Listeners’ Choice: Verdi’s Ernani

A 1962 audience-favorite Met Broadcast featuring Carlo Bergonzi and Leontyne Price.

Special Programming: Women’s History Month on WFMT

A month of exciting programming to mark and honor Women’s History Month on WFMT.

Grace Bumbry, 1st Black singer at Bayreuth, dies at 86

Bumbry was among the winners of the 1958 Met National Council Auditions. She had a recital debut in Paris that same year and made her Paris Opéra debut in 1960.

On Leontyne Price with Kenneth Overton

A playlist curated by baritone and advocate Kenneth Overton to celebrate a living legend.

Playlist: Black and Latino Voices On Stage

To coincide with exciting new additions to the WTTW slate, WFMT has compiled a playlist celebrating the pinnacles of Black and Latino artistry in vocal music.

‘No path is easy’: Black opera singers detail struggles

More than 60 years after Marian Anderson broke the color barrier at the Met, Black singers still face unique obstacles within the opera industry. “We’ve made some strides, but not a whole lot,” said Professor Naomi Andre.

The Surprising True Origins of Gershwin’s Classic ‘Summertime’

“Summertime” from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess is one of the one most popular songs in the Great American Songbook. But did you know that neither the tune to “Summertime” nor the lyrics are by George Gershwin?

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee on the Artists Who Have Inspired Him the Most and Why Black Composers Matter

Learn how Lawrence Brownlee, hailed as one of the world’s leading tenors, is developing new works that respond to issues facing men of color today.

5 Classical Recordings That Sound Better on Vinyl

WFMT host Kerry Frumkin has picked 5 of his favorite classical recordings. But it’s better to listen to them on vinyl.

Playlist: 10 Shakespeare-Inspired Operas You Should Know

If “Music oft hath such a charm / To make bad good, and good provoke to harm,” perhaps these 10 Shakespeare-inspired operas will charm you.

10 US Presidents Who Changed Music in America, According to White House Historical Society Director Emerita

Elise K. Kirk, emerita director of the White House Historical Society, highlights ten US presidents who changed music in America through the music they presented at the White House.

‘I’m a white composer, living in white privilege, setting the poetry of Langston Hughes’

When Karpman encountered Langston Hughes’ poem, she was instantly fascinated.