First, to set the record straight: This is not a review. It is primarily a note of appreciation to Maestro Riccardo Muti, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s music director, who has not been able to conduct his beloved orchestra since the arrival of the pandemic last March, but has kept in constant touch with his musicians from his home in Ravenna, Italy, and has helped guide the superb CSO Sessions series (an expertly programmed, beautifully filmed series of chamber concerts featuring CSO musicians that is now streaming its 16th episode, and counting). On Wednesday he also pursued one of his greatest passions via Zoom.

That passion? It is the coaching of talented young student musicians who in this case were drawn largely from the recently launched Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative (CMPI) project — a program created “to identify and develop gifted and motivated orchestra students from under-represented backgrounds for acceptance into top-tier classical music programs at conservatories and universities, and subsequent entrance into professional careers.”