The first post-lockdown performance at Barcelona’s Liceu opera house next Monday, June 22—the “Concert for the Biocene”—will play before a most unusual audience. As conceptualized by the artist Eugenio Ampudia, the … » Read

With Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) funds running out, organizations everywhere are moving into the next stage of survival mode. The Minnesota Orchestra for one has announced that full time staff and musicians will take a pay cut of 20 percent. … » Read

What a difference six weeks makes. The May 3 Bang on a Can online marathon was a generally consoling event, reflective, but full of hope for some kind of return to normality. Since then a lot has happened, little of it hopeful, which at times … » Read

Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Universal Music Group, has tapped Rebecca Allen to become president of renowned British record label EMI, now rebranded from Virgin EMI; Virgin will fall under the EMI umbrella. … » Read

British conductor Alpesh Chauhan comes to the Birmingham Opera Company as music director as of July 1. He joins Artistic Director Graham Vick at the helm. Chauhan, a native of Birmingham, made his U.K. opera debut in 2019 with the company, … » Read

The coronavirus pandemic has cut a wide swathe through the classical music world, threatening financial collapse for every type of musical organization, from major opera houses and symphony orchestras to string quartets. One segment especially … » Read

The San Francisco Opera, shuttered since March due to the pandemic, has joined the major companies of New York and Chicago and cancelled its Fall 2020 season. When it finally reopens in April 2021 for its scheduled three-week spring season, it … » Read

CHICAGO—Count Lyric Opera of Chicago among American arts organizations cancelling fall seasons due to worries over the Covid-19 virus. Lyric is dropping the first four productions of its 66 th season, which was scheduled to open Sept. 17. … » Read

Coping with the impact of Covid-19, the Boston Symphony has announced “Tanglewood 2020 Online Festival,” a vast array of newly recorded and archival performances to be streamed from its website between July 3 to August 23. Many of the … » Read

In response to the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the southwestern U.S., the ETHEL string quartet is planning an online premiere of Strings on the Rez on June 21 to benefit the Navajo-Hopi COVID-19 Relief Fund. The Navajo Nation … » Read