Violinist Gidon Kremer has been awarded the 2023 Beethoven Prize for Human Rights , honoring his work on behalf of social justice. Scheduled to receive the award at a ceremony in Bonn on Nov. 19, the 76-year-old Latvian artist has consistently … » Read

In a ceremony at Boston’s Bethel AME Church in Jamaica Plain on Oct. 20, composer, educator, and author Dr. Bill Banfield received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, aka the Call to Service Award, which was created in 2003 by … » Read

Musical America has announced its annual awards, with Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen named Artist of the Year and heading a distinguished group of artists, collectively described by one seasoned industry observer as “the best lineup … » Read

On the heels of its centennial, 2022-23 season, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra has announced yet another landmark gift from the estate of H. Thomas and Mary Beck, this time for $14.7 million. Added to the fiscal 2023 budget sheet, yielding a … » Read

Sean Shepherd, New York Philharmonic’s inaugural Kravis Emerging Composer in 2012 and the recipient of numerous commissions from other major groups, will receive the $200,000 Charles Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and … » Read

The 2023 crop of MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant recipients, each of whom receives $800,000, includes two composers. Raven Chacon [pictured], 45 and from Red Hook, NY, is cited as “a composer and artist whose performances … » Read

Joining podium-endowed symphony orchestras from Alabama to Detroit, Wichita, and Chicago, the St. Louis Symphony has enlisted the aid of its most generous donors to endow its music director position. The post currently occupied by Stéphane … » Read

The biennial Besançon International Conductors competition concluded Saturday, with 25-year-old Frenchman Swann Van Rechem emerging as winner of the Grand Prix, as well as the audience and orchestra prizes. He receives 12,000 euros plus … » Read

In Tokyo, the president of the Goethe Institute and a representative of the Japan Art Association announced the recipients of the 2023 Praemium Imperiale Awards, considered by many to be the “Nobel Prize of the Arts.” Presented since … » Read

The second edition of the Zoltán Kodály Conducting Competition, held in Debrecen, Hungary from August 20 – 28, failed to produce a first prize winner. Alexander Sinan Binder (Germany) and Mateusz Gwizdalla (Australia/Poland) … » Read