A conductor, pianist, and bassist, Rotterdam and Israel Philharmonic Music Director Lahav Shani has many talents. Enlivening a weary Chicago Symphony appears to be one of them. In June, Shani powerfully closed out the CSO subscription season, a … » Read

In a year-end summary, SMU DataArts has highlighted five insights from its research projects in 2024. 1. Rural counties hold their own in arts vibrancy. Thirty rural counties scored in the top 5 percent of the SMU Arts Vibrancy Index.  Key … » Read

To demonstrate that opera is not “an antique genre preoccupied with musty subject matter,” The New Yorker critic Alex Ross looks back over a season that included a “striking array of contemporary works.” The Metropolitan … » Read

SEATAC, Washington (AP)— Background music is no longer an afterthought at many airports, which are hiring local musicians and carefully curating playlists to help lighten travelers’ moods. London’s Heathrow Airport built a stage … » Read

The Mellon Foundation has appointed a new program director for arts and culture to succeed Emil J. Kang, who steps down at the end of the year. The announcement of Kang's successor, Deana Haggag, a program officer, is the first public news of his … » Read

The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía has announced that James Gaffigan will end his four-year term as musical director upon the expiration of his contract on Aug. 31, 2025. The theater praised the American conductor’s expansion of the … » Read

Christoph Meyer has announced that he will resign as general director of the Deutsche Oper am Rheim after more than 15 seasons on March 30, 2025. “Unfortunately… I had to accept that my state of health does not allow me to continue … » Read

The Charlotte (NC) Symphony Orchestra will take on John Luther Adams’s 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning Become Ocean as its second “immersive experience” in three performances—Feb.  28 to March 1, 2025. The 90-minute, … » Read

Composer/ conductor Tan Dun was named Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture at a ceremony on Dec. 13 at Musée Guimetin Paris. Named a Chevalier des Arts… in 2019, Tan Dun received this higher moniker … » Read

LONDON—As the new chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Antonio Pappano has made British music a key component of his opening season. This December 15 concert at the Barbican Centre—a program of major works by Vaughan … » Read