In August 2017, amid considerable controversy, the Oregon Bach Festival sacked the well-regarded British conductor Matthew Halls, in the job for less than a year,  on charges of  racial insensitivity and sex discrimination that appeared … » Read

Bass players tired of struggling to transport their instruments and wary of inattentive baggage handlers may soon find some relief. When cased, the portable TravelBass, the creation of a team of Italian luthiers in Parma, measures a svelte 35 x … » Read

Music too loud to be listened to is usually considered the product of rock bands, not symphony orchestras. But, insists Dr. Daniel Fink, a leading Los Angeles-based noise activist and founding chair of The Quiet Coalition, “If something … » Read

The Baltimore Symphony musicians’ four-month contract extension expired on January 15 and, according to the players, management “expressed no desire to extend the contract in writing.” However, there appears to be mutual … » Read

Kristine Opolais has withdrawn from Dvorák’s Stabat Mater , scheduled for performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra February 28-March 2 with Music Director Andris Nelsons, her former husband. She will, however, still sing the … » Read

The Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA) has announced the launch of the International Outreach Program (IOP). Intended to promote black classical musicians and to introduce culturally diverse performance opportunities … » Read

In their quest to draw new and younger audiences to classical music, many orchestras are exiting the concert hall to aggressively reach out to their communities. One such recent effort by the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) illustrates both the … » Read

In the tug-of-war over the proposed sale of Westminster Choir College by Rider University to a Chinese firm for $56 million, at least one of the groups suing to block the sale--the Westminster Foundation--won a small victory on January 11 in New … » Read

“The Greatest Story Ever Told” reads the promotional blurb for the multi-million-pound musical Heaven and Earth , based on the story of Adam and Eve. But just weeks before the show was to open its run in the U.K., the project … » Read

According to year-end sales figures compiled by the Official Charts Company for BPI, the British Recorded Music Industry (equivalent to RIAA), sales of classical music in 2018 grew faster than those for any other genre—by 10 percent, as … » Read