The 56-year-old is best known for his decades-long career as a solo violinist, but he has been conducting for years and has been music director of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields since 2011. He will be the New Jersey Symphony's first-ever Principal Guest Conductor. - The Strad
Bands had traveled as far as hundreds of miles to climb into the landmark Trinity Church tower and strike eight bells in a complex, intricate order for the national Trinity Striking Competition, a demonstration of skill in the 17th-century art of change ringing. - Gothamist
Opera 5’s Toronto Opera Festival is Toronto’s first-ever festival to combine opera and musical theatre in a celebration of Canadian creators and performers. - Ludwig Van
In pricey, increasingly corporate Seattle, the Fellowship venue represents a conspicuously unlucrative exercise. Its modest 48-seat layout and limited wine and beer bar give way to the room’s centerpiece: a Kawai grand piano. There are no tables. There is no greenroom. Tickets run a recommended donation of $20, regardless of who’s performing. - The New York Times
The celebrated soprano Angela Gheorghiu, who was singing the title role in a performance on Sunday, stormed onstage and demanded that he stop, according to local media reports and accounts by audience members. - The New York Times
Not since Leonard Bernstein has a conductor done as much as Dudamel to make classical music accessible — or so thoroughly captured the public imagination. The two maestros share a not just persuasive but borderline evangelical approach to relentlessly promoting music as a “fundamental human right." - Billboard
"Still largely experimental, (CSO Proof concerts) might include elements of dance, lighting, theater and atmosphere to accompany a short program of classical music. The goal is to … engage audiences who might never have considered going to the symphony or even to Music Hall." - Cincinnati Business Courier
"Astral Artists, the small but important Philadelphia arts group that has boosted careers and fostered artistic development of classical musicians nationally, is shutting down. ... The group will produce two more concerts this fall, set the musicians from its current roster on a path, and then close its doors." - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
"After scrapping its 50th anniversary tour of China in 2023, the Philadelphia Orchestra is picking up where it left off. The full ensemble will travel to China later this month — its 13th visit, the most of any American orchestra." - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“We can’t dumb down the audience. We have to continue as composers of opera in the 21st century to move people, and you don’t do that by forcing in things that don’t naturally fit into the story. Once you get didactic, that’s it. You’ve lost them.” - Salon
"By gutting and rebuilding the interior (of the New York Philharmonic's home), the project was meant to break, once and for all, the acoustical curse that had plagued the hall for decades. … So, after two years and more than 270 concerts, how does the hall sound?" - The New York Times
The organization itself has filed a case against two former board members who led a schism of the group into rival factions. Those two are suing the orchestra's executive director and acting board chair, demanding monetary damages and the court's formal decision as to which board faction is legitimate. - San Antonio Report
Not to say there isn’t trouble brewing, particularly with its unions, but the opera’s numbers, and budget, have been on an upward trajectory for a while. - The New York Times
When he was first named as the next music director back in 2018, the Met asserted that he would conduct a minimum of five operas per season. What are we to make of this seemingly diminished conducting commitment? - Parterre Box
