On the same day that the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported 569 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number in over a month, the Minnesota Orchestra announced the cancellation of the four weeks of concerts it had scheduled for August and … » Read

NEW YORK (AP) — One of the country’s oldest retreats for artists — The MacDowell Colony — will drop “Colony” from its name and call itself “MacDowell.” “This name change is at once a … » Read

The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) has cancelled all concerts through the end of 2020 and will instead present 2020/VIRTUAL , a robust series of online programs.  New Music Director Richard Egarr will headline one of the … » Read

Black composers are too often assumed to write little beyond jazz, blues, and rap—music said to “exemplify” the Black experience. But as the composer and musicologist George Lewis argues in The New York Times , “A cone of … » Read

MILAN--For the 2020/21 edition of the Maggio Musicale Festival in Florence, superintendent Alexander Pereira has pulled out all the stops. Star-studded programs feature names like Anna Netrebko, Riccardo Muti and Zubin Mehta, but one in … » Read

Musical America was curious as to why Alexander Pereira, in designing his first season as intendant of Maggio Musicale Fiorintino, was intent on having James Levine on the roster. Following is a transcription of his conversation with … » Read

Andrés Holder , recent general manager of the Washington Ballet, is the new executive director of the Boston Children’s Chorus, an organization comprising 13 choirs from 110 different Boston-area zip codes. He succeeds Anthony … » Read

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has cancelled its 2020-21 season. “As devastating as it is to lose our subscription season,” the TSO’s CEO Matthew Loden noted in a press release, “we are also eager to find unique … » Read

The National Endowment for the Arts has announced 1,144 new awards totaling more than $84mn to organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and each of the five U.S. territories. These grants are unrelated to the special funding … » Read

RAVENNA, Italy — Nine musicians from the Syrian diaspora in Europe played Sunday in the 24th friendship concert conducted by Riccardo Muti, this year at the Paestum archaeological site in southern Italy, but the coronavirus pandemic blocked … » Read