Nicholas Walls is the new chief advancement officer at the Music Academy of the West; he succeeds Jodi Barnard, who retired in January. Walls, who started March 31, most recently served as senior director of philanthropy at the Seattle Symphony, … » Read

An encounter near the Beethoven statue in Los Angeles’s Pershing Square 20 years ago changed the lives of both Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers. Lopez was a columnist for the Los Angeles Times , and Ayers a Cleveland-born musical prodigy and … » Read

Abigail Raiford failed to nab top honors at the  Met Opera’s Laffont Competition Finals Concert on March 16, but when she stepped on the storied stage to accept her runner-up prize (there were four, out of the nine finalists), the … » Read

As of June 2025, Jesús Herrera will assume the role of artistic director for the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He succeeds Elena Dubinets, who joins the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as its new artistic director on May 1, 2025. In the … » Read

As of July 1, Julia Bullard will be the new director of the School of Music in the College of the Arts at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Stuart Gerber, who has been serving in an interim capacity since last August, when Chester Philips was … » Read

Four string players are, or will be, new to the Philadelphia Orchestra this season. Cellist Jiayin He joined the orchestra this past February, while simultaneously pursuing his MM at the Curtis Institute, where he is principal of the Curtis … » Read

Shea Scruggs, current Curtis Institute chief enrollment officer and director of institutional research and musician experience (!!), is to be the new director of the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. He starts July 1 and … » Read

Orchestra Lumos reports that Russell Jones [pictured] will step down as president and CEO next December. Lumos, former VP of marketing and membership for the League of American Orchestras, arrived eight years ago, during which time he … » Read

Korean-American conductor Holly Hyun Choe , a Dudamel Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is to be the Norwegian Radio Orchestra’s principal conductor and musical advisor as of 2026, on a three-year contract. She succeeds Petr Popelka … » Read

Scott Nickrenz, violist and all-round chamber music guru, died on March 17 at the age of 87. Apart from being a master player and pedagogue, his skills as a presenter of the artform and spotter of talent are legend. He cofounded the Lenox and … » Read