As the annual de rigueur “End of the Year” summary, Musical America focusses not on the big events of the past but on the emerging stars of the future. Discovered in action by our critics, the 12 New Artists of the Month in 2023 range … » Read

On Christmas Day, Russian Minister of Culture Olga Lubimova invited Valery Gergiev, pianist Dennis Matsuev, and three cultural bureaucrats from the Moscow Philharmonic, Russian State Television and Radio (VGTRK), and her own Ministry of Culture … » Read

LONDON—Of all the instruments in an orchestra, the French horn is the most exposed. One crack and the whole audience winces. Listening to a fiendish bit of Peter Maxwell Davies a few months back at London’s Wigmore Hall, it was a … » Read

Aigul Akhmetshina likes to describe herself as “just an ordinary girl from a small village in the middle of nowhere in Russia.” Not quite. Akhmetshina started performing folk songs of her native Bashkortostan while still a toddler. … » Read

Jean Kellogg, who joined the Merola Opera Program in 2011 as its first executive director, will officially retire as of January 1, 2024. She has agreed to serve as a consultant to the Merola’s board until a successor is found, hopefully by … » Read

There is podium news at the Gothenburg Symphony: Chief Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali will exit his post at the end of 2024-25, having been in the job since 2017. He says he wishes to spend more time with his family in Tampere, while also … » Read

French conductor Lucie Leguay has joined Askonas Holt for worldwide management. Having won the 2023 Victoires de la Musique Classique “Révélation, Conductor” award, she is making a series of major debuts in the current … » Read

Gabriel Feltz, acting general music director of the City of Dortmund, is to move to Kiel, a coastal city in the north of Germany, to take the title of director of general music of the state capital and the Kiel Theater. Feltz, 53, studied at the … » Read

Belgian conductor Koen Kessels [pictured] is to be music director of Dutch National Ballet and artistic director/principal conductor of Dutch Ballet Orchestra as of August 2024. Kessels is the current music director of the U.K.’s Royal … » Read

In France, Opéra de Lille will welcome a new director, when Barbara Eckle arrives on July 1, 2025 to succeed Caroline Sonrier, in the position since 2003. Eckle was dramaturg at the Ruhrtriennale International Festival of Arts from 2020 to … » Read