BERGEN, Norway—An opera where tonality and dissonance grind against each other for 105 malignant minutes might be expected to wear an audience down, yet Elektra is surprisingly stirring. This is because Richard Strauss was a master at … » Read

The University of Arizona’s School of Music has announced the departure of composer Daniel Asia , who heads the composition department, at the end of the school year. He has been with UA since 1988 and is one of the university’s … » Read

The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an organization in transition—with an interim chief executive and a soon-to-depart music director. But, argues Los Angeles Times classical music critic Mark Swed, the orchestra has just completed “the … » Read

In France, Opéra de Lille will welcome a new director, when Barbara Eckle arrives on July 1, 2025 to succeed Caroline Sonrier, in the position since 2003. Eckle was dramaturg at the Ruhrtriennale International Festival of Arts from 2020 to … » Read

Scottish conductor Donald Runnicles will become chief conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic as of 2025-26, serving as designate starting in fall of 2024. He succeeds Marek Janowski, principal conductor from 2001-2003 and again from 2019 until … » Read

Not for the first time the English National Opera (ENO) Chorus members are planning to vote on whether to strike, with the balloting scheduled for early next month. As always, the action would be in protest to cuts to pay and/or in numbers of … » Read

The implementation of an upcoming ivory ban is about to make life a little more complicated for string playing in Canada. Beginning on January 8, 2024, new legislation will severely restrict the trade and transport of elephant ivory and … » Read

Music & Event Management Inc. (MEMI), a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO), has acquired Cincinnati’s Coney Island amusement park with the intention of investing $118 million to create a performance venue with … » Read

San Francisco Symphony has said that its Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas will not be on the podium for two of the three programs he is scheduled to conduct--January 18–20 and February 23–25--for health reasons. The … » Read

The classical radio station with the nation’s largest audience was born in in 1946, when a wealthy alumnus paid for a 250-foot radio tower on the campus of the University of Southern California (USC). Today, KUSC is the centerpiece of … » Read