A two-thirds majority of the Ukrainian parliament has voted to ban some Russian music in media and public spaces. The works banned include those created or performed by anyone who is or was a Russian citizen after 1991—the year Ukraine … » Read

“If an air aid lasts for longer than an hour, the performance is cancelled." If less than an hour, the cost of a  ticket includes free access to the bomb shelter. The announcement launched the gala reopening of the Odesa National … » Read

Rail strikes in the U.K. have forced the cancellation of many performances, simply because neither staff nor audiences are able to reach their respective destinations. West End theaters are canceling on a case-by-case basis, the English National … » Read

For the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), variety is both the spice and the sustenance of life. While most arts presenters struggled to reclaim their balance after the pandemic, BAM just completed one of its best years ever. Even better was the … » Read

After months of stalled negotiations, capping years of the same and financial struggle, the San Antonio Symphony board has started proceedings for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Memo from the board: “With deep regret, the Board of Directors of the … » Read

On May 10, the members of the DaPonte String Quartet received a terse letter from the recently hired executive director notifying them that “your position as a salaried musician will be eliminated as of May 10, 2022.” Cellist Myles … » Read

Each season the more than 80 permanent opera houses in Germany produce between seven and eight thousand performances, which is about one third of the world’s total. Italy, by contrast, presents fewer than two thousand. Such abundance is … » Read

The growing enthusiasm for new operas too often collides with what the San Francisco Chronicle’ s Joshua Kosman has identified as the “second production” problem. As he explains it, the introduction of a new work, often amid … » Read

The 1714 “da Vinci, ex-Seidel” Strad, anticipated to fetch  “up to $20 million” at auction by Tarisio, finally sold last week for 12.29 million euros, about $15.34 million, the second highest amount ever fetched for a … » Read

NEW YORK (AP) — The Metropolitan Opera sold 61 percent of available tickets this season after returning from a 1½ year absence, managing 196 staged performances without a cancellation. Sales were down from 75 percent in last … » Read