Thomas Søndergård's inaugural season as the 11 th music director of the Minnesota Orchestra (MO) kicks off next September with two weeks of the new man on the podium. “It is an enormous luxury for me to take over an ensemble … » Read

NEW YORK (AP) — Harry Belafonte, the civil rights and entertainment giant who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian, and conscience of the world, has died. He was 96. Belafonte died Tuesday of … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—Ambling onstage in jeans and work shirts, the four members of So Percussion resembled a pick-up crew headed to a construction site. Indeed some of the equipment pressed into endlessly resourceful service by the group on April … » Read

AIX-EN-PROVENCE—Like Easter itself, the Festival de Pâques is a moveable feast. Every year its two-and-a-half week program of events is timed to straddle Holy Week, with one of Bach’s Passions given during Easter weekend as the … » Read

Jenny Mollica will assume the post of interim chief executive of the English National Opera (ENO) next September, succeeding Stuart Murphy, who  announced plans to leave last fall. Director of strategy and engagement since 2020, Mollica has … » Read

Renowned Russian-American bass Nikita Storojev [pictured] died on April 17 at his home in Austin, TX. He was 73. Born to Russian parents in China, he studied at the Mussorgsky Conservatory in Yekaterinburg and at the Moscow Conservatory. After … » Read

John Kieser, longtime executive VP and provost for the New World Symphony, current director of partnerships for Idagio, will relocate en famille from Germany to Calgary to become president and CEO of Honens, a triennial piano competition and … » Read

Six singers—a tenor, two mezzo-sopranos, two sopranos, and a bass-baritone—were selected from among ten finalists as winners of the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. The 69 th edition of the competition, … » Read

Italian pianist Beatrice Rana turned 30 in January and is honoring the occasion with a string of concerts in Europe and the U.S. that have included Beethoven’s Sonata in B flat, Op. 106, Hammerklavier, a coming-of-age piece if there ever … » Read

London’s Philharmonia Orchestra has announced Marin Alsop as its principal guest conductor starting next fall. Alsop is chief conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony, the Ravinia Festival, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein, and … » Read