Black symphony and opera conductors were not always as rare a commodity as they are today. During the middle decades of the previous century, a generation of African American maestros regularly manned the podiums of major orchestras such as … » Read

The Ohio-based Carpe Diem String Quartet has a new cellist in Ariana Nelson, a member of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and on the faculty of Texas Southern University. Nelson, who studied at Juilliard with Darrett Adkins, joins the … » Read

Ann Hobson Pilot became the first black female principal player in a major orchestra back in 1969 when the Boston Symphony hired her as its principal harp. Retired since 2009, she is now 76 and living in Florida, having survived all manner of … » Read

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is partnering with the Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI) to devote $5mn to a new Covid-19 Crisis Relief Grant Fund. Awards of between $1,000 to $20,000 to as many as 1,500 U.S. artists and arts organizations … » Read

The old adage, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” can surely be applied to the way performing arts groups are dealing with the Covid-19 crisis. From drive-in theaters to baseball fields to church courtyards to … » Read

Alexander Neef’s much-ballyhooed  exit from the Canadian Opera Company (COC) to the Paris Opera is apparently cause for celebration by at least one local observer. Arthur Kaptainis, a longtime Toronto-based music critic and co-editor … » Read

In June of 2019, Jesse Rosen  announced that he would be moving on from his post as president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras in September 2020. He has been with the League for 22 years, the last 12 of them in the top position. … » Read

On a late August afternoon in Milwaukee, Dayvin Hallmon and Alida LaCosse stand outside the city’s newly christened Bradley Symphony Center leading "No Justice For Elijah! End Racism In Milwaukee's Music Community," a two-day memorial and … » Read

BOSTON -- The Boston Symphony Orchestra is asking the music world to help it celebrate former conductor Seiji Ozawa's 85th birthday Tuesday. The orchestra is encouraging fans to honor his birthday on social media with the hashtag … » Read

The first thing a listener is apt to notice about the music of composer Katherine Balch is its combination of familiarity and other-worldliness. The harmonies and rhythms that underlie much of her work are fundamentally akin to those of Schubert, … » Read