Renée Fleming is spreading her wings, adding to her current CV a relaunched opera program at the Aspen Music Festival and School with conductor Patrick Summers, starting in summer 2020. Those interested in applying had best get their ducks … » Read

Gia Kourlas is to move from free-lance to staff dance critic for The New York Times ; she steps into Alastair Macauley’s slot, though minus his moniker as “chief.” Macauley retired in 2018 after 11 years in the job. Kourlas … » Read

The Kanneh-Mason siblings are taking the classical music world by storm. Sister Isata, the oldest at 23, currently has the top selling classical album in the U.K.  Romance: The Piano Music of Clara Schumann. Her brother Sheku, three years … » Read

The Orlando Ballet has issued a list of grievances against the leadership at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, collaborating with the Center’s other two resident groups, the opera and the orchestra, to put together what is … » Read

VENTSPILS, Latvia—A German-born innovator has crafted what is believed to be the world's largest grand piano. It is without question one of a kind: attached high on the wall of a concert hall in Latvia, the steel-framed vertical grand piano … » Read

The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, popular with U.S. audiences, has been forced to cancel its Stateside tours because of new, even more restrictive hurdles the U.S. has imposed in obtaining a visa. In what very well may be a violation of … » Read

Not every headline about Guatemala these days involves immigration and Trump. The country drew attention this past week when Adriana Gonzalez, a 27-year-old soprano from Guatemala City, became one of two winners of Plácido Domingo's … » Read

The links between cultural participation and mental well-being are at the root of several therapeutic projects underway in Europe. In Denmark, one of the most ambitious is a pilot program—Kulturvitaminer (culture vitamins)—that works … » Read

Opera composers are forever on the lookout for good source material. In past centuries mythology, popular novels and stage works, and tales of historical romance provided the grist for everyone from Gluck to Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini. … » Read

The U. S. Senate yesterday voted today to confirm Mary Anne Carter as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Carter was a policy advisor to (Republican) Senator Rick Scott when he was Governor of Florida. She has no experience in the … » Read