Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO), which serves some 10,000 young musicians annually, both at its own facilities and in schools, has named a new executive director in Jennie Oh Brown. She succeeds Susan Lappe, who left in November after … » Read

Rumors of the death of the piano in the U.K. have apparently been greatly exaggerated. “It is a great time to be in the piano business,” reported one piano shop owner;  Matt Ash, membership and retail lead at the Music Industries … » Read

Michael van der Aa’s 70-minute chamber opera Blank Out is a case study in form trumping content. Presented by Cal Performances in its West Coast premiere April 28-29 at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, the Dutch auteur’s work employs … » Read

Richard “Gus” Sebring has officially taken over as principal horn of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in which he has served as associate principal since 1982; he is also principal of the Boston Pops. He succeeds James Sommerville, who … » Read

Puccini’s La bohème is a staple of the opera world, and it takes a very bold director to tinker around with it. Enter Yuval Sharon, a 2017 MacArthur Genius Grant awardee and current artistic director of the Detroit Opera who in  … » Read

Tchaikovsky’s symphonic writing is some of the most beautiful in the classical canon. And a recent performance of his Symphony No. 5 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic suggests that it might also possess considerable erotic potency. On April … » Read

TORONTO (AP)—Gordon Lightfoot, the folk singer-songwriter known for “If You Could Read My Mind” and “Sundown” and for songs that told tales of Canadian identity, died Monday. He was 84. Representative Victoria Lord … » Read

When he was 14, James Díaz started taking keyboard lessons thanks to the toss of a coin. His parents wanted to have one of their two sons receive training so as to be able to play in the local church. Díaz, born in 1990, would … » Read

If Julius Eastman’s music seems to re-invent itself with every hearing, it’s partly because the late composer encouraged performers to make his music their own, sometimes in highly interventionist ways. At the three-concert event … » Read

Kudos to the Cleveland Orchestra’s fundraisers. In March, the orchestra received $7 million from Jane Baker Nord, to create a special fund for educational concerts. Last week, the orchestra got $10 million from the Milton and Tamar Maltz … » Read