The Philadelphia-born Marc Blitzstein has a legitimate claim to being one of America’s best unknown composers. The son of Russian immigrants, he studied composition at the Curtis Institute and at 21 was a musician accomplished enough to … » Read

Lauren Fagan is a singer whose vocal flexibility is matched by faultless diction and a seemingly effortless ability to put across the meaning behind the words. She’s an impressive stage animal too, as proven by her recent debut in Ethel … » Read

Music programming at Trinity Church Wall Street next fall abounds with variety, from liturgical to political, traditional to cutting edge. Things get underway September 15-17 with New York’s first full staging of Craig Hella Johnson’s … » Read

A new study published in the journal Psychological Science suggests there is a link between playing a musical instrument when young and improved thinking skills in old age. The study, conducted by the University of Edinburgh, included 366 … » Read

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, 80 members of the Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra (PCYO) are reuniting in Tsinandali, Georgia ,for the fourth annual Tsinandali Festival, Sept. 2-11.  Arriving from seven countries from the Caucasus … » Read

A new documentary by Belgian director Thierry Loreau, music director of his country's public service broadcaster RTBF, examines why young Korean musicians are increasingly taking the competition world by storm.  The last two Cliburn Gold … » Read

When the headline in Italy’s leading daily translates as “Placido Domingo, flop at the Verona Arena: the orchestra refuses to stand up for the final applause ,” it's pretty clear that a certain aging tenor turned self-imagined … » Read

Attendance at the 2022 Salzburg Festival would have been record-setting but for four program cancellations for public health reasons. With 96 percent of all seats occupied and a revenue jump of 16 percent over the previous year, only the last … » Read

Anna the opera star is back onstage in certain cities—Verona, Paris, Vienna, and Cologne among them--but not without protest in the streets. Having supported Putin’s 2012 presidential election and made no effort to distance herself … » Read

During the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s current nine-city European tour, French pianist Hélène Grimaud joined the ensemble to perform music by Ravel at a concert in Hamburg’s famous Elbphilharmonie. The following day … » Read