In the final scene of Bellini’s La sonnambula , as laid out in Felice Romani’s libretto, the Swiss maiden Amina sleepwalks precariously on the roof of the village millhouse, clutching a bouquet of faded flowers, a gift from her … » Read

The staff at La Fenice has voted for a one-day strike on Oct. 17, the opening night of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck , to protest the naming of Beatrice Venezi as the company’s new music director. The theater’s musicians and staff have … » Read

James Meena, former principal conductor and artistic director for Opera Carolina, posted a short video on Sept. 26 refuting “unsubstantiated rumors” that artists had not been paid during his tenure because he had stolen money from the … » Read

The Vienna Philharmonic has certainly come a long way since the bad old days of women and East Asians not even being permitted to audition. It’s doubtful too that an Israeli would have been welcome 20 years ago, but the orchestra’s … » Read

The appointment of conductor Beatrice Venezi as the music director of La Fenice in Venice beginning in 2026 has prompted “a properly operatic outbreak of rage,” writes classical music critic Ivan Hewett in The Daily Telegraph . The … » Read

Winston-Salem residents Randall “Randy” and Kamalakshi “Kamu” Dishmon have donated more than $10.1 million to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) to establish the American Roots Music Institute. … » Read

As of the current season, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has seven new members and six “acting” members with longterm contracts. The latter group are filling vacancies, but are not on track to become tenured players in the DSO. Their … » Read

NEW YORK (AP) — Tenor Rolando Villazón was singing the title role in Massenet’s Werther in 2006 at Nice, France, when he started thinking about how he would direct the opera. “I said, ‘oh, this last act is very … » Read

Andrés Orozco-Estrada will become music director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra beginning with the 2026-27 season. The 47-year-old Austrian-Columbian conductor has been a guest on the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s … » Read

CHICHESTER, West Sussex, UK—It is a quarter century since director Harry Christophers first took his vocal group The Sixteen on a Choral Pilgrimage, visiting some of the finest cathedrals in the U.K. He started the group 21 years earlier, … » Read