Robert van Leer, most recently VP of artistic planning at the Kennedy Center, is to be the new executive director and CEO of California’s Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performng Arts as of April 1. He succeeds Rachel Fine, who left in … » Read

San Francisco Opera Medal, the company’s highest honor, has been awarded to bass-baritone Simon Estes, among the first African American opera singers to receive international recognition and the very first to be hired by an American … » Read

At present, the classical music in the U.K. is in turmoil. Art Council of England’s  draconian cuts to opera funding   as well as the BBC’s announcement of deep cuts to its orchestras and the shuttering of the BBC Singers , … » Read

Despite a career that continues to take Zubin Mehta to podiums around the world, Los Angeles has been home for the 86-year-old maestro since his 16 seasons as music director of the L.A. Philharmonic from 1962 to 1978. Like the current occupant of … » Read

In the past few years, American orchestras have begun to redefine relationships with the communities they occupy and develop a deeper understanding of how they can productively engage with society’s challenges. The Boston Symphony’s … » Read

NEW YORK (AP)—Daniele Rustioni was a 10-year-old in the La Scala children’s chorus when he saw Riccardo Muti for the first time. “I want to be him,” Rustioni recalled thinking. “I was very — how can say? … » Read

British conductor Kenneth Montgomery died on March 6 at age 80. Among his many music directorships: the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Opera Northern Ireland, the Ulster Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Symphony, and the Dutch … » Read

Aaron Watkins, who is set to succeed prima ballerina Tamara Rojo as artistic director of the English National Ballet (ENB), is intent on ridding the stereotypes of dancers’ bodies. Conventional thinking demands all female ballet dancers be … » Read

After a 13-year run that has seen the 16-acre campus refreshed physically and LincInc programming changed radically, Katherine Farley will exit as board chair. A retired senior managing director of Tishman Speyer, and married to its founder Jerry … » Read

For years, we’ve had it wrong. Trees aren’t just to be hugged but to be heard. At least that’s the theory (and a convincing one) in Overstory Overture, the new Tod Machover opera of sorts about communication among trees, and … » Read