast from November 23, 2015.
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This is a rebroadcast from October 16, 2017.
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Black Tulip is a multinational ensemble featuring Josefien Stoppelenburg, soprano (the Netherlands), Mirja Lorenz, recorders (Germany), Phillip W. Serna, violas da gamba (US), and Joel Spears, lutes and theorbo (US). Interdisciplinary by nature, Black Tulip’s innovative outside-of-the-box programming immerses audiences in vivid and dynamic multi-media experiences. Black Tulip often combines dramatic cantatas and songs for solo voice and obbligato instruments with virtuosic instrumental works for recorders, viols, lutes and theorbo alongside history lectures incorporating projected artwork to depict the complex cultural lives of composers and their 17th- and 18th-century audiences. Their program is entitled “Women and Power.” This is an encore broadcast from November 25, 2019.
Josefien Stoppelenburg, soprano
Mirja Lorenz, recorders
Phillip W. Serna, violas da gamba
Joel Spears, lutes and theorbo
Biography courtesy of the artists’ website.
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This is a rebroadcast from March 26, 2018.
Sandra Morgan, Flute
Robert Morgan, Oboe
David Perry, Violin
John Macfarlane, Violin
Carol Cook, viola
Calum Cook, Cello
Andrew Rosenblum, Piano
Jeannie Yu, Piano
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This is an encore broadcast from March 6, 2019. Pianist Matthew Hagle presents an all Beethoven recital.
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American pianist Dr. Ian Gindes shares a program ranging from J.S. Bach to Earl Wild on tonight’s program live from the Fay and Daniel Levin Performance Studio at WFMT.
This program is a rebroadcast from February 6, 2017.
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