NEW YORK (AP) — The Metropolitan Opera sold 61 percent of available tickets this season after returning from a 1½ year absence, managing 196 staged performances without a cancellation. Sales were down from 75 percent in last … » Read

“Citizens: Listen! Look!” With that arresting command, declaimed from the stage of Davies Symphony Hall by actress Breezy Leigh, a June 11 San Francisco Symphony program devoted to Stravinsky’s Oedipus rex and Symphony of Psalms … » Read

Valérie Sainte-Agathe, artistic director and conductor of the San Francisco Girls Chorus since 2013, is the new director of the Philharmonia Baroque Chorale. She arrives at the end of Richard Edgarr’s first season as music director … » Read

Musicians of the New York Philharmonic have been made whole again, following understandable reductions to their salaries during the pandemic's 18 months of concert cancellations. Base pay will return to $2,952 per week, as it was in the 2019-2020 … » Read

As an exhausting season came to an end on June 10, the Metropolitan Opera could claim a very rare measure of success—not a single one of its nearly 200 performances was cancelled amid the ongoing turmoil resulting from the coronavirus … » Read

The Seattle Opera has selected Dennis Robinson, Jr., as its next director of programs and partnerships. He succeeds Alejandra Valarino Boyer, in the position since late 2018. Robinson has extensive experience as a theater administrator, most … » Read

The Montreal International Music Competition, Voice 2022, concluded on June 9 with Canadian mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh and American soprano Meredith Wohlgemuth taking home the top prizes. Five of the six prizes in the two competition divisions … » Read

The Monterey (CA) Symphony has said Jayce Ogren [pictured], 43, is to be its next music director. Also a composer, he is particularly popular among new music circles, having led the world premieres of David Lang’s Symphony for a Broken … » Read

How important is eye contact among musicians? For conductor Leonard Slatkin, eyes work where words fail. “The most expressive tool we have is our eyes.” While most musicians agree, they also acknowledge that not all eye contact is … » Read

MILAN--While Amilcare Ponchielli’s La Gioconda was an instant hit when it premiered at La Scala in 1876, the opera is rarely performed today. Casting its six big leading roles is no easy task, and barely credible elements of the story, not … » Read