The traditional stereotype of the conductor--an unapproachable, god-like genius unencumbered by everyday concerns--is undergoing a generational transformation. So argues Andrew Mellor when considering the recently concluded Malko Competition , … » Read

NEW YORK (AP) — Oksana Lyniv, Speranza Scappucci, Marin Alsop, and Xian Zhang filled their lockers in the guest conductors’ dressing room off the Metropolitan Opera’s orchestra pit. Just four women had led the orchestra from … » Read

A letter signed by 175 high profile figures in the U.K. arts and entertainment industries argues that the deep cuts to the Welsh National Opera (WNO) by the Art Councils of both England and Wales threaten the “dismantling” of … » Read

The Kitchener Waterloo Symphony in Ontario saw its season come to an ignominious end last September when the board cancelled its season a week before rehearsals were to begin and then resigned en masse. Rachel Smith-Spencer, the remaining board … » Read

Piano tuning is both essential to classical music and a dying art. Ivan Hewett, chief classical music critic for The Telegraph , recently spoke with Ulrich Gerhartz about his indispensable set of skills and why they are in danger of disappearing. … » Read

In a recent policy change, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is now permitting audience members to use their phones to take photos and short videos at its concerts. An April concert during which tenor soloist Ian Bostridge halted … » Read

The upcoming season of the Chicago Opera Theater (COT), Lawrence Edelson’s first as general director , is filled with two world and one North American premieres and a tribute marking the 100 th anniversary of Puccini’s death. First on … » Read

Members of the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir on April 29 approved their first labor contract with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc (POKC). About 160 of some 200 singers voted in favor of the agreement, negotiated by the American … » Read

On May 4 the Interlochen Center for the Arts will premiere Edmonia , Boston-based composer and guitarist Bill Banfield’s opera about the 19 th -century Black and Ojibwe sculptor Edmonia Lewis. In 2000 author Toni Morrison commissioned … » Read

This year’s announcement of the upcoming season at Covent Garden offered something different--news that the Royal Opera was now the Royal Ballet and Opera. “[It’s] a massively overdue change,” CEO Alex Beard told The … » Read