The pursuit of racial and gender equity in the classical music world has taken on special urgency in the past decade. Concert programs that feature compositions by women, Blacks, and people of color are now de rigueur for most ensembles, and … » Read

Among the concerns that accompany the growing sophistication of artificial intelligence is the possibility among composers (along with songwriters, performers, and artists of any stripe) that it might replace them. In late 2023, the Symphony … » Read

A recent opinion piece by pianist and composer Ethan Iverson argued that Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue , currently marking its centennial, is “corny and Caucasian,” a “cheesecake” that has “clogged the arteries … » Read

Opera, the most expensive of the performing arts, has suffered mightily since the pandemic. The failure of audiences to return to pre-pandemic numbers has combined with a dramatic rise in production costs. In less than a year, English National … » Read

LONDON—Oksana Lyniv [pictured] is a notable breaker of glass ceilings. In 2021 she was the first woman to conduct at Bayreuth, opening the festival with a feisty account of The Flying Dutchman . The following year she became the first … » Read

Yesterday, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, in partnership with the National Civil Rights Museum, offered the world premiere of the Harriet Tubman Oratorio by Earnestine Rodgers Robinson [pictured]. Robinson’s works have been performed in … » Read

Changes under the new regime at Music Academy (of the West) continue. Shauna Quill was appointed president and CEO last August, succeeding Scott Reed, and she is to bring in Nate Bachhuber as chief artistic officer as of February 26. Bachhuber … » Read

TOKYO—Acclaimed Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, the longest serving music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1973-2002), subsequently emeritus, died on February 6 at his home in Tokyo, according to the BSO. He was 88 and suffered … » Read

LONDON—Joyce DiDonato, shrewd diva that she is, has carved a useful niche in her résumé out of playing one character. That’s Dido, of course, the Carthaginian queen whose name is encoded within her own. As a sequel to … » Read

LONG BEACH, CA—The world premiere of Alyssa Weinberg’s opera Isola took place February 3 in a site called Compound, a small performance space (Laboratory) attached to a hip-looking art gallery/cafe/bar located on a tiny side street in … » Read