Klaus Mäkelä, a 29-year-old Finnish-born musician, will become chief conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2027. He has already demonstrated his winning connection with the CSO.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra took their place on stage for three performances led by visiting conductor Jaap van Zweden. The sheer immensity of Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 7” was immediately evident.

Pair two of Chicago’s greatest cultural gems in a multifaceted program on the Symphony Center stage, and you have an ideal example of the city’s exceptional talent, writes Hedy Weiss.

Given the current state of the world there is something particularly wonderful about heading to a performance by the ever-remarkable musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, writes Hedy Weiss.

They really don’t create musicals like “Guys and Dolls” anymore. So, head straight to the superb Music Theater Works production of the show that debuted on Broadway in 1950.

Take a seat in Steppenwolf’s mainstage theater and enter the world of “Fool for Love,” Sam Shepard’s 75-minute play dating from 1983.

Rich Hein, an intensely gifted photographer who spent four decades working at the Chicago Sun-Times, died Sunday. He was 70.

To get straight to the point: “Hitt Records,” the musical revue now receiving its world premiere at the Black Ensemble Theater, is an absolute knockout, writes WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss.

Something entirely magical took place at Symphony Hall in a recent concert that featured a breathtaking world premiere of composer Osvaldo Golijov’s fascinating, grand-scale work, “Megalopolis Suite,” along with four additional and wholly beguiling works by Donizetti, Verdi, Chabrier and de Falla.

Not only was there a packed house for Thursday evening’s concert at Symphony Hall, but Riccardo Muti, along with the program’s two works by Beethoven, and guest artist, pianist Mitsuko Uchida, were winningly celebrated.

Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre has more than 3,800 seats, and almost every last one of them was filled this past Monday night as Sting took to the stage for two hours of his terrific music.

Eboni Booth’s deeply moving 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Primary Trust” is now receiving its Chicago premiere at the Goodman Theatre.

Thursday evening’s concert at Orchestra Hall was another knockout performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and it marked the brief return of conductor Marin Alsop, who clearly adores the CSO. It also was a program comprised of three radically different but splendid pieces of music.

Ian Maksin is a master cellist, guitarist, composer, recording artist, superb vocalist and multilinguist who can finesse more than 30 languages. In addition to everything else, he is a formidable world traveler. 

Phenomenal: That is an adjective that I use very sparingly. But it is the only way to describe the multitalented brilliance of Adam LaSalle and Matthew McGloin, the two wildly gifted performers in “2 Pianos 4 Hands.”

Have you been thinking about taking a trip to Las Vegas, playing the slots and then heading to a nightclub? Well, I’d advise you to save your money and instead just head to “Savor After Hours.”