George Hanson is the new executive director of the Alexandria (VA) Symphony Orchestra as of June 1. He succeeds Paul Frank, who died two years ago after four months in the job. Hanson arrives in the Virginia orchestra’s top administrative … » Read

Michigan’s Ann Arbor Symphony, with an annual budget of $1.6 million, is in for some major changes at the top. Mary Steffek Blaske, the orchestra’s executive director of 25 years, has said she will retire. At the same time, the … » Read

Women conductors are busy making up for years of neglect. Yesterday, the  Boston Symphony announced Anna Rakitin, a recent conservatory graduate on her way to LA to be a Dudamel Fellow, would be its next assistant music director. Today, the … » Read

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Opera’s percentage of box office revenue rose slightly this season, giving General Manager Peter Gelb [pictured] hope the company’s finances have rebounded. Gelb said the season that ended Saturday … » Read

The loss of corporate funding has led the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) to call an end to its cutting-edge Liquid Music series. Created in 2012 by Kate Nordstrum, the series offers contemporary classical and chamber music hybrids, often … » Read

NEW YORK - Owen Wingrave was originally composed for television and telecast by the BBC in 1971. Later it was staged at Covent Garden and brought to Santa Fe Opera in 1974. Wingrave is the second of Benjamin Britten’s operas to be based on … » Read

When Susan Wadsworth founded Young Concert Artists (YCA) in 1961, she often staged the fledgling organization’s recitals in an Armenian restaurant in Greenwich Village. After 58 years, Wadsworth will retire on Thursday, May 16, to be … » Read

Frequently feted during his lifetime but even more frequently misunderstood, left-wing German composer Hans Werner Henze’s “Cuban years” are perhaps the least appreciated period in a long and multi-stylistic musical career. … » Read

Anna Rakitin a, second-prize winner of Denmark’s 2018 Malko Competition, is to be the Boston Symphony’s next assistant conductor. She succeeds Associate Conductor Ken-David Masur, newly appointed music director of the Milwaukee … » Read

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Music Director Krzysztof Urbanski will not renew his contract after the 2020-21 season; the Polish maestro will have been with the orchestra for a decade, having started in 2011 at the age of 28. By most accounts, … » Read