Stefano Pace, general and artistic director of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, has extended the contract of Giampaolo Bisanti, the ensemble’s music director since 2022-23, through June 30, 2031. A Milan native, the … » Read

Arriving in the fall to strengthen the administrative leadership of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO) is Patrick Ren, current managing director of China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Orchestra, a job he has held … » Read

On Aug. 25, within days of firing the three members of its dance programming team , the Kennedy Center named Stephen Nakagawa as the program’s new director. A former dancer with the Washington Ballet, Nakagawa possesses the quality … » Read

When agents for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained violinist John Shin in Salt Lake City on Aug. 18, he had no more than a 30-second phone call to let his wife DaNae Snow know what was happening. Unable to tell her why he … » Read

Pola Benke, Polish-born cellist and conductor, is the new assistant conductor of the Pacific Symphony. Recently appointed music director of the Santa Monica Orchestra, Benke is also assistant conductor of the Long Beach Symphony and the Riverside … » Read

After nine years, Jeffrey Kahane is stepping down as music director of the Sarasota Music Festival. “We are immensely grateful to Jeffrey for guiding the festival through the pandemic period,” noted Board Chair Tom Koski, “and … » Read

For tens of thousands of Palestinians living amid the devastation in Gaza, the struggle to find food, shelter, and clean water is paramount. For some lucky few, music offers an opportunity to escape, if only for a short time, the reality … » Read

Despite winning five Oscars and receiving 54 nominations for his motion picture scores, John Williams has confessed to a biographer, “I never liked film music very much.” Other than an occasional eight-minute stretch, he continues, it … » Read

Violin virtuoso Hilary Hahn has had to cancel concerts on her current and fall schedules; the double pinched nerve that kept her off the stage for seven months last year, until February , has returned. She was to perform the Dvorak Concerto at … » Read

The Library of Congress has added rare music and lyric sketches from the iconic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz to its Harold Arlen Collection, itself a gift from the composer’s sister-in-law, Rita Arlen, in 2022. Thirty-five manuscript items … » Read