News from the Metropolitan Opera: Diane Zola has resigned as assistant general manager, artistic, and executive director of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. According to an internal memo, Zola will “pursue various other … » Read

Composer/conductor James Blachly, associate editor of African Diaspora Music Project (ADMP) database, Grammy-winning mastermind behind the 2020 Chandos Recording of Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Prison , has extended his contract as music director … » Read

For over two decades, German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff was arguably the world’s greatest lieder singer. And then in 2012, at the height of his powers, he announced his retirement while in his early 50s. “Three days after being … » Read

As of September 1, Kevin Kwan Loucks, an Orange-county based chamber musician and entrepreneur, is the new CEO of Chamber Music America. He succeeds Margaret Loi, who  announced her retirement last November. Loucks’s wide-ranging … » Read

Accusations of sexual abuse are following James Levine to the grave. A lawsuit filed Aug. 13 on behalf of an anonymous plaintiff is seeking $25mn from the disgraced conductor’s estate and from the Metropolitan Opera, where he was music … » Read

Helga Rabl-Stadler, the no-nonsense president of the Salzburg Festival since 1995, will exit her lofty position at the close of this year’s event. She had been planning to do so earlier, after the close of its 100 th anniversary in 2020. … » Read

NEW YORK (AP) — On a chilly Easter Sunday 82 years ago, a tall, elegant Black woman walked down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before an integrated crowd of 75,000 and sang her way into the history books. Marian Anderson performed for … » Read

Italian conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti, best remembered for his near-decade-long tenure as music and artistic director of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, has died at age 75 in Monte Carlo. Born in Rome in 1945, he studied at the Accademia … » Read

Richard Woodhams, who retired as principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2018, has been “retired” from The Curtis Institute of Music as well. The school has informed him that his contract will not be renewed. No reason was … » Read

On July 28, Riccardo Muti turned 80 and, just before, gave an interview to the Corriere della Sera . In his popular blog Gramilano , Milan-based journalist Graham Spicer has translated excerpts in which the maestro speaks from his throne of deep … » Read