Just three weeks ago, Swiss conductor Thierry Fischer announced he would be leaving the Utah Symphony in August of 2022. Today, the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) announced his appointment as music director as of 2020; his first … » Read

In 1807 a slave ship transported Omar Ibn Said, an enslaved African from Senegal, to Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston. He will return, figuratively, during the 2020 Spoleto season as the protagonist in a new, as yet untitled opera by … » Read

OJAI, CA—Historically, the venerable, incorrigibly adventurous Ojai Festival has appointed a conductor to be its annual music director. There are a few exceptions, including the ensemble Eighth Blackbird and soprano Dawn Upshaw. But there … » Read

David Lang set for himself a daunting task in accepting a commission from the New York Philharmonic and five Europe-based entities to compose a new opera. Like many composers, he might have looked for inspiration in a pre-existing play, novel, or … » Read

In May it appeared that financial distress would force The Song Company, a widely praised Australian vocal ensemble, to  cease performing . Thanks to a significant individual gift as well as ongoing generous support from both Create NSW and … » Read

The widespread disdain for Robert LePage’s 2012 treatment of the Ring cycle at the Met, recently revived,  has largely overshadowed his earlier, more successful staging of Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust . The French … » Read

On Wednesday,the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it would be reviewing the two key music licensing agencies, ASCAP and BMI, to determine if their consent decrees, granted 75 years ago, were still relevant to the way the music industry … » Read

NEW ORLEANS--Dr. John, the New Orleans singer and piano player who blended black and white musical styles with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl, died Thursday, his family said. He was 77. In a statement released through his … » Read

“When I am laid in earth,” Dido sings just before she dies at the end of Purcell’s famous opera. Rarely has the aria been heard in a more fittingly sepulchral setting than when the hour-long opera, composed in the 1680s, is … » Read

For the past four years, Lucy Wallace, a former dance major with a master’s degree in psychology, has spent a lot of time behind bars. Dance to Be Free—the program she co-founded—teaches dance to women in prison so they can … » Read