Bernard Haitink, who turns 90 this month and plans a well-earned sabbatical at the end of the season, has been voted honorary membership in the Vienna Philharmonic by the members of the orchestra. He'll be presented with the award by Philharmonic … » Read

This year’s annual Avery Fisher Career Grants of $25,000 each—not to be confused with the prestigious Avery Fisher Award of $100,000, granted last October to violinist Leila Josefowicz —will go to four artists deemed to … » Read

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG), founded in 1987 by members of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, has a new executive director in Seb Huckle, its former marketing manager. He’ll report to Artistic Director Stephan Meier, … » Read

Joseph V. Melillo, a key sculptor in the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s enlightened programming profile, has joined Columbia Artists in the new position of international artistic advisor. Having j ust ended his 35-year affiliation with BAM two … » Read

Patricia K. Beggs, among the most highly regarded officials in the opera business, is to retire as general director of the Cincinnati Opera at the end of its next, centenary season. She has been affiliated with the company for 35 years, initially … » Read

HAMBURG—He's under house arrest in Moscow without a phone or the internet, yet Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov's new opera is set to premiere in Germany on Sunday. A modern take on Verdi's Nabucco , the work at the Hamburg Opera deals … » Read

Chicago’s MacArthur Foundation, home of the “genius grant,” has a new president—John Palfrey. An educator, author, and scholar with a focus on digital technology, Palfrey, 46, will succeed Julia Stasch, in the job since … » Read

Even the classical world’s leading lights occasionally stub their toe. In 1966 the Houston Symphony signed 37-year-old André Previn as its new chief conductor, replacing Sir John Barbirolli, 30 years his senior. Previn, who had … » Read

Riccardo Muti has, once again, chosen to side with the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, of which he is music director. Last month, the players held a news conference in the lobby of Orchestra Hall to announce that  they would go … » Read

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Benjamin Zander, who turns 80 on March 9, is a serial optimist. He’s the founder and music director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and its youth orchestra; he’s a noted Mahler conductor; he’s a … » Read