Classical Voice North America

1 week ago | classicalvoiceamerica.org | Susan Brodie

BREAKING NEWS — David T. Little‘s What Belongs to You, based on the novel by Garth Greenwell, is the winner of the 2025 Award for Best New Opera conferred by the Music Critics Association of North America. The honor, which recognizes both musical and theatrical excellence, is given annually to an operatic world premiere presented in North America during the previous calendar year.

1 week ago | classicalvoiceamerica.org | David Patrick Stearns

NEW YORK — Philip Glass, 88, is best performed by those who haven’t known a world without him. One of them is Gustavo Dudamel, who conducted Glass’ Symphony No. 11 on May 22 with the New York Philharmonic, soon to be his, at David Geffen Hall. Four more of them comprise Brooklyn Rider, which played Glass’ complete string quartets over three concerts at the unlikely venue of The Cloisters, the first installment of which was May 21.

2 weeks ago | classicalvoiceamerica.org | Michael Anthony

MINNEAPOLIS — During a brief pause in a recent concert by the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall, music director Thomas Søndergård turned to the audience and said, “So nice to see so many of you here, especially since there’s nothing on the program you’ve ever heard before.” Indeed, the concert, titled “Future Classics,” featuring the work of four largely unknown young composers, was nearly sold out, and when all of them returned to the stage for a final bow, the audience responded with a...

2 weeks ago | classicalvoiceamerica.org | James Bash

PORTLAND, Ore. – Pianist Makato Ozone made a splashy debut with the Oregon Symphony on May17 with a jazz-infused and invigorating performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Ozone’s fans, including a large contingent of young Japanese men, flooded the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and almost filled it for the first time in quite a while (the Schnitz, as it is locally known, accommodates 2,700 people).

2 weeks ago | classicalvoiceamerica.org | Susan Brodie

NEW YORK — On May 16, the New York Philharmonic offered a program of two romances born in the early 20th century: a contemporary song cycle based on the correspondence between two iconic American artists and a 1912 ballet score highlighting nymphs and shepherds from classical mythology. The repertoire provided the opportunity to luxuriate in work by two of America’s finest opera veterans, supported and surrounded by New York’s flagship orchestra in full fettle.