The Cliburn has announced that the sixteenth edition of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition will not be held, as planned in May 2021 but in June 2022 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. The organization cites implications of the global pandemic, including social distancing, international travel, winners’ touring, and planning uncertainty.   Read More →

74-year-old Russian composer Alexander Tchaikovsky who recently suffered from Covid-19 and still has not completely recovered from the disease, was not able to attend the premiere of his latest symphony, the so called Quarantine Symphony. The symphony was performed by the Omsk Academic Symphony Orchestra. According to Russian media, the symphony’s orchestration is special and makes it easier to keep your distance during rehearsals and performances.

James Levine

Im Jahr 2018 entließ die Metropolitan Opera New York den Dirigenten James Levine wegen angeblicher sexuellen Belästigungen. Danach kam es zu einem Rechtsstreit, der zu einer außergerichtlichen Einigung führte. Read More →

The Teatro Real has been forced to cancel this Sunday’s performance of Un ballo in maschera, Verdi’s opera with which the Madrid coliseum opened the season last Friday, due to a large protest from the audience caused by the lack of social distance. Read More →

An independent report commissioned by the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) from Oxford Economics calculates that the economic impact of EBU Members music radio activity contributed in excess of €3.1 billion to Europe’s GDP and supported over 50,000 jobs in 2018, i.e. prior to the much changed conditions in 2020. Read More →

2021 soll, Festspielchefin Katharina Wagner zufolge, erstmals eine Frau bei einer Festspielpremiere in Bayreuth dirigieren. Beim Fliegenden Holländer wird die 42-jährige Ukrainerin Oksana Lyniv am Pult des Festspielorchesters stehen. Das sagte Wagnerin einem Gespräch mit der deutschen Zeitung Die Welt. Read More →

Susanne Schicker, Koordinatorin WienBeethoven2020 und Bürgermeister Michael Ludwig
© C.Jobst/PID

Am gestrigen Sonntag hat der Wiener Bürgermeister Michael Ludwig im Beethoven Museum eine von der Bonner Beethoven Jubiläumsgesellschaft BTHVN2020 gespendete goldfarbene Beethoven-Statue entgegengenommen. Das Besondere: Die Statue erreichte Wien fast auf dem Rad! Rund 100 Mitarbeiter der Deutsche Post DHL Group radelten mit Ludwig van Beethoven im Gepäck in einer Staffel-Radtour von Bonn aus Richtung Wien. Read More →

A 410,3-kilogram pumpkin grown with music by farmer Hiroyoshi Utsunomiya from Ehime Prefecture, western Japan, won a contest Sunday as Japan’s biggest pumpkin, according to Kyodo News. Utsunomiya, 68, said he had grown the pumpkin with music of Mozart playing in the background.

Elbphilharmonie
(c) Remy Franck

Die langen Rolltreppen der Hamburger Elbphilharmonie bringen jetzt Konzertgänger keimfrei zum Saal. Krankheitserreger wie das Coronavirus werden mit UV-Licht zu 99 Prozent abgetötet. Read More →

Polish conductor and composer Jan Krenz died on 15 September, aged 94. Born in 1926, Krenz first studied piano in Warsaw. He studied in Warsaw as well as at the State Higher School of Music in Lodz. Read More →