While the Big News this week has been the quintennial International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, won by American pianist Eric Lu , there have been other and ample challenging contests over the last two months. They may have a lower profile than … » Read

The Portland (ME) Symphony Orchestra has a new, full-time executive director in Derek Beckvold. He was previously splitting his time between the Boston Philharmonic, where his most recent job was managing director, and Portland, where he succeeds … » Read

The Mozarteum University Salzburg has added three high-profile artists—conductor Christian Thielemann, violinist Lisa Batiashvili, and pianist Claudio Martínez Mehner—to its teaching faculty as of the beginning of the 2026 … » Read

LONDON—British composer Thomas Adès has built a reputation in recent years as a savvy programmer and an insightful conductor. This October 19 Barbican Centre concert with the London Symphony Orchestra was a chance to hear his … » Read

German conductor Aurel Dawidiuk , 24, is to be the next general music director of the Bochumer Symphoniker in North Rhine-Westphalia. He starts his new job on August 1, 2026, when the current artistic chief, Tung-Chieh Chuang, exits. Dawidiuk is … » Read

In an unusual move, the Henry H. Stambaugh Auditorium Association has acquired the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra (YSO). The ensemble gave its first concerts there in 1929, and for the next four decades performed at Stambaugh. Then, from 1969 … » Read

Chamber Music America, the national network for small ensemble professionals, has acquired CelloBello, a nonprofit that offers free and accessible music education resources to the cello and chamber music community. The acquisition of … » Read

The Broadway musicians of Local 802 AFM and the producers of the Broadway League have reached an agreement, thereby avoiding a work stoppage by the former that could potentially have darkened most of Broadway. “United in solidarity, Local … » Read

From 2022 to 2025, the Irish government ran a pilot program that provided a weekly stipend of €325 (£283) to 2,000 artists and creatives. Now the government has decided to make the program permanent. This decision is at odds with … » Read

Alan Fletcher, longtime CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School, will exit his position to become president emeritus as of January 1, 2027.  Robert Spano, whom Fletcher takes credit for hiring as music director in 2011 (after David Zinman … » Read