Italian conductor Diego Ceretta, 26, is the new chief conductor of the Orchestra della Toscana (ORT). He succeeds Daniele Rustioni, who stepped down in 2020 and  now takes the title of emeritus. Ceretta initially studied violin, graduating … » Read

By the second half of the 18 th -century in Great Britain, increasingly vocal critics opposed slavery and the trade in human beings. But British society continued to betray racist sentiments, and Blacks were well-advised to couch their critiques … » Read

The Covid pandemic’s impact on the classical music world was both collective and individual. Orchestras, opera companies, and other performing arts organizations lost millions of dollars of revenue and artists unable to perform faced often … » Read

During the height of the coronavirus pandemic in November 2020, when Vienna was shut down and people were allowed outside mainly to walk their dogs, conductor Christian Thielemann was stopped by a police officer in the Heldenplatz. “What … » Read

British conductor Daniel Harding is to be the next music director of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, starting in October of 2024. He succeeds Antonio Pappano, in the job since 2005 and currently in his final … » Read

The Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO), which celebrates its centennial during the 2023-24 season, has announced that as of May 8, Mark Cantrell will be the ensemble’s new chief executive officer. He succeeds Jerome H. Kern, who retired as … » Read

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Wayne Shorter , an influential jazz innovator whose lyrical, complex jazz compositions and pioneering saxophone playing sounded through more than half a century of American music, has died. He was 89. Shorter died Thursday … » Read

Julie Kent, artistic director of the Washington Ballet since 2016, will join the Houston Ballet as its first ever co-artistic director next July, sharing the pivotal role with the current Stanton Welch. A 30-year member of the American Ballet … » Read

CHICAGO—Brandon Acker’s name is synonymous with Chicago’s early music scene. If the repertoire calls for a lute, theorbo, or other historical plucked instrument, you can bet Acker, 33, will be there, his easygoing, soulful … » Read

Every few decades, a human being possessed of extraordinary, multiple talents emerges. One such man—the Chevalier de Saint-Georges—was born Joseph Bologne in 1745 in the French colony of Guadeloupe to a plantation owner and his slave … » Read