Pelléas et Mélisande and Salome are big-house works, most often tackled by companies with larger stages and budgets than Des Moines Metro Opera. But the company more than justified the presence of both pieces on its 2024 … » Read

When the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s (BSO) principal bass Edwin Barker first set foot on the Tanglewood campus in the summer of 1975, he could hardly have imagined that the BSO and its summer headquarters would be an integral part of his … » Read

At age 37, Yuja Wang sits at the very pinnacle of the world of classical pianists. Her concerts sell out nearly immediately, and they almost invariably garner rave reviews. She was from the outset, observes an interviewer for The Telegraph , … » Read

A new report produced by the University of Warwick and the Campaign for the Arts shines a harsh light on the state of arts funding in the U.K. Since 2010, Britain has cut its total culture budget by six percent; in that same interval, Germany, … » Read

AIX-EN-PROVENCE—Under its three most recent artistic directors, the Aix-en-Provence Festival has built a reputation for commissioning new music, reviving experimental works, and bundling them in among the season’s more high-profile … » Read

Yesterday, Lincoln Center invited a gaggle of local press to witness a rehearsal by the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center—the rebranded Mostly Mozart Festival ensemble—under its new Music Director Jonathon Heyward. Their … » Read

Welz Kauffman, who led the Ravinia Festival for almost two decades before his departure in 2020 , is returning to Chicago. On Sept. 30, he will begin his tenure as executive director and CEO of the Old Town School of Folk Music. He succeeds Jim … » Read

One of the many casualties of the Taliban’s brutal return to power in Afghanistan in August of 2021 was the nation’s musical life. Music of any sort was quite simply banned , anyone caught playing an instrument could face severe … » Read

The accordion, an instrument generally associated with polka bands, rarely gets much respect. That won’t be the case in Kansas City between July 23 and 27, when the Accordionists and Teachers Guild International holds its annual festival. … » Read

The centerpiece of Des Moines Metro Opera’s 2024 season was the world premiere of the Damian Geter/Lila Palmer opera American Apollo , a chronicle of the years-long relationship between John Singer Sargent and his Black model, Thomas … » Read