As fall approaches, Chicago’s classical music and jazz scenes are poised for a robust season featuring a range of performances that highlight both established and emerging artists. After a summer marked by sold-out shows and revitalized live audiences, several key events showcase the city’s ongoing commitment to diverse, often less commercially prominent genres.

In mid-September, Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion will host the annual Sonic Pavilion Festival, organized by Experimental Sound Studio. Running September 12 to 14, the festival features commissioned sound works tailored to the pavilion’s distinctive 24-channel speaker system. This year’s theme focuses on America250, with pieces drawing from steelworkers in Pittsburgh, Appalachian fiddle traditions, and Chicago’s own sonic landscape. Admission is free.

Choral music enthusiasts can look forward to Bella Voce’s 20th-anniversary season under artistic director Andrew Lewis. The ensemble’s program centers on contemporary compositions, including the local premiere of Matthew Recio’s “Bone Cathedral” and the co-commissioned “How to Fold the Wind” by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw. Performances are scheduled for September 19 at St. Chrysostom’s Church in Chicago and September 20 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Evanston.

Klaus Mäkelä, who will officially become the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s music director next year, has curated an ambitious fall residency. The programs, running from late September through early October at Symphony Center, include Sibelius’s Symphony No. 7, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 9. Mäkelä will also conduct a program featuring William Walton’s oratorio “Belshazzar’s Feast” alongside Stravinsky’s ballet “Petrushka.” Tickets range from $49 to $345.

Jazz will be well represented with multiple festivals throughout September and October. The Englewood Jazz Festival takes place September 17-19 at Hamilton Park and highlights Ernest Dawkins’ work inspired by civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Shortly after, the Hyde Park Jazz Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary September 26-27, featuring performers such as Emmet Cohen, Joshua Redman, and Chicago-based saxophonist Greg Ward. Both festivals offer free admission, with the Hyde Park festival suggesting a $10 donation.

A newer addition to the local jazz landscape, the Red Line Jazz Festival, organized by Mandala South Asian Performing Arts, presents concerts at CTA stations and public spaces through October. The season culminates with a concert at the Harris Theater on October 16, curated by guitarist Fareed Haque. Tickets range from $20 to $117.

Chamber music patrons will find interest in Nova Linea Musica’s fall offerings at Guarneri Hall. The JACK Quartet performs newly commissioned works on September 30, followed by a November 18 program from the Poiesis Quartet, both ticketed at $50.

An archival highlight this season is the rediscovery of a rarely heard 1897 octet by German-American composer Charles Martin Loeffler. Clarinetist Graeme Steele Johnson uncovered the score in the Library of Congress, and his ensemble will perform the piece on October 9 at the University of Chicago’s Logan Center.

In October, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) returns to its origins with the inaugural Ubuntu Festival at the Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies in Bronzeville. Named after a Bantu philosophy emphasizing community, the festival runs October 22-24 and offers day passes for $48.

Chicago Opera Theater brings an uncommon work to the stage in December with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s 1962 operatic adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Performances are scheduled for early December at the Studebaker Theater, preceded by a recital exploring Wilde-themed repertoire in October.

Other notable events include the Civitas Ensemble’s December concert featuring compositions by Chicago Symphony principal trombonist Tim Higgins at Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston, and trumpeter Marquis Hill’s residency at the Jazz Showcase during the holiday season from December 24 to January 3, 2027.

These events underscore Chicago’s vibrant arts landscape, demonstrating a continued resurgence in live classical and jazz music supported by a mixture of historic rediscoveries, contemporary premieres, and community-rooted celebrations.