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Boosts and Bruises
Fellowships for musicians of color have long been touted as a strategy to diversify American orchestras. Are they working for Black musicians?
Most read last week
In Defense of the Program Note
Thoughtful written concert programs are on the outs. But they remain essential guiding lights for listening.
Opera’s Siren Servers
In its many lives, the platform Operabase has tried to become indispensable. Will its purchase this week by Events.com finally make that possible?
License to Earn
Regional orchestras see film music concerts as a way to generate money and expand their audience. But do these events benefit smaller ensembles, or big intellectual property holders instead?
Life After Monsieur
In memory of Hans Messner, who died this week after dedicating most of his life to Pierre Boulez
Bach Festival Leipzig Stands By John Eliot Gardiner
The conductor will return to the festival following an allegation of “boundary crossing misconduct”
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Fights for diversity
Uncommitting to Change
Quodesia Johnson, a classical music racial equity consultant, on the state of her work amid a backlash against DEI
A Private Place of Joy
Classical musicians of color search for belonging in a homogeneous world
Second city
The Thirty-Year Itch
“Scratching,” cellist Katinka Kleijn’s one-woman performance piece, reviewed in the bar
The End of a Voyage
Conductor Riccardo Muti reflects on his tenure with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
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New in VAN
Pre-Election Paralysis
Julien Chavaz, the artistic director the Theater Magdeburg, on what an AfD government would mean for his house
Plenty of Fish
Le Poisson Rouge was New York’s leading alternative classical music venue. So how did it end up as a commercial club—and what does its decline mean for classical’s counterculture?
Tristan and Isolde and the Politicians
How political interference almost sunk the first São Paulo performance of Wagner’s opera in nearly 50 years
ELISION Dossier
If I say it’s an experiment, you might think me overeager to abdicate on certitude’s authority. So I won’t say that.
From five years ago…
Fiddling While California Burns
A composer appeals for curators of international music events and touring orchestras to take action
From ten years ago…
Last But Not Least
