Der Bariton John Lundgren (53) hat wenige Wochen vor Beginn des Festivals seine Teilnahme im Ring des Nibelungen bei den Bayreuther Festspielen abgesagt. Er war für die Partien des Wotan und des Wanderers vorgesehen. Lundgren ist der zweite, der die Rolle im neuen Ring abgibt: Ursprünglich war Günther Groissböck vorgesehen, er hatte aber schon letztes Jahr abgesagt. Read More →

Andris Nelsons
(c) Marco Borggreve

Vom 3. – 11. Juni  sind die Wiener Philharmoniker mit Dirigent Andris Nelsons auf Tournee uns spielen in Prag, Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg, Köln, Luxemburg, Brüssel und Paris, ehe sie noch zusammen daheim bis zum 21. Juni einige Konzerte in Schönbrunn, dem Musikverein und dem Konzerthaus geben. Alain Steffen hat sich das Konzert in der Luxemburger Philharmonie angehört. Read More →

Earl Lee

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of Earl Lee as Music Director. He becomes the orchestra’s fourteenth director since its founding in 1928. Read More →

Klaus Mäkelä
(c) Heikki Tuuli

The Concertgebouw Orchestra has announced the start of a long-term collaboration with Klaus Mäkelä, who joins as Artistic Partner with effect from the 2022-23 season and will become the orchestra’s eighth Chief Conductor in 2027. Read More →

This week the Karajan Community Letter is starting a new chapter. With ‘archive discoveries’ it is presenting documents from the archives that are significant for a specific decade in Karajan’s life. Read More →

The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) – the official non‐partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more, of which there are over 1,400 such cities in the country – adopted a resolution urging Congress to provide continued arts and culture relief funding in the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic. This action, the press release says, would ensure urgent relief for artists, who are drivers of wellbeing in their communities and essential arts and culture organizational partners. Read More →

Jayce Ogren

The Monterey Symphony, California, has appointed Jayce Ogren, 43, as Music Director. Along with his tenure with the Monterey Symphony, this fall Ogren will be part of the College of Michigan’s prestigious Faculty of Music, Theater & Dance as an assistant professor within the conducting division and affiliate director of orchestras. Read More →

Die Internationale Musikakademie in Liechtenstein teilt mit, dass sich unter den Preisträgern des Reine Elisabeth Wettbewerbs in Brüssel mehrere aktuelle und ehemalige Stipendiaten befinden. Dazu zählen die Erste Preisträgerin Hayoung Choi, sowie Marcel Johannes Kits (3. Preis), Petar Pejčić (5. Preis) und Bryan Cheng (6. Preis). Read More →

The Basque National Orchestra has extended the contract of its Music Director Robert Trevino, 38, indefinitely. The official announcement says, « With the end of the 21/22 Season, Robert Trevino completes his fifth and last season as the chief conductor. However, the great artistic results that the orchestra is achieving in recent years, and which has received widespread backing from critics, have led to the decision to continue and extend his tenure without specifying an end date. »

Yannick Nézet-Séguin
(c) Alfonso Salgueiro

Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra has addressed the gun violence in the city during a concert at Verizon Hall. He said: « Just since we’ve been playing this fabulous set of concerts to end the season with you all, just this week, just in our city, 30 people have been shot by gun violence, five people have been killed by guns just in our city. We’re way past the time for thoughts, prayers, and all of that.”