Pekka Kuusisto
(c) Kaapo Kamu

Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto, 46, has announced that he will take time off from musical engagements for the rest of the year. In a post on social media, Kuusisto writes: « A doctor friend of mine told me some years ago that musicians and actors seem to be the last ones to call in sick. He wasn’t sure if it’s because of dedication, fear of economic trouble – or perhaps some form of a savior complex where the patient assumes that the colleagues, the concert or even the entire artform will collapse if she or he ceases to participate for a while. Read More →

Baldur Brönnimann

Swiss conductor Baldur Brönnimann, 54, has been appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Real Filharmonía de Galicia, in addition to assuming the direction of the Escola de Altos Estudios Musicais. Brönnimann will take over from Paul Daniel as of January 2023. Read More →

Gustavo Gimeno
(c) Marco Borggreve

Gustavo Gimeno, Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra into 2025, has signed a contract that will keep him in that role through the 2029-30 season. The 46-year-old Spanish conductor began his tenure during the 2020-21 season, succeeding long-time director Peter Oundjian. Read More →

Roberto Kalb

Detroit Opera has announced that Mexican-born Roberto Kalb has been named as the new music director. According to a press release, Kalb’s new role is effective Nov. 20 through the end of the 2025-26 season. In his new role, Kalb will work alongside artistic director Yuval Sharon and associate artistic director Christine Goerke to manage the opera’s musical performances.

Deutsche Grammophon has announced the launch of STAGE+, a new classical music subscription service, offering livestreams, a huge video archive and new audio releases – all on one platform. Read More →

Michael Haefliger, 61, hat sich entschieden, seinen bis Ende 2025 laufenden Vertrag als Intendant bei Lucerne Festival nicht mehr zu verlängern. Der Stiftungsrat hat für die Suche einer Nachfolge eine Findungskommission eingesetzt, die eine internationale Ausschreibung durchführen wird. Read More →

Hungarian-Romanian pianist Zoltán Thurzó recently won two Guinness World Record titles in only a bit more than 100 days. In June he performed on a grand piano 63 pieces during 132 minutes, at  temperature between +1°C and +3°C. in Nepal, at the Mount Everest Base Camp, at an altitude of 5,325.77 meters,  officially setting the newest Guinness World Record for ‘Highest altitude grand piano performance’. The complete piano program is available here. Read More →

Tung-Chieh Chuang

Der Vertrag des aus Taiwan stammenden Dirigenten Tung-Chieh Chuang wurde verlängert. Er ist seit der Saison 2021/2022 Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) der Bochumer Symphoniker und Intendant des Anneliese Brost Musikforums Ruhr. Read More →

Joseph Trafton

Generalmusikdirektor Joseph Trafton verlässt das Theater Hagen am Ende seines derzeitigen Vertrags, der noch bis zum Ende der Spielzeit 2024/2025 läuft. Der 1978 geborene Amerikaner ist seit auf diesem Posten. Read More →

Ned Rorem, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, died Nov. 18 at his home in Manhattan. He was 99. Rorem first gained fame when he was in his 20s as a composer of “art songs”. By the time he was 40, he had written more than 400 such songs, as well as three symphonies, several one-act operas and a great deal of chamber music, making him one of America’s most prolific composers. He won the Pulitzer Prize for composition in 1976 for Air Music, an orchestral suite. Read More →