Citing “an abundance of caution,” the Los Angeles Master Chorale has cancelled the 40 th edition of its annual Messiah singalong on Dec. 20. “Since the pandemic… we have routinely checked in with the department of health … » Read

The English Touring Opera is defending its  much-criticized plan to overhaul its recruitment policy for its orchestra starting in 2022. The immediate impact of the decision was notification to 13 freelance musicians, some veterans of over 20 … » Read

MILAN (AP) — Milanese turned out in all their finery for La Scala’s Dec. 7 gala season opener of Verdi’s Macbeth in a fully seated theater, a welcome return after the pandemic made last year’s premiere a televised-only … » Read

WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- The last piano on which Frederic Chopin played and composed in Paris is being renovated by a U.S. expert who is giving it back its original mid-19th century characteristics. Paul McNulty is spending days at the Frederic … » Read

From a three-legged partnership that involves the deep Unitel catalog of European classical music and ballet films, Apple TV, and Carnegie Hall, comes a new streaming channel: Carnegie Hall+, which went live Wednesday at 7 p.m. on Apple TV, where … » Read

In a sign of a (very new) era of flexibility, the Metropolitan Opera has just inserted a new opera into its 2022-23 schedule. Following up on the unalloyed triumph of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones , which opened the current … » Read

On Dec. 2, the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation announced donations of $100mn each to arts and cultural institutions in western New York and southeast Michigan. Wilson established the $1.2bn foundation in 2014 to fund activities in the Buffalo … » Read

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has awarded American Rescue Plan (ARP) grants totaling $20.2 million to 66 local arts agencies for subgrants to assist arts and cultural organizations in recovering from the pandemic. Grant awards of … » Read

COVID-19 continues its merciless march: The latest casualty is Simon Rattle, who has tested positive and so cancelled all concerts as he recovers at home with mild symptoms. Impacted as a result are programs with the London Symphony Orchestra (of … » Read

Film music, an essential component of the motion picture art, has often been considered the musical equivalent of a red-headed step child—underappreciated and not quite up to classical standards. Ironically, these days, writes Mark Swed for … » Read