Identifying the first published Black composer in America is an inconclusive venture, but current scholarship suggests that the honor belongs to Occramer Marycoo. Likely brought to Newport, RI, on The Elizabeth from Ghana as an enslaved teenager … » Read

A new partnership of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (The Clarice) at the University of Maryland (UMD), and UMD’s School of Music (SOM) aims to promote community engagement. “Voices of … » Read

The first time I heard Huang Yi conduct, I barely noticed. The revival of Jin Xiang’s 1987 opera  Savage Land at the 2012 Beijing Music Festival (BMF) had a huge, high-profile Chinese cast, with no spotlight shining on the pit. Three … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco’s Symphony’s musically polyglot, politically inflected June 30 program at Davies Hall opened with striking pre-performance remarks by composer Reena Esmail. By way of introduction to her Black … » Read

As the Philly Pops continues to maintain that it has “postponed” concerts for which it has sold tickets, it is also claiming that it does not have sufficient access to its ticket database to be able to refund monies collected. Not … » Read

There is abundant evidence of the physical and mental benefits that accrue from singing with others. “Sing with Us,” a pre-pandemic study in London, for example, found that participation in a choir reduced stress hormones and … » Read

Pregnancy can be an opera singer’s best friend if she is allowed to perform. Too often opera companies have cited a pregnant artist’s well-being when canceling her appearance, despite widely accepted evidence that pregnancy and … » Read

LONDON—Inspired by Nawal El Saadawi’s novel of the same name, Bushra El-Turk’s multimedia opera Woman at Point Zero is powerful, poignant, and frequently painful. Seven years in development, it received its U.K. premiere on June … » Read

Catherine Larsen-Maguire, bassoonist-cum-conductor, is to be the music director of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, a newly created position borne of the group's successful performances under her baton. Her term is effective in 2024 for … » Read

The Hungarian State Opera (HSO) has chosen 27-year-old Martin Rajna as principal conductor, starting next season, and he didn’t train at the Sibelius Academy, like most recent wunderkinds. Rather, he a graduate of the Ferenc Liszt Academy … » Read