The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will soon be in the market for a new concertmaster. On Sept. 20 the MSO announced that after 25 years in the first chair, Frank Almond will retire at the conclusion of the 2019-2020 season. In a statement … » Read

Baltimore-based composer Christopher Rouse died yesterday, according to a statement from his publisher Boosey & Hawkes. He was 70. No cause of death was stated. Rouse was a prolific and oft-commissioned composer, with five symphonies and no … » Read

The Cleveland Orchesta, which opens the Carnegie Hall season on October 3, has extended the contract of its music director, Franz Welser-Möst, for five additional years, through 2027. The Austrian conductor, now 59, will have been on the … » Read

That three white men wrote the most celebrated American opera about African Americans— Porgy and Bess —should not be considered evidence that there are not black composers with operas worthy of attention. Here are eight operas, some … » Read

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 60 years after Marian Anderson broke the color barrier at the Metropolitan Opera, black singers still face unique obstacles in building their careers within the industry. "We've made some strides, but not a whole … » Read

When the Wichita Symphony Orchestra (WSO) kicks off its 2019-2020 season this weekend, its new concertmaster, Holly Mulcahy, will be front and center. She will partner with Timothy Jones, the WSO’s associate concertmaster, to perform … » Read

Violinist/conductor Jaime Laredo is to retire as music director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra at the end of the 2020-21 season. Laredo will have been at the helm for 20 seasons, having succeeded Kate Tamarkin in 2000 after she resigned. In … » Read

German conductor Anja Bihlmaier, recently named principal conductor of the Residentie Orchestra in the Hague, Holland, is to become principal guest conductor of Lahti (FI) Symphony Orchestra in autumn 2020. During the course of her three-year … » Read

Tanya Derksen, president of Orchestras Canada and of that country’s Regina Symphony Orchestra in Saskatchewan, will move into a new job with the Philadelphia Orchestra as of October 28. The position, which bears the title VP of Artistic … » Read

After a tug of war between two strong-willed artistic leaders that played out in the German press, the leadership succession at the Salzburg Easter Festival has finally been resolved. Christian Thielemann, the Easter Festival’s artistic … » Read