Questions involving identity have fascinated Nina Shekhar since she can remember. Coming of age as a first-generation Indian American has meant learning to navigate different cultural expectations not only in her personal life but also in her … » Read

After five years as a professor in the music department at Harvard, jazz musician  Esperanza E. Spalding has announced she is leaving the university to return to her hometown of Portland, Oregon. There she hopes to create a “sanctuary … » Read

Spanish conductor Gustavo Gimeno [pictured] has renewed his music directorship with the Toronto Symphony through the 2029-30 season. The 46-year-old maestro first signed on 2020-21, succeeding Andrew Davis who was serving as interim following … » Read

One of the most significant changes in the New York Philharmonic as it settles into its newly renovated home is that women musicians outnumber men—45 to 44—for the first time in the ensemble’s 180-year history. “This has … » Read

Bruce Coppock, who twice served the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra as president and managing director—from 1999 to 2008 and again 2013 to 2016—died on Nov. 21 at age 71 after a long battle with cancer. Described by a colleague as someone … » Read

Steven Ovitsky, executive director of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival since 2004, will retire in September 2023 at the conclusion of the festival’s 50 th season. “Having recently celebrated my 75th birthday,” he said when … » Read

The Detroit Opera has announced a new music director, its first since the late David DiChiera, company founder and artistic director, retired in 2016. (DiChiera died in 2018.) He is Mexican-born Roberto Kalb, Detroit resident and onetime … » Read

Michael Haefliger will step down as executive and artistic director of Switzerland’s Lucerne Festival, one of the most important in Europe, at the close of the 2025 season. “Naturally, this decision was not easy for me” he … » Read

American composer Ned Rorem, known almost as well for his diaries as for his 500 art songs, died this morning at his home in Manhattan. He was 99. Winner of the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for his Air Music , an orchestral suite, he was highly regarded … » Read

English National Opera Chair Harry Brünjes [pictured] has seemingly called Arts Council England’s bluff. Contrary to its recommendation that ENO relocate to Manchester, as a way of coping with being defunded by ACE, he says, simply, … » Read