West-Eastern Divan Orchestra & Thomas Guggeis
(c) Philharmonie Luxembourg

Im Sport wird ein Spieler, der erst spät in die Partie einsteigt und dann ein wichtiges Tor erzielt, gern als Joker bezeichnet, der gestochen hat. Ob Thomas Guggeis als Vertreter des erkrankten Daniel Barenboim diesen Titel im Konzert der West-Eastern Divan Orchester in der Philharmonie Luxemburg verdient hatte, beschreibt Uwe Krusch. Read More →

Rafael Payare

After two years of pandemic, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal has announced that it will be back on the road. This summer will mark the Orchestra’s first tour under the direction of Rafael Payare, as it travels to South Korea from July 5 to 8 before heading to Europe from October 21 to 28. These concerts will also be conducted by the new Music Director Rafael Payare. Concerts in Europe will take place in Zagreb, Budapest, Vienna, Brussels and London.

Sebastian Lang-Lessing

Sebastian Lang-Lessing, the fired Music Director of the San Antonio Symphony, will conduct the Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony in two independently produced concerts at the First Baptist Church of San Antonio this week. On the program are Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, Mozart’s clarinet concerto and a piece by Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk. Read More →

Juilliard String Quartet, (c) Erin Baiano

The Juilliard String Quartet (JSQ), which celebrates its 75th anniversary this season, has named violist Molly Carr to its ensemble, filling the void left by the passing earlier this season of the quartet’s former violist Roger Tapping. Carr is on the Pre-College faculty at the school, and with this appointment, joins the Juilliard college faculty. Read More →

Osmo Vänskä
Photo: A Marsden

Osmo Vänskä, 69, whose term as the Minnesota Orchestra’s Music Director is about to come to an end, will be appointed as Conductor Laureate to continue bringing his presence to the stage, effective September 2022. Read More →

Composer Raven Chacon won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his 2021 piece, Voiceless Mass. Chacon is the first indigenous composer to do so. Voiceless Mass was commissioned by the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ, Plymouth Church UCC and Present Music, an ensemble-based nonprofit organization in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Chacon’s Pulitzer-winning composition premiered at that church last November. Read More →

Han-na Chang
(c) Qatar Philharmonic

Korean cellist and conductor Han-na Chang, 39, has been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra in Germany. Chang will take charge of the position from this September. French conductor Sylvain Cambreling is the orchestra’s chief conductor.Chang has been chief conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra in Norway since 2017.

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) announced today that it acquired the recording label Pentatone and that this partnership « will enable students, artists and the public to benefit from the combined resources of a leading conservatory and a legendary label. » Pentatone joins an existing alliance between SFCM and Opus 3 Artists, the management company that the Conservatory acquired in October 2020. Read More →

Die Konzerte des russisch-griechischen Dirigenten Teodor Currentzis und seines Ensembles Anima Aeterna bei den Salzburger Sommerfestspielen sollen im Programm bleiben. Das kann man aus diversen Aussagen des Intendanten Markus Hinterhäuser schlussfolgern. Currentzis soll diesen Sommer bei den Salzburger Festspielen gleich sieben Konzerte dirigieren. Read More →

Michael Tilson Thomas
© Brigitte Lacombe

The New World Symphony announced a $30 million endowment gift from the Arison Arts Foundation in honor of Michael Tilson Thomas, the founding Artistic Director. With this gift, the Arison Arts Foundation and the New World Symphony Board of Trustees have agreed that the concert space of the New World Center will be named in perpetuity the Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall. Read More →