The 2023-24 season of the Washington National Opera has set itself an ambitious goal—to ask, in the words of General Director Timothy O’Leary, “What is the future of opera? How will opera evolve to thrill, challenge, include and … » Read

Conductor Harry Bicket and his polished period-instrument ensemble The English Concert began offering large-scale vocal works by Handel at Carnegie Hall a decade ago. Most in the annual series have been operas, but several oratorios with The … » Read

German violinist José Maria Blumenschein is to be Mahler Chamber Orchestra ’s (MCO) new co-concertmaster, the orchestra’s first, sharing duties with Matthew Truscott. The Brazilian-born player arrives from the WDR Radio … » Read

Tenor Martin Luther Clark [pictured], who recently originated the role of CF in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s  The Factotum , has signed with Sempre Artists, his first management firm. Currently in his final year in the company’s Ryan … » Read

Opera Australia and Victorian Opera are for the first time collaborating to present three performances of Mozart’s Idomeneo in a fully staged production at the Palais Theater in St. Kilda, July 4-8. Lindy Hume is set to direct the tale of … » Read

LONDON—Chelsea Opera Group has a long and distinguished pedigree for unearthing forgotten works by major composers. In recent years it has presented Rubinstein’s The Demon , Verdi’s Oberto , Wagner’s Das Liebesverbot , and … » Read

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