Tim Smith, for 18 years the Baltimore Sun ’s classical music critic—and recently restaurant reviewer as well—has decided to retire. His last day at the Sun was November 7. Two days later the paper’s owner, Tribune … » Read

You have to wonder what they were putting in the water back in 1938. With the births of William Bolcom, John Corigliano, John Harbison, Frederic Rzewski, Joan Tower, and Charles Wuorinen, it was certainly a bumper year for American composers. … » Read

A sea change is underway among Bay area cultural institutions as directors, many with long tenure, move on or retire. At the head of the line is San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, who leaves after 25 years. Others … » Read

CHICAGO – Lidiya Yankovskaya’s rapid rise among U.S.-based conductors of her generation seems to be driven as much by her exceptional talent as her eagerness to take on ambitious, out-of-the-way artistic projects. One such undertaking … » Read

On Nov. 27 violinist Itzhak Perlman will join the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO),  Music Director Manfred Honeck, and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh in a concert to honor the Tree of Life Synagogue victims. A part of the … » Read

SEATTLE—Making its U.S. premiere at the center of Seattle Symphony’s most recent program, Pascal Dusapin’s At Swim-Two-Birds (heard on November 8) immediately stood out as one of the most significant commissions in music … » Read

CULVER CITY, CA – “For two hundred years, the Europeans have been sending us their operas,” wrote John Cage. “Now I’m sending them back.” A wag or two might have amended that to read, “sending them … » Read

Three years ago the Dallas Opera inaugurated the annual Hart Institute for Women Conductors to address the absence of women on opera house podiums. Participants receive two weeks of major-league coaching in conducting, rehearsal techniques, and … » Read

Ken-David Masur, son of the late, great maestro, is to be the next music director of the Milwaukee Symphony as of the 2019-20 season. He will serve as designate in the interim. The orchestra, coming up on 60 years old with a new hall set to open … » Read

The financial threats to opera, particularly in the U.S., are well-documented: declining attendance, a graying audience, and exploding costs afflict companies as different in scope and ambition as the Metropolitan Opera and the now defunct Gotham … » Read