Identifying the first published Black composer in America is an inconclusive venture, but current scholarship suggests that the honor belongs to Occramer Marycoo. Likely brought to Newport, RI, on The Elizabeth from Ghana as an enslaved teenager … » Read

It’s been nine years since Roger Wright left his job as BBC Controller of Radio 3 and the Proms director to become chief executive of what is now Britten Pears Arts, a.k.a. the Aldeburgh Festival, which ran June 9-25. Today, he announced … » Read

The San Antonio Philharmonic , the new iteration of the defunct San Antonio Symphony, has named onetime local city council member and architect Roberto Treviño as its first ever executive director. He will move from his position on the … » Read

Hanover’s NDR Radiopharmonie has named Russian conductor Stanislav Kochanovsky as its next chief conductor, in 2024-25; he succeeds Andrew Manze. Kochanovsky has an active career as a guest, recently conducting in Washington, D.C., … » Read

A recent honor bestowed upon a music professor at Milligan University in Tennessee may carry no international profile but is nonetheless notable for the high impact its recipient has had on a generaton of young musicians. The Arts Alliance … » Read

The Hungarian State Opera (HSO) has chosen 27-year-old Martin Rajna as principal conductor, starting next season, and he didn’t train at the Sibelius Academy, like most recent wunderkinds. Rather, he a graduate of the Ferenc Liszt Academy … » Read

Classical accordion virtuoso Ksenija Sidorova has returned to HarrisonParrott after a quick tenure under a different management. Born in Riga, educated at London’s Royal Academy of Music, she is fluent in repertoire from J.S. Bach to the … » Read

One of Elizabeth Alexander’s earliest artistic memories is of visiting a Degas dancer’s sculpture at The Hirshhorn Museum. “I’d go to after school and visit the one with the tulle skirt that I loved so much,” a … » Read

Catherine Larsen-Maguire, bassoonist-cum-conductor, is to be the music director of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, a newly created position borne of the group's successful performances under her baton. Her term is effective in 2024 for … » Read

As of next fall, the newest member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra will also be the youngest. He is 20-year-old Texas native Samuel Watson, arriving next season as contrabassoonist and succeeding Gregg Henegar, who retired in 2022 after 30 years … » Read