It’s heartening to see a fine work like Julia Wolfe’s 2015 Pulitzer prize-winning Anthracite Fields slowly but surely make its way into the repertoire. It’s also rare to hear new music that offers social comment without ramming … » Read

Bard College has scored a notable coup, with the appointment of Stephanie Blythe as the new artistic director of its Vocal Arts Program (VAP). Starting in July 2019 the renowned mezzo-soprano will succeed Dawn Upshaw, VAP’s director since … » Read

Arna Einarsdóttir, managing director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (ISO), is to be the new managing director of Canada's National Arts Center Orchestra as of next spring. She succeeds Christopher Deacon, in the job for 22 years until … » Read

The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) has appointed the first lecturer in musicians’ health and well-being in a U.K. conservatory. Beginning in January Sara Ascenso, a clinical psychologist and pianist, will lecture, conduct research, … » Read

A new generation of musical leadership takes center stage at the Metropolitan Opera tonight when Yannick Nézet-Séguin makes his debut as music director in a new production of Verdi’s La Traviata . The last time such a debut … » Read

Dutch composer Joel Bons has won the 2019 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, the University announced today. Bons’s one-hour Nomaden , for cello and mixed ensemble, was named as the winning piece. The award, … » Read

“I couldn’t have imagined a better job for myself right now,” said conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya. “It’s always amazing when a job lines up at exactly the right time with your personal interests, your professional … » Read

The Cincinnati Opera (CO) is losing one its mainstays. After 17 years Marcus Küchle, director of artistic operations and new work development, is leaving this month to assume a top administrative role in the Tyrolean Festival Erl. The fest, … » Read

The final outcome of the ongoing Westminster Choir College-for-sale-to-China debate is anybody’s guess, but NPR provides a fairly comprehensive description of the predicament and the players. The story so far is that Rider University, which … » Read

Violinist Nina Beilina, who emigrated from the Soviet Union at age 40, in 1977, and made her U.S. debut a year later at Manhattan’s 92 nd Street Y, died on November 25 in New York. She was 81. Harold Schonberg’s positive review in The … » Read