In this exclusive signing, VC Artist Daniel Lozakovich’s first album for Warner Classics is due for release in August 2024. It will feature pianist Mikhail Pletnev alongside Lozakovich playing Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Grieg’s Violin Sonata No. 3 and ‘Solveig’s Song’ from Peer Gynt, Shostakovich’s ‘Romance’ from The Gadfly and a Violin Sonata jointly composed by Alexi Shor and Pletnev himself. "While very much a young player of today, he is an artist whose poetry and integrity place him in the great tradition of the 20th-century violinists who set the benchmarks fo ..read more

  The 2024 edition of the International Max Rostal Competition will be held from October 19 to 25 at the Universität der Künste Berlin. The competition caters to violinists and violists who are under the age of 30. Applications are now open and must be received by May 31, 2024. Applicants must upload an audition video containing two contrasting movements of solo Bach, the first movement of either Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major or Robert Schumann's Violin Concerto in D minor, and a violin-piano duo by Schubert or Beethoven from an approved list. You can view more details abou ..read more

VC Artist and Spanish Cellist Pablo Ferrández has released his newest album, Night Sessions Vol. 2, on Sony Classical. Each track on the album is closely related to a personal memory of Pablo's. Opening with Edward Elgar's Salut d'Amour, the melody connects Pablo to his infancy where he heard Salut d'Amour every evening with his mother. "I recorded this song for her," he shared. The album also includes Alexander Glazunov's Chant du ménestrel, Op. 71 which Pablo performed in the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow during his teenage years. Additional works include Saint-Saëns’ "The Swan," and an arrange ..read more

  Ukrainian-American Violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv has released her newest album, Ukrainian Masters. Released on Naxos, the album features violin sonatas in collaboration with Steinway Artist and pianist Steven Beck, spanning repertoire of the 20th century. The album includes a world-premiere recording of Ukrainian composer Viktor Kosenko's Violin Sonata Op. 18 in A minor (1927). In addition to Kosenko's Violin Sonata, Myroslav Skoryk's Violin Sonata No. 2 (1991) and Sergei Bortkiewicz's Violin Sonata Op. 26 in G minor (1922) are included as well, presenting a collection of sonatas that tran ..read more

  Published in December 2023, Mandy Hughes’ paper “Countering inequality: The role of music opportunities in promoting well-being and belonging for young Australian regional classical music students,” considers how programs made available through local regional conservatoriums can support rural music students in achieving their goals. Documenting the experiences of non-metropolitan classical music students in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, Hughes’ research centers on a case study of the Regional Youth Orchestra NSW (RYO), where advanced regional and rural classical music students devel ..read more

  Conductor Marlon Daniel has been named the new Artistic Director and Conductor of the orchestra at the Universität Münster Musikhochschule (MHS). The appointment comes as part of a revitalization of the MHS orchestra, which is now in its 100th year. Daniel will lead the ensemble in two concerts in June 2024, which will feature works by Beethoven, Dvořák, Smetana, and Strauss. Presently, he is the Artistic and Music Director of the Festival International de Musique Saint-Georges, Music Director of Ensemble du Monde (chamber orchestra), Founder and Music Director of ACYO (All-Caribbean Yo ..read more

  Executive, administrator, pedagogue, and horn player Kate Sheeran has been named the new Dean of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. She will step into the position on July 15, becoming the eighth dean in the school's 100-year history. She will become its first female dean. Originally a horn player, Sheeran received her undergraduate degree, certificate in arts leadership, and performer’s certificate from Eastman and followed this with a master’s degree from the Yale School of Music. Sheeran later became executive director of the Kaufman Music Center, and du ..read more

  Conductor Daniel Barenboim, who in 2022 was diagnosed with a serious neurological condition, has withdrawn from his upcoming appearances with the Berliner Philharmoniker. These include the Europakonzert in Tsinandali, Georgia, as well as the concert at the Tbilisi Paliashvili Opera and Ballet State Theatre on 2 May, and the concerts on April 26 and 27 at the Philharmonie Berlin. He will be replaced by British conductor Daniel Harding, who has had close ties with the Berliner Philharmoniker since his debut in 1996. Harding performs with the orchestra each season on subscription in Berlin ..read more

  As of September 2024, France’s Opéra Orchestre National de Montpellier Occitanie will welcome Roderick Cox to its post of music director. He will succeed Michael Schønwandt, who held the principal conductor role from 2015 to 2023. Cox has conducted the opera orchestra on multiple occasions in both orchestral and opera performances; he will return in May 2024 to lead the opera company’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème. Collaborating with internationally renowned ensembles, Cox’s upcoming engagements include returns to the Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Halle Orchestra, Lahti ..read more

  The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) has released a statement responding to investigative reporter Sammy Sussman's article in Vulture, a part of New York Magazine, outlining allegations of misconduct by Liang Wang and Matthew Muckey against former NY Philharmonic horn player, Cara Kizer, in 2010. Liang joined the MSM Precollege faculty in 2011 but is now on leave from the school, according to his faculty page on MSM’s website.  “Recent reporting in New York magazine's Vulture cites an alleged sexual assault committed by members of the New York Philharmonic, one of whom is a mem ..read more