After two years of on and off negotiations , filings with the National Labor Relations Board, and other forms of discontent, the musicians of the Springfield (MA) Symphony Orchestra have signed a two-year agreement with their employer, … » Read

As fundraising and architect selection continues apace for the new $300 million Sarasota Performing Arts Center (SPAC), news arrives that the Sarasota Orchestra has just closed on the purchase of a 32-acre site for a new, um, performing arts … » Read

Opera lovers heading to Europe next season will have an embarrassment of riches. The following, new productions or European premieres outlined in a recent Times article, is a sampling. The Ring Royal Opera House launches Antonio Pappano’s … » Read

The Washington National Opera’s (WNO) upcoming premiere of Grounded , an opera exploring the psychological toll of drone warfare, has come under fierce criticism because the military contractor General Dynamics was identified in promotional … » Read

Rumors of the death of the piano in the U.K. have apparently been greatly exaggerated. “It is a great time to be in the piano business,” reported one piano shop owner;  Matt Ash, membership and retail lead at the Music Industries … » Read

When Ivo van Hove first discussed his “very dark” vision of Mozart’s Don Giovanni with his cast at the Metropolitan Opera, the leading man had doubts. “He said, ‘But is there no hope?’” the Belgian … » Read

Tchaikovsky’s symphonic writing is some of the most beautiful in the classical canon. And a recent performance of his Symphony No. 5 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic suggests that it might also possess considerable erotic potency. On April … » Read

Kudos to the Cleveland Orchestra’s fundraisers. In March, the orchestra received $7 million from Jane Baker Nord, to create a special fund for educational concerts. Last week, the orchestra got $10 million from the Milton and Tamar Maltz … » Read

In 1973 Wayne Sanders, his roommate and fellow musician Benjamin Mathews, and Sister Mary Elise Sisson, a white nun, met in an Upper West Side apartment in Manhattan to organize Opera Ebony. Their goal was to provide Black performers the … » Read

Craft Recordings, which manages one of the world’s largest catalogs of master recordings and compositions as a subsidiary of  Concord Music , has launched a multi-year archival program to make recordings by Telarc International … » Read