The Queen Elisabeth Competition has published a CD set from the 2024 edition. The four discs contain a selection of the laureates’ performances of the Mozart Concertos with the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, as well as the major concertos from the repertoire from the finals. The best chamber music performances from the semi-final are also included. Read More →

Nil Venditti
(c) Marco Borelli

Italo-Turkish conductor Nil Venditti, 29, has been named Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia from 2024/25. Venditti trained in conducting at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste under the guidance of Johannes Schlaefli, as well as attending the Conducting Academy associated with the Pärnu Music Festival under Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi and Leonid Grin. Read More →

Die Intendantin der Bayreuther Festspiele, Katharina Wagner, hat die angekündigten Einsparungen der Bayreuther Festspiele, u.a. beim Festspielchor verteidigt. Es gebe massive Tarif- und Kostensteigerungen auf allen Gebieten, sagte Wagner dem Fachportal BackstageClassical. Neben dem Chor werde auch in allen anderen Bereiche Kürzungen vorgenommen. So soll beim Orchester ein sechsstelliger Betrag eingespart werden.

Christopher Dragon

The Greensboro Symphony Orchestra (North Carolina) has named Christopher Dragon as Music Director and Chelsea Tipton as Principal Guest Conductor, starting with the 2024-25 season. Read More →

Cyprien Keiser
(c) Vic Fischbach

149 young artists from over 20 countries have been selected from an unprecedented 555 applicants for the cello, violin and piano divisions of the George Enescu Competition 2024. Furthermore, six Conductors under age 35 were selected from over 45 applications for the competition’s inaugural Conducting Masterclass led by Cristian Macelaru. The competition will run from August 31 to September 27, 2024 in Bucharest, Romania. Read More →

A space a few meters from Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, between Via Tommaso Grossi and Via Santa Margherita, has been named Largo Claudio Abbado. Read More →

Jüngere Forschungen über das Schicksal von Musikern, die im faschistischen Italien verhaftet wurden und in vielen Fällen umkamen, förderten zu Tage, dass einige von ihnen während der Inhaftierung in faschistischen Lagern weiterhin musikalisch aktiv bleiben konnten. Eines dieser Forschungsprojekte wird nun von dem Wiener Musikverlag Universal Edition unterstützt. Es handelt sich um das Projekt Musica internata des Konservatoriums in Rovigo (Veneto). Read More →

Philippe Bach
(c) Michael Reichelt

Swiss conductor Philippe Bach (*1974) has been appointed Artistic Director of the Orchestre de chambre de Fribourg. As of September, he will replace Laurent Gendre, the orchestra’s founding conductor, who held the baton for fifteen years. Read More →

The jury of the 13th International Competition Premio Paolo Borciani in Reggio Emilia, Italy, has awarded First Prize to the British Fibonacci Quartet. Second Prize went to the Korean Eden Quartet and Third Prize to the British Elmore Quartet.

Bayerische Staatsoper München

Intendant Serge Dorny und Generalmusikdirektor Vladimir Jurowski bleiben weiterhin an der Bayerischen Staatsoper in München. Read More →