Some consider music Chicago's greatest contribution to civilization, and not only for the internationally known Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera. Live music pulses from virtually every corner of the city—blues, jazz, ethnic, rock, and more.

How to find out what's going on in music

The following sites will get you started. For additional links to Chicago music, visit experiencechicago.uchicago.edu.

Centerstage Chicago Music
Web: centerstage.net/music/
Includes brief descriptions of more than 1,000 local bands, musicians, and others in the music industry. The site also lists more than 50 record stores and nearly 200 music venues, cross-referenced by style or location, as well as open-mike nights throughout the area.

Concert Line
Phone: 312-666-6667
A recorded voice reads information on groups, dates, venues, and prices—at breakneck speed.

Jazz Institute of Chicago
Web: www.jazzinstituteofchicago.org
Hotline: 312-427-3300
The hotline covers the current week’s activities on the jazz scene and often includes free events. The Web site offers features about jazz and a calendar.

Oh My Rockness!
Web: chicago.ohmyrockness.com
A very comprehensive listing of indie rock concerts in Chicago and its surroundings, from tiny venues to huge ones.

Where to take music classes

Old Town School of Folk Music
Web: www.oldtownschool.org
Address: 4544 North Lincoln Avenue
Phone: 728-6000
Learn to play the guitar or fiddle. Go to a concert. Buy supplies at the guitar store.

The biggies in music

Chicago Opera Theater
Web: www.chicagooperatheater.org
Phone: 935-6860
Award-winning, imaginative productions of modern and early opera. Discounts for students, too. Performances are at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Web: www.cso.org
Address: Symphony Center
220 South Michigan Avenue
Phone: 312-294-3000
A year older than the University of Chicago (the orchestra was established in 1891), the CSO is one of the great symphony orchestras in the world. Its recordings have won more than 50 Grammy Awards.

Lyric Opera of Chicago
Web: www.lyricopera.org
Address:Civic Opera House
20 North Wacker Drive
Phone: 312-332-2244
The 2007–08 season includes classics such as La Traviata and Eugene Onegin, plus John Adams's Dr. Atomic, about the testing of the first atom bomb. Tickets may be hard to come by, so call early. However, most evenings you can buy tickets on the street just before the performance, at a fraction of the regular cost. And the box office also has a few returned tickets—at full price.

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