Impromptu | WFMT

Tune in to hear clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein and pianist Michael Brown play Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s 1945 Clarinet Sonata in this Impromptu Encore from 2018.

Italian pianist Beatrice Rana made her Chicago debut at Symphony Center on February 24, 2019.  The next day, the 2013 Cliburn Competition silver medalist performed on Impromptu.

Acclaimed violist Richard O’Neill and cellist Edward Arron joined the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet for a live performance in 2019.

The Eden Stell Guitar Duo is known for its chameleon-like ability to communicate in a multitude of styles. In this Impromptu from 2017, collaborators Mark Eden and Christopher Stell confirmed their reputation as one of the world’s leading guitar ensembles.

The Cavatina Duo brings together Spanish flutist Eugenia Moliner and Bosnian guitarist Denis Azabagic.  In this 2019 Impromptu, you’ll hear the “style, sympathy, and technical aplomb” that captivated Fanfare Magazine as well as fans around the globe.

WFMT presented the Solera Quartet on Impromptu in May 2019. These rising stars have been acclaimed by critics as “top-notch, intense, stylish, and with an abundance of flare and talent” and “one of the foremost young string quartets.”

Since 1999, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra has brought together Arab and Israeli musicians as a means to defy fierce political divides in the Middle East and globally. Concertmaster Michael Barenboim leads the newly-formed West-Eastern Divan Ensemble, and on February 20, 2020 that fantastic group of chamber players performed the Mendelssohn Octet, live on Impromptu.

Enjoy an encore performance by the award-winning Aizuri Quartet, whose debut album Blueprinting was nominated for a 2019 Grammy Award.

This Impromptu was originally heard on WFMT on January 17, 2020.

In 2018, the engaging Filipino-American pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion returned to WFMT’s Levin Studio. For this Impromptu performance, he brought some wonderfully talented friends, violinist Giora Schmidt and cellist Leonardo Altino.

It’s always such a pleasure to welcome pianist Marc André Hamelin to WFMT and to hear that brilliant musical mind at work. This Impromptu Encore was first broadcast in May 2016.