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Industry News

KenCen Claims It Pushed WNO Out

January 12, 2026 | Taylor Grant, Musical America
As previously reported , the Washington National Opera (WNO) announced on Friday that it would exit The Kennedy Center, its home for the past 55 years. Since the Trump takeover, sales have dropped and donations dried up. In a social-media post … » Read
 

People in the News

Musician Sues Knoxville Symphony

January 12, 2026 | Sarah Shay, Musical America
Clarinetist James Zimmermann is suing the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO) for alleged discriminatory refusal to hire him as principal clarinet. “Had Zimmermann not been a white male, particularly a white male who had previously expressed … » Read
 

Industry News

Arts Vibrancy: A Decade of Measurement

January 12, 2026 | Taylor Grant, Musical America
A decade ago, the researchers at the Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) National Center for Arts Research developed the Arts Vibrancy Index to contextualize data being gathered—e.g., financial performance, attendance patterns, … » Read
 

People in the News

A New Exec for National Singing Teachers Association

January 12, 2026 | Susan Elliott, Musical America
The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) will have a new executive as of January 26. She is Melissa Greenblatt, recently in the same post with the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), a near two-decade-long affiliation. At … » Read
 

Industry News

Will They or Won't They?

January 12, 2026 | Susan Elliott, Musical America
The pressure is mounting for the San Francisco Ballet to withdraw from its Kennedy Center dates, May 27-31.  An opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle last fall called for a pull out and a new petition on Change.Org does as well. … » Read
 

Industry News

Breaking: WNO Will Leave Kennedy Center

January 9, 2026 | Susan Elliott, Musical America
The Washington National Opera, facing declining ticket sales in its Kennedy Center home since DT took it over last February, will exit the venue, a move it  hinted at several months ago. WNO has secured new leases elsewhere but so far … » Read
 

Industry News

Vancouver Symphony Backs Off

January 9, 2026 | Taylor Grant, Musical America
Less than three weeks after threatening legal action against a young violinist for breaching a confidentiality agreement, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) executed a complete about face. On Jan. 6, the VSO issued a full-throated public … » Read
 

People in the News

Irwin Jacobs Gives $4.5M to Support San Diego Opera/Symphony

January 9, 2026 | Sarah Shay, Musical America
Over the past quarter century, Irwin Jacobs and his late wife Joan donated more than $100 million to the San Diego Symphony. Their name adorns the orchestra’s renovated downtown concert hall as a proper acknowledgement of their essential … » Read
 

People in the News

The AP Interview: Lisette Oporesa

January 9, 2026 | Ronald Blum, Musical America
NEW YORK (AP) — Lisette Oropesa impresses Peter Gelb as more than a singer. “She reminds me a little bit of Beverly Sills,” the Metropolitan Opera general manager said. “She seems to have that kind of intellectual … » Read
 

People in the News

Upward Mobility at the Seattle Opera

January 9, 2026 | Susan Elliott, Musical America
The Seattle Opera has announced a number of promotions, the most recent of which is Blaine Inafuku, from associate director to director of artistic administration and planning. He succeeds Aren Der Hacopian, who stepped down last month after 18 … » Read
 
 

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