The Philadelphia-born Marc Blitzstein has a legitimate claim to being one of America’s best unknown composers. The son of Russian immigrants, he studied composition at the Curtis Institute and at 21 was a musician accomplished enough to … » Read

Norwegian conductor Grete Pedersen has been announced as the new artistic director and principal conductor of the Carmel Bach Festival, which prides itself on being “the longest-running summer music festival in California.” Somehow … » Read

VIENNA (AFP) – Dutch opera director Lotte de Beer took over Thursday as artistic director of the Volksoper opera house in Vienna, the first woman to hold the post. De Beer, 41, won the International Opera Award in the Newcomer category in … » Read

When the headline in Italy’s leading daily translates as “Placido Domingo, flop at the Verona Arena: the orchestra refuses to stand up for the final applause ,” it's pretty clear that a certain aging tenor turned self-imagined … » Read

The harp, an instrument long associated with female musicians and a standard classical repertoire, is undergoing a transformation as gender roles are redefined and new works are introduced. In a conversation for Van Magazine , Parker Ramsay … » Read

Pianist Gabriela Montero follows her own creative muse, with a flourishing career as both classical virtuoso and talented improviser. Her contrapuntally rich fantasies on themes (often suggested by audience members) have been captured on her 2006 … » Read

One of the major events of the international opera season has undergone a significant disruption, with Daniel Barenboim, now 79, having to pull out from the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden’s new Ring for health reasons. He has been … » Read

Anna the opera star is back onstage in certain cities—Verona, Paris, Vienna, and Cologne among them--but not without protest in the streets. Having supported Putin’s 2012 presidential election and made no effort to distance herself … » Read

The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) has named Sonja Kostich as its new executive director, effective in mid-October 2022 after board approval. She succeeds Cora Cahan, the organization's president and CEO from October 2019 and credited with … » Read

The Nashville Symphony has promoted its assistant conductor Nathan Aspinall , in the job since 2019, to associate as of this season, pointing to his reading last year of Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony as a particular success. Upcoming is … » Read