Front of the Liszt Academy's concert centre
Photo: Remy Franck

There is trouble in Budapest over the rector’s tender for the Liszt Academy of Music. Protests by artists, teachers and academics, who fought for the autonomy of the academy, have led to the withdrawal of the tender by the responsible Minister János Csák. The Ministry had planned to fill the position with the conductor András Keller, but because the entire profession resisted the Ministry’s attempt to impose the will of the government on the university, this has now failed for the time being. Read More →

Mikhail Pochekin

Early in September, a new chamber music festival will take place in the Bavarian city of Landshut. The artistic director of the festival is the violinist Mikhail Pochekin. Read More →

Marek Janowski

Der Fliegende Holländer in der Waldbühne in Sopot. Das erlebte jetzt ein begeistertes Publikum des neuen Baltic Opera Festival. Ein musikhistorisch denkwürdiges Ereignis an der polnischen Ostsee nahe Danzig. Ursula Magnes berichtet. Read More →

To avoid seeing Christophe Gayral’s staging, conductor Alberto Veronesi conducted La Bohème blindfolded at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago on July 14 for the opening night. In the end, Veronesi was removed from directing the upcoming performances. The staging set the opera against the backdrop of the 1968 uprisings, and Veronesi is known to be close to right-wing extremist party Fratelli d’Italia.

Chih Yuan Michael Chang

Bucharest Music Institute has announced the winners of the 5th edition of the BMI International Conducting Masterclass & Competition. First Prize was awarded to Taiwanese inductor Chih Yuan Michael Chang. Read More →

Romanian pianist Valentin Gheorghiu Gheorghiu died yesterday at the age of 95. Born on 21 March 1928 he was first a pupil of Constanța Erbiceanu at the Bucharest Academy of Music and then of Lazare Lévy at the Conservatoire National de Musique in Paris, France. He was one of the leading Romanian pianists of the twentieth century. Read More →

Published on the Tous Citoyens blog, a press release from several associations criticizes the visit to Nice of Italian conductor Beatrice Venezi, described as « neo-fascist » and close to the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni. The city of Nice has invited the Italian conductor to lead its Philharmonic Orchestra, for the traditional Christmas Ballet and New Year’s Concert. Read More →

The Sydney International Piano Competition (The Sydney) has announced the six pianists proceeding to the Finals of the 2023 competition at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. The Finalists, in playing order, are: Yungyung Guo, Jeonghwan Kim, Uladzislau Khandohi, Yuanfan Yang, Vitaly Starikov and Wynona Yinuo Wang. Read More →

Martijn Dendievel
c) Wouter Maeckelberge

Ab der Saison 2024/25 wird der 1995 geborene Belgier Martijn Dendievel Chefdirigent der Hofer Symphoniker. Sein Vertrag wurde über zunächst vier Spielzeiten abgeschlossen. Die Position des Chefdirigenten der Hofer Symphoniker war über 20 Jahre lang nicht besetzt. Read More →

CAPE Ettelbrück

Zugänglichkeit von Kultur ermöglichen, sei es durch die Nähe zum Wohnort, durch die Sprachenvielfalt, die Preisgestaltung, aber auch durch ein abwechslungsreiches, niveauvolles Programm – so lautet seit über 20 Jahren das Credo des CAPE – Centre des Arts Pluriels Ettelbruck (Großherzogtum Luxemburg). Read More →