A growing wave of performers — like German pianist Schaghajegh Nosrati and Canadian folk singer Bells Larsen — have canceled shows in the States, either in protest of President Donald Trump’s policies or due to fear that they could be stopped or detained at the border amid confusing changes to immigration and visa practices. - WBEZ
Alexander Shelley, who was just 35 when he succeeded Pinchas Zukerman in 2015, will leave Ottawa in the summer of 2026 and begin his next job, music director of the Pacific Symphony in Orange County, California. He is also artistic director of the arts center and orchestra in Naples, Florida. - Ottawa Citizen
The German conductor, currently Generalmusikdirektor of the Theater Freiburg, succeeds Martyn Brabbins, who resigned in 2023 to protest ENO management’s proposed elimination of 19 orchestral positions. While he starts immediately as Music Director Designate, de Ridder fully assumes the job in September 2027. - Opera Now
The 72-year-old South Korean-born, US-trained conductor has appeared at the Milan opera house more often than any other guest conductor, going back to 1989. He succeeds Riccardo Chailly in the fall of 2026, and his initial term runs to 2030. - Bachtrack
Festival lineups are jam-packed with D.J.s, while some of the biggest names in pop music (including Beyoncé, Drake and Charli XCX) have made dance music-inspired or adjacent albums. It’s usually at this point — when a newspaper sees fit to write about it — that the comedown starts. - The New York Times
New piano sales fell from a pre-Covid peak of 400,000 in 2019 to 200,000 in 2022. China’s imports of pianos—mainly high-end instruments for conservatory and professional use–fell from a 2021 peak of US$272 million to $197 million in 2023. - Asia Times
“Digital platforms like Boiler Room — the hugely popular video series that pioneered the de facto online D.J. video format — have changed the trajectory of what it means to be an electronic music artist or fan.” - The New York Times
The claim: “SoundCloud is paving the way for a future where AI unlocks creative potential and makes music creation accessible to millions, while upholding responsible and ethical practices.” Musicians disagree. - Fast Company
“They appear to have succeeded. Today, the three-building campus in the western suburbs is bursting at the seams with a staggering variety of music, a side of BBQ from their restaurant next door and offbeat entertainment like storytelling, gangland history and movie nights.” - Chicago Sun-Times
The Baltic nation’s submission this year is “Espresso Macchiato,” in which Estonian singer-rapper Tommy Cash (who bills himself as the “Kanye East” of Europe) piles the stereotypes high. Many Italians are angry at the mockery, but Estonia’s ambassador to Italy says he hears the song played there often enough. - BBC
“They may be less all-encompassing than the famous symphonies, but Mahler’s songs are miniature masterpieces, ranking alongside the greatest by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf. They are marvels: songs as expressive and finely crafted as the famous symphonies are visceral and overwhelming.” - The Guardian
The sheer size of Classical California’s listenership is remarkable in the face of algorithmic streams and the wide array of music available only a few clicks away. - San Francisco Classical Voice
“At times, it made him ‘very determined to therefore be on that stage’; at other times it made him feel that he wasn’t sure he could. ‘But my family, and particularly my parents, were very helpful, either talking to us very honestly or shielding us, depending on what was appropriate’.” - The Guardian
“Having a choice didn’t come into it as there was none and never had been. I couldn’t pretend to be anyone I wasn’t but somehow, I had to place Black and classical next to each other in a way that made perfect, undeniable and glorious sense.” - The Guardian
