The pursuit of racial and gender equity in the classical music world has taken on special urgency in the past decade. Concert programs that feature compositions by women, Blacks, and people of color are now de rigueur for most ensembles, and … » Read

Opera, the most expensive of the performing arts, has suffered mightily since the pandemic. The failure of audiences to return to pre-pandemic numbers has combined with a dramatic rise in production costs. In less than a year, English National … » Read

Thomas Coesfeld took over as CEO of the Bertelsmann company last July and is already redefining the company’s strategic outlook. In short order he has: placed the exclusive distribution of BMG’s digital business in the hands of … » Read

With its 2024-25 season, Carnegie Hall upholds its reputation for showcasing the best and the brightest of the international classical music scene, while paying homage to other genres and stretching the canon way beyond traditional European … » Read

While the Metropolitan Opera’s embrace of contemporary opera has captured the wide-eyed attention of the cultural press, far less consideration has been given to the “middle American malaise” that musicologist Micaela Baranello … » Read

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s “Orchestra after 5” program on Feb. 1—dubbed “a classical concert with a casual vibe”—was “a wild success,” says the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Peter Dobrin. … » Read

Despite the demise of the Mostly Mozart Festival, its orchestra and a few programs of classical music have been planned by Lincoln Center presenters—as of part of their Summer for the City banner, now in its third annual appearance. … » Read

Feb. 12, 2024 will mark the 100 th anniversary of the premiere of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue . Among the most frequently performed symphonic works by an American composer, Rhapsody was Gershwin’s response to a request that he … » Read

Research by scientists at the U.K.’s University of Exeter suggest that playing and reading music may help sustain good memory and the ability to solve complex tasks among older people. In a study published in the International Journal of … » Read

In late January the TV BRICS International Symphony Orchestra presented its inaugural concert in Moscow. Created in October 2023, the ensemble aims to take part in international projects and perform orchestral classical and folk music for radio … » Read