When a major glossy magazine like Vanity Fair writes about contemporary opera, you know something big must be afoot. The latter years of the 19 th century—the years of Verdi and Puccini—constituted a golden age for new operas, and now … » Read

Between the workers at General Motors and the players in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, union labor is having a difficult time of late. But in oil-rich Texas, management of the Houston Grand Opera has reached comfortable accords with all three … » Read

Starting next week, theaters in the UK are to receive instruction on how to plan for Brexit, with or without a deal with the European Union. The government has provided funding for its performance centers to properly prepare ahead of the October … » Read

The reopening of Paris's Théâtre du Châtelet on Sept. 13 represented more than simply the completion of a much-needed $34.7m renovation. It also marked the ongoing programmatic transformation of the 157-year-old venue. Long … » Read

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra musicians went ahead with their free concert Saturday afternoon in the New Shiloh Baptist Church, the same day as the free season opener at Meyerhoff Hall was scheduled. The latter never happened, because the players … » Read

The Baltimore Symphony has declared its musicians on strike (“The musicians of the BSO have not returned to work this week”) and so has postponed the coming weekend’s opening event by one week. The free concert scheduled for … » Read

As anticipated, the full membership of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra voted to reject management’s final offers to return to work.There were two: Accept the fact that money is scarce and agree to a 40-week season under a new, one-year … » Read

The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is in the midst of a transformation. The most visible evidence is a new 236-bed, cutting-edge residence and parking complex. The school is also taking steps to reduce its student body, ideally from 430 to … » Read

A gift of $4m from The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation will enable the Interlochen Center for the Arts (ICA) to complete a versatile residential facility—the final element of its 1990 master site plan. Since the 1930s succeeding … » Read

After three days of intensive negotiations, Baltimore Symphony management and musicians are at a crossroads. In separate press releases last night, each issued their own version of the situation. Headline from management: "Baltimore Symphony … » Read