The new Cuban American Youth Orchestra (CAYO), inspired by the Minnesota Orchestra’s (MO) 2015 visit to Cuba, will make its inaugural appearance in Havana in May. The ensemble is the brainchild of Rena Kraut, a clarinetist who free-lances … » Read

Daniel Henninger is deputy editor of The Wall Street Journal's editorial page and author of “Wonder Land,” a weekly column appearing each Thursday. In his Dec. 27 offering, he  announces his latest musical creation, with tongue … » Read

HMV, Britain's last surviving national music retailer, is on the brink. For the second time in six years, it has filed for bankruptcy, affecting 2,200 staffers at 125 stores. Its owners called the "tsunami" of retail challenges impossible to … » Read

A school for blind and visually impaired musicians may close after 105 years unless it can find a new home, and quickly. The Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School must leave the building it shares with its parent organization, the … » Read

In 2019 the Royal Opera plans to tackle a series of questions best summarized as, “Does opera hate women?” While the cliché has it that an opera isn’t over “until the fat lady sings,” it might be more accurate … » Read

Taken literally, “encore” means “again”—as in play it a second time. But most encores are not a repeat performance of a particular piece. Hilary Hahn’s repetition of the Chaconne from Bach’s Violin … » Read

Australian arts patron Peter Weiss has provided a boost to the Sydney Opera House’s $202 million upgrade with a $1 million (AUD) gift to add two new rehearsal rooms and upgrade other existing rehearsal facilities. His gift will be of … » Read

Palm Beach Opera’s Benenson Young Artist Program has been assured of its continuation for the next five years, thanks to a $1 million gift from its namesake’s foundation. General Director Daniel Biaggi announced the news from the … » Read

In this, the season of giving and frenetic fund-raising, a Chicago-based reporter examines the irony of donating to an arts organization whose top executive’s compensation outpaces the average Joe’s by light years. He suggests using … » Read

1. 170 Days in Nanking Nominated for Best New Opera. During the invasion of China by Japan in the 1930s, John H. D. Rabe, a representative for the German industrial firm Siemens who was based in Nanking (former  capital city of Nationalist … » Read