The letter by Deborah S. Proctor, general manager of the NPR station WCPE in North Carolina, defending her decision to refuse to broadcast six contemporary operas scheduled for the Metropolitan Opera this season has generated more than 125,000 … » Read

The Oct. 1 announcement that the musicians, board, and management of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) have  agreed to a short-term labor contract was absent the celebration that usually accompanies a completed negotiation. Instead, it has … » Read

Pasadena Symphony and POPS has named Andrew Brown to succeed Lora Unger as its CEO, following Unger’s departure in May to become executive director of the Performing Arts Center Eastside in Bellevue, WA. COO Drew Flaherty has been … » Read

LONDON —None of the three previous collaborations between composer George Benjamin and librettist Martin Crimp brimmed with humor, so it was a pleasant surprise to find sunny spells breaking out during the prevailing despair of their latest … » Read

In a famous 1917 essay “The Sahara of the Bozart,” the acid-tongued critic H. L. Mencken dismissed the South’s cultural life as “an awe-inspiring blank.” One can only wonder what he would make of the decision by a … » Read

James Jorden, founder and editor extraordinaire of Parterre Box: The Queer Opera Zine , aka Parterre.com, perhaps the most read opera website in the business, has died. He was 69. Information as to the cause is not immediately available; he was … » Read

Five new musicians join the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for the 2023-24 season, its last under music director Louis Langrée [pictured]. These are in addition to the 11 new players added this past January, bringing Langrée’s … » Read

In a vote last week, the musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra, members of Local 4 of the American Federation of Musicians, ratified a new agreement extending through the 2025-2026 seasons. The new contract calls for three annual increases in … » Read

Joining podium-endowed symphony orchestras from Alabama to Detroit, Wichita, and Chicago, the St. Louis Symphony has enlisted the aid of its most generous donors to endow its music director position. The post currently occupied by Stéphane … » Read

CHICAGO—During his 13 years as Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director, Riccardo Muti and the orchestra have visited Carnegie Hall often, in 2011, 2012 (when they opened the season), 2015, 2018 and 2019. Tomorrow night will be their … » Read