French pianist/conductor Victorien Vanoosten is the new music director of the Toulon (FR) Opera, effective next month. The post has been vacant since the exit of Jurjen Hempel in 2021, with Marzena Diakun and Valério Galli serving as … » Read

After a six-year period of turmoil, the Oregon Bach Festival OBF) is on the verge of re-establishing stable artistic leadership. The sad saga of one of the nation’s premier celebrations of the music of Bach and those he influenced began in … » Read

Krzysztof Urbanski has been named music director of the Warsaw Philharmonic. His five-year contract begins at the start of the 2024-25 season and extends for five years. He succeeds Andrzej Boreyko, in the post since 2019. The 41-year-old … » Read

Peter Schickele, better known for his “discovery” of P.D.Q. Bach than for his serious compositions under his own name, died on Jan. 16 at age 88. Schickele first introduced the public to the works of P.D.Q. Bach—"the last and by … » Read

Librettist/producer Lila Palmer is to be general and artistic director of the New Orleans Opera Association (NOOA), effective in May, about one year after predecessor Clare Burovac announced her exit after three years. Burovac in turn succeeded … » Read

The Emerson String Quartet has disbanded after a hugely successful 50-year run, but its two founding violinists are moving on with lightning speed, not just with teaching appointments but with concert series and summer festivals. Recently, … » Read

British conductor Jan Latham-Koenig was arrested in London’s Victoria Station on Jan. 10 and charged with arranging/facilitating a child sexual offense and sexual communication with a child the following day. He was released on conditional … » Read

When Lois Kirschenbaum, an avid operagoer and cultural consumer, died in 2021 , she left behind a treasure trove —memorabilia, programs, signed photographs—documenting her more than five decades of engagement with New York’s … » Read

Anyone seeking evidence that women conductors are in ascendance need look no further than next summer’s Bayreuth Festival, which on Jan. 11 announced that Simone Young is to step in for Philippe Jordan to conduct the Der Ring des Nibelungen … » Read

Austrian conductor Franz Welser-Möst will not renew his contract as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra when it expires in 2027. By that time he will have been in the post for 25 years, the longest tenure of any lead conductor in the … » Read