The differences between cultural life in Europe and the U.S. are many. One of the biggest is that most European governments fund their country’s arts organizations, often generously.  In the U.S., the richest nation in the world, … » Read

TEHRAN, Iran — Aficionados of Western classical music have carved out a niche for themselves in Iran, where cultural expression remains tightly controlled by strict rules imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. And perhaps surprisingly, … » Read

The Guardian , one of London’s major dailies, recently asked its readers, “What is classical music for?” and took alarm at “two grim social functions” the newspaper now attributes to classical music in general and … » Read

More changes at the Juilliard School as the new president continues to realign key staff and in some cases faculty members. Latest is Rosalie Contreras, who has relocated from Seattle, where she has been with the Seattle Symphony for 19 years, … » Read

Austrian conductor Hans Graf is to be chief conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) as of the 2020-21 season. Graf, onetime music director of the Houston Symphony, among others, will succeed Chinese American Lan Shui, who stepped down … » Read

Martin Bencsik, a professor from Nottingham Trent University and husband of a professional cellist, is using a cello to research the vibrations and sounds made by bees. “Bees need a cavity,” Bencsik told the BBC, so he placed a … » Read

In a project that combines elements of the Barenboim-Said West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and Carnegie Hall’s annual National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYOUSA), conductor Jan Latham-Koenig is launching the privately … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco Opera made a bold move when it last presented Carmen only three years ago, at the end of the David Gockley era. It marked the first-ever North American platform for the highly controversial Catalan director … » Read

The New York office of the Rotterdam-based Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has released plans to transform the 550,000square-foot Barbara Jordan Post Office in Houston into a complex featuring arts and music venues, workspaces, and a … » Read

João Gilberto, credited as the father of the bossa nova, has died at the age of 88. According to AFP, he has been living in Rio for the last decade, struggling with mental health and financial issues. In 1958, Gilberto launched what was to … » Read