The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has given Cincinnati Opera $1.3 million to develop new operas based on primarily Black stories written by Black composers and Black librettists. Monies will also support Opera Fusion: New Works (OF:NW) , the … » Read

It’s good to see labels determined to invest in expensive projects like contemporary opera and epic choral works. It’s also heartening to see a release devoting two hours to wide-ranging music by a rising star composer, in this case … » Read

Valentin Schwarz, whose new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen is set to debut at Bayreuth this summer after a two-year, pandemic-induced delay, likens the project to a modern Netflix series. “I want to tell a story about … » Read

As the musicians and management of the San Antonio Symphony met with a federal mediator on Feb. 14 to seek an end to a months-long strike , the ensemble’s Music Director Emeritus Sebastian Lang-Lessing spoke with Texas Public Radio about … » Read

Kate Rockett, who for six years has been director of artists and repertoire and executive producer for the Pentatone label, is to be the new general director of the Amsterdam-based Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. Trained as a trombonist at … » Read

LONDON--Ever since he burst onto the classical music scene in 2009 with Aheym , a commission for the Kronos Quartet, Cincinnati-born composer and guitarist Bryce Dessner has been earning respectful plaudits for his intricate yet approachable … » Read

Nearly eight decades after its composer was murdered in a Nazi concentration camp, the opera Grete Minde received its world premiere on Feb. 13 at the Theater Magdeburg in eastern Germany. Written by Eugen Engel, a self-taught composer who earned … » Read

This summer’s centennial season for the Hollywood Bowl will kick off on June 11 and 12, when the Los Angeles Philharmonic hosts a free weekend festival at the Bowl and a second venue at The Ford. Over the following three months, the musical … » Read

Colorado’s Central City Opera, which prides itself on being the country’s fifth oldest professional opera company, has appointed a new president and CEO in Pamela Pantos, current development director of the Boston Children’s … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO--In an eventful program of high contrasts timed to help mark the Lunar New Year, the San Francisco Symphony presented works by Korean-born Texu Kim and Younghi Pagh-Paan, China native Zhou Long, and Takashi Yoshimatsu, who hails … » Read