AIX-EN-PROVENCE (FR)--It features an Israeli prime minister, Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, a hit squad, and a Shin Beth spy chief. But this is not another story on the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict but an opera with, … » Read

Choral singing enhances the quality of individual lives, especially of those 65 and over, and strengthens community ties. These are the key takeaways from The Chorus Impact Study: Singing for a Lifetime , a research project completed by Grunwald … » Read

Music critic Anne Midgette is weary of the hand wringing over the latest demise of a classical music ensemble. What would happen, she asks, “If one-tenth of the energy people expend on reacting to news such as this was expended on actually … » Read

As the Baltimore Symphony struggles to balance its books and locks out its musicians for the summer, another Washington, D.C., orchestra, albeit smaller, has announced its intention to shut down after 36 years, for lack of funds. The National … » Read

Responding to pressure from the media and its locked-out musicians, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has released the details of its official audit of fiscal 2018. As the orchestra itself pointed out earlier this week , the future looks … » Read

The Edinburgh Festival—Scotland’s official international arts gathering combined with a vast fringe of amateur and professional shows—presents around 59,000 performances in 330 venues over 25 days in August. Viewed as a whole, … » Read

As the Trump administration all but shuts the doors of the U.S. to immigrants, it appears to be getting equally zealous about granting visas to “foreign” talent, even that considered of “extraordinary ability” by United … » Read

Classical music may seem to be on the wane in the West, but anyone who requires reminding that it remains a vibrant art form need only visit China. “When you play in Taipei, for example, and there is an audience of 2,000,” Sir Simon … » Read

As the prospect for a “no-deal” Brexit grows ever more likely, the catalogue of ills that threaten to befall the U.K.’s musical world gets ever longer. One likely casualty is the informal, grassroots network of voluntary … » Read

Further underlining management’s argument for a reduction in labor costs that would lead to a shortened season and lower wages, the Baltimore Symphony has issued a press statement reflecting results of the recent audit for the year ended … » Read